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Author: Helen Rhee
Publisher: Psychology Press
Published: 2005
Total Pages: 282
ISBN-13: 9780415354882
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis work concerns the early Christians' self-definitions and self-representations in the context of pagan-Christian conflict, reflected in the literatures from the mid-second to the early third centuries (ca. 150 - 225 CE).
Author: Justo L. González
Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press
Published: 2019-08-27
Total Pages: 415
ISBN-13: 1611649544
DOWNLOAD EBOOKHistorical events have long been the standard lens through which scholars have sought to understand the theology of Christianity in late antiquity. The lives of significant theological figures, the rejection of individuals and movements as heretical, and the Trinitarian and christological controversiesthe defining theological events of the early churchhave long provided the framework with which to understand the development of early Christian belief. In this groundbreaking work, esteemed historian of Christianity Justo González chooses to focus on the literature of early Christianity. Beginning with the epistolary writings of the earliest Christian writers of the second century CE, he moves through apologies, martyrologies, antiheretical polemics, biblical commentaries, sermons, all the way up through Augustines invention of spiritual autobiography and beyond. Throughout he demonstrates how literary genre played a decisive role in the construction of theological meaning. Covering the earliest noncanonical Christian writings through the fifth century and later, this book will serve as an indispensable guide to students studying the theology of the early church.
Author: Frances Young
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2004-04
Total Pages: 580
ISBN-13: 9780521460835
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Author: Roger S. Bagnall
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Published: 2021-07-13
Total Pages: 128
ISBN-13: 1400833787
DOWNLOAD EBOOKFor the past hundred years, much has been written about the early editions of Christian texts discovered in the region that was once Roman Egypt. Scholars have cited these papyrus manuscripts--containing the Bible and other Christian works--as evidence of Christianity's presence in that historic area during the first three centuries AD. In Early Christian Books in Egypt, distinguished papyrologist Roger Bagnall shows that a great deal of this discussion and scholarship has been misdirected, biased, and at odds with the realities of the ancient world. Providing a detailed picture of the social, economic, and intellectual climate in which these manuscripts were written and circulated, he reveals that the number of Christian books from this period is likely fewer than previously believed. Bagnall explains why papyrus manuscripts have routinely been dated too early, how the role of Christians in the history of the codex has been misrepresented, and how the place of books in ancient society has been misunderstood. The author offers a realistic reappraisal of the number of Christians in Egypt during early Christianity, and provides a thorough picture of the economics of book production during the period in order to determine the number of Christian papyri likely to have existed. Supporting a more conservative approach to dating surviving papyri, Bagnall examines the dramatic consequences of these findings for the historical understanding of the Christian church in Egypt.
Author: Harry Y. Gamble
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: 1995-01-01
Total Pages: 356
ISBN-13: 9780300069181
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis fascinating and lively book provides the first comprehensive discussion of the production, circulation, and use of books in early Christianity. It explores the extent of literacy in early Christian communities; the relation in the early church between oral tradition and written materials; the physical form of early Christian books; how books were produced, transcribed, published, duplicated, and disseminated; how Christian libraries were formed; who read the books, in what circumstances, and to what purposes. Harry Y. Gamble interweaves practical and technological dimensions of the production and use of early Christian books with the social and institutional history of the period. Drawing on evidence from papyrology, codicology, textual criticism, and early church history, as well as on knowledge about the bibliographical practices that characterized Jewish and Greco-Roman culture, he offers a new perspective on the role of books in the first five centuries of the early church.
Author: James McKinnon
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 1989-09-07
Total Pages: 196
ISBN-13: 9780521376242
DOWNLOAD EBOOKA collection of 400 passages on music from early Christian literature.
