Light from the Gentiles: Hellenistic Philosophy and Early Christianity
Light from the Gentiles: Hellenistic Philosophy and Early Christianity

Author: Abraham J. Malherbe

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2013-10-10

Total Pages: 1153

ISBN-13: 9004256520

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Rather than viewing the Graeco-Roman world as the “background” against which early Christian texts should be read, Abraham J. Malherbe saw the ancient Mediterranean world as a rich ecology of diverse intellectual traditions that interacted within specific social contexts. These essays, spanning over fifty years, illustrate Malherbe’s appreciation of the complexities of this ecology and what is required to explore philological and conceptual connections between early Christian writers, especially Paul and Athenagoras, and their literary counterparts who participated in the religious and philosophical discourse of the wider culture. Malherbe’s essays laid the groundwork for his magisterial commentary on the Thessalonian correspondence and launched the contemporary study of Hellenistic moral philosophy and early Christianity.

Defending and Defining the Faith
Defending and Defining the Faith

Author: D.H. Williams

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2020-05-07

Total Pages: 485

ISBN-13: 019062051X

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In Early Christian Apologetics, D.H. Williams offers a comprehensive presentation of Christian apologetic literature from the second to the fifth century, considering each writer within the intellectual context of the day. Williams argues that most apologies were not directed at a pagan readership. In most cases, he says, ancient apologetics had a double object: to instruct the Christian and to persuade weak Christians or non-Christians who were sympathetic to Christian claims. Traditionally, scholars of apologetics have focused on the context of persecution in the pre-Constantinian period. By following the links in the intellectual trajectory up though the early fifth century, Williams prompts deeper reflection on the process of Christian self-definition in late antiquity. Taken cumulatively, he finds, apologetic literature was in fact integral to the formation of the Christian identity in the Roman world.

From Stoicism to Platonism
From Stoicism to Platonism

Author: Troels Engberg-Pedersen

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2017-02-13

Total Pages: 411

ISBN-13: 1316738833

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From Stoicism to Platonism describes the change in philosophy from around 100 BCE, when monistic Stoicism was the strongest dogmatic school in philosophy, to around 100 CE, when dualistic Platonism began to gain the upper hand - with huge consequences for all later Western philosophy and for Christianity. It is distinguished by querying traditional categories like 'eclecticism' and 'harmonization' as means of describing the period. Instead, it highlights different strategies of 'appropriation' of one school's doctrines by philosophers from the other school, with all philosophers being highly conscious of their own identity. The book also sets out to break down the traditional boundaries between, on the one hand, the study of Greco-Roman philosophy in the period and, on the other hand, that of contemporary Hellenistic Jewish and early Christian writings with a philosophical profile. In these ways, the book opens up an immensely fruitful period in the history of philosophy.

God and the Faithfulness of Paul
God and the Faithfulness of Paul

Author: Christoph Heilig

Publisher: Fortress Press

Published: 2017-04-01

Total Pages: 841

ISBN-13: 1506421687

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N. T. Wright's magnum opus Paul and the Faithfulness of God is a landmark study on the history and thought of the apostle Paul. This volume brings together a stellar group of international scholars to critically assess an array of issues in Wright's work. Essays in Part I set Wright in the context of other Pauline theologies. Part II addresses methodological issues in Wright's approach, including critical realism, historiography, intertextuality, and narrative. In Part III, on context, scholars measure Wright's representation of early Judaism, Greek philosophy, paganism, and the Roman Empire. Part IV turns to Wright's exegetical decisions regarding law, covenant, and election, the "New Perspective," justification and redemption, Christology, Spirit, eschatology, and ethics. Part V at last speaks to the implications of Wright's work for the church's theology, sacraments, and mission, and for global responsibility in a "postmodern" age. The volume includes a critical response from Wright himself.