Author: Siegmar Doepp
Publisher: Herder & Herder Books
Published: 2000
Total Pages: 0
ISBN-13: 9780824528003
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe long-awaited successor to Berthold Altaner's Patrologie handbook, the Dictionary of Early Christian Literature presents the life and work of Chrisitan authors up to the eighth century and an assessment of their lasting influence on the Christian tradition. The Dictionary offers complete and precise information as well as an updated bibliography in an easy-to-use alphabetical arrangement. Articles on authors provide a brief description of their lives, a presentation of their works, and an assessment of their invluence on the Christian tradition. Other articles deal with types of works and their particular characteristics. Despite the wealth of articles, movements and developments within the centuries can be easily grasped, providing valuable insight into the formation of the Christian tradition as we understand it today.
Author: Bart D. Ehrman
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2005-09-15
Total Pages: 314
ISBN-13: 0199756686
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe early Christian Church was a chaos of contending beliefs. Some groups of Christians claimed that there was not one God but two or twelve or thirty. Some believed that the world had not been created by God but by a lesser, ignorant deity. Certain sects maintained that Jesus was human but not divine, while others said he was divine but not human. In Lost Christianities, Bart D. Ehrman offers a fascinating look at these early forms of Christianity and shows how they came to be suppressed, reformed, or forgotten. All of these groups insisted that they upheld the teachings of Jesus and his apostles, and they all possessed writings that bore out their claims, books reputedly produced by Jesus's own followers. Modern archaeological work has recovered a number of key texts, and as Ehrman shows, these spectacular discoveries reveal religious diversity that says much about the ways in which history gets written by the winners. Ehrman's discussion ranges from considerations of various "lost scriptures"--including forged gospels supposedly written by Simon Peter, Jesus's closest disciple, and Judas Thomas, Jesus's alleged twin brother--to the disparate beliefs of such groups as the Jewish-Christian Ebionites, the anti-Jewish Marcionites, and various "Gnostic" sects. Ehrman examines in depth the battles that raged between "proto-orthodox Christians"--those who eventually compiled the canonical books of the New Testament and standardized Christian belief--and the groups they denounced as heretics and ultimately overcame. Scrupulously researched and lucidly written, Lost Christianities is an eye-opening account of politics, power, and the clash of ideas among Christians in the decades before one group came to see its views prevail.
Author: Gay L Byron
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2003-10-04
Total Pages: 248
ISBN-13: 1134544006
DOWNLOAD EBOOKHow were early Christians influenced by contemporary assumptions about ethnic and colour differences? Why were early Christian writers so attracted to the subject of Blacks, Egyptians, and Ethiopians? Looking at the neglected issue of race brings valuable new perspectives to the study of the ancient world; now Gay Byron's exciting work is the first to survey and theorise Blacks, Egyptians and Ethiopians in Christian antiquity. By combining innovative theory and methodology with a detailed survey of early Christian writings, Byron shows how perceptions about ethnic and color differences influenced the discursive strategies of ancient Christian authors. She demonstrates convincingly that, in spite of the contention that Christianity was to extend to all peoples, certain groups of Christians were marginalized and rendered invisible and silent. Original and pioneering, this book will inspire discussion at every level, encouraging a broader and more sophisticated understanding of early Christianity for scholars and students alike.
Author: Madison N. Pierce
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2022-02-17
Total Pages: 309
ISBN-13: 1009092383
DOWNLOAD EBOOKBefore the early Christian evangelists were Gospel writers, they were Gospel readers. Their composition process was more complex than simply compiling existing traditions about Jesus, then ordering them into a narrative frame. Rather, these writers were engaged in a creative and dynamic act of theological reception. 'Gospel reading' refers to this innovative and often artistic use of source materials -- from Israel's Scriptures to pre-existing narratives of Jesus-- to produce updated, expanded, or even alternative renditions. This volume explores that process. The common thread running through each chapter is the conviction that the early Christian practice of writing 'gospel' and the 'Gospels' was one of the most hermeneutically creative exercises in ancient literary culture, one that was prompted by the perceived theological significance of Jesus. The contributors seek to demonstrate the intricate dynamics of this controversial figure's theological and textual reception through foundational essays on specific texts and themes.