Religious Polemics and Encounters in Late Antiquity
Religious Polemics and Encounters in Late Antiquity

Author:

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2021-10-18

Total Pages: 307

ISBN-13: 9004466843

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Religious Polemics and Encounters in Late Antiquity: Boundaries, Conversions, and Persuasion explores the intricate identity formation and negotiations of early encounters of the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam). It explores the ever-pressing challenges arising from polemical inter-religious encounters by analyzing the dynamics of apologetic debate, the negotiation and formation of boundaries of belonging, and the argumentative thrust for persuasion and conversion, as well as the outcomes of these various encounters, including the articulation of novel ideas. The Late Antique authors studied in the present volume represent a variety of voices from North Africa, passing through Rome, to Palestine. Together, these voices of the past offer invaluable insight to shape the present times, in hope for a better future.

Moral Transformation in Greco-Roman Philosophy of Mind
Moral Transformation in Greco-Roman Philosophy of Mind

Author: Max J. Lee

Publisher: Mohr Siebeck

Published: 2020-04-15

Total Pages: 694

ISBN-13: 3161496604

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"Max J. Lee examines the philosophies of Platonism and Stoicism during the Greco-Roman era and their rivals including Diaspora Judaism and Pauline Christianity on how to transform a person's character from vice to virtue. He describes each philosophical school's respective teachings on diverse moral topoi such as emotional control, ethical action and habit, character formation, training, mentorship, and deity." --provided by publisher

The Apologists and Paul
The Apologists and Paul

Author: Todd D. Still

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2024-06-13

Total Pages: 361

ISBN-13: 0567715485

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This volume examines the use of Paul's writing within the work of ante-Nicene apologetic writers. It takes apologetics as a broad genre in which many early Christian writers participated, offering rhetorical defenses for emerging aspects of doctrine, rooted in understanding of the scriptures, and often specifically the writings of Paul. The volume interacts with the writings of many significant 'apologetic' writers, including: Melito of Sardis, Clement of Alexandria, Tatian, Tertullian, Hippolytus and Cyprian. The chapters examine how these early Christian writers used the letters of Paul to develop their own philosophical ideas and defenses of aspects of the emerging Christian faith. The internationally renowned contributors have all been specially commissioned for this volume, and an afterword by Todd D. Still considers the question of whether or not Paul was an 'apologist' himself.

The Critical Analysis of Religious Diversity
The Critical Analysis of Religious Diversity

Author: Lene Kühle

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2018-06-19

Total Pages: 327

ISBN-13: 900436711X

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Drawing on international and thematic case studies, The Critical Analysis of Religious Diversity asks its readers to pay attention to the assumptions and processes by which scholars, religious practitioners and states construct religious diversity. The study has three foci: theoretical and methodological issues; religious diversity in non-Western contexts; and religious diversity in social contexts. Together, these trans-contextual studies are utilised to develop a critical analysis exploring how agency, power and language construct understandings of religious diversity. As a result, the book argues that reflexive scholarship needs to consider that the dynamics of diversification and homogenisation are fundamental to understanding social and religious life, that religious diversity is a Western concept, and that definitions of ‘religious diversity’ are often entangled by and within dynamic empirical realities. Contributors are: Martin Baumann, Peter Beyer, Jørn Borup, Paul Bramadat, Marian Burchardt, Henrik Reintoft Christensen, Andrew Dawson, Mar Griera, Anna Halafoff, William Hoverd, Lene Kühle, Mar Marcos, Stefania Travagnin, and Andreas Tunger-Zanetti.

James (New Testament Guides)
James (New Testament Guides)

Author: John S. Kloppenborg

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2022-01-13

Total Pages: 145

ISBN-13: 0567703967

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James offers a concise and accessible introduction to a New Testament text, in this case aimed specifically at undergraduate-level students. John S. Kloppenborg introduces the reader to a series of critical issues bearing on the reading of James and provides a balanced presentation and assessment of the range of scholarly views, with guidance for further reading and research.