Fair Play: Diversity and Conflicts in Early Christianity PDF Download

Author: Ismo Dunderberg
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004268219
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 608

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Book Description
This collection of essays in honour of Heikki Räisänen, New Testament professor at the University of Helsinki, consists of 22 essays written by his colleagues and students on Jesus, the gospels, Paul, early Christianity, and biblical interpretation. Räisänen's own research has been characterized by methodological awareness combined with a keen interest in ethical issues. Both these aspects come to expression in his insistence on "fair play" as a correct scholarly attitude involving an honest dialogue, a real encounter, and a recognition of diverging opinions. In this spirit, most of the essays in this book lay emphasis on issues related to early Christian diversity and conflicts, and to their challenge in modern society. The book is useful for scholars, academic teachers and students interested in various aspects of the New Testament, early Christianity, and hermeneutics.

Author: Rieuwerd Buitenwerf
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9047443462
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 472

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Book Description
This collection of essays by leading experts in New Testament scholarship addresses core themes in the study of early Christianity. It is dedicated to Henk Jan de Jonge (Emeritus Professor in the New Testament, Leiden University) in honour of his important contributions to the field of New Testament Studies.

Author: Elisabeth Hense
Publisher: LIT Verlag Münster
ISBN: 3643907524
Category : Christian literature, Early
Languages : en
Pages : 194

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Book Description
Based upon a comparative analysis, this book argues that early notions of 'discernment of spirits' are not superior to later ones. Discernment of spirits is not a matter of an apostolically fixed ideal that should be traditionally cleaved to, but, above all, is a continual re-shaping and restructuring of this tradition. Christians were not expected to imitate the discernment of others, but rather were encouraged to make judgments for themselves. Dr. Elisabeth Hense is Assistant Professor for Spiritual Theology at Radboud University Nijmegen (NL).

Author: Christopher W. Skinner
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1725244888
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 270

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Book Description
The hypothesis that the Fourth Gospel is a theological response to the Gospel of Thomas is a recent development in the study of the New Testament and early Christianity. Assuming an early date for the Gospel of Thomas, the proponents of this hypothesis argue that the supposed "polemical" presentation of Thomas in the Fourth Gospel is evidence of a conflict between the early communities associated respectively with John and Thomas. However, a detailed narrative study reveals that the Fourth Gospel portrays a host of characters--disciples and non-disciples--in an equally unflattering light where an understanding of Jesus's origins, message, and mission are concerned. The present study attempts to demonstrate that the Fourth Gospel's presentation of Thomas is part and parcel of its treatment of "uncomprehending" characters. If this thesis is correct, it poses a significant challenge to the assumption that the Fourth Gospel contains a polemic against Thomas, or that it was written in response to the Gospel of Thomas or the community associated with Thomas.

Author: Niko Huttunen
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004428240
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 292

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Book Description
In Early Christians Adapting to the Roman Empire: Mutual Recognition Niko Huttunen challenges the interpretation of early Christian texts as anti-imperial documents. He presents examples of the positive relationship between early Christians and the Roman society. With the concept of “recognition” Huttunen describes a situation in which the parties can come to terms with each other without full agreement. Huttunen provides examples of non-Christian philosophers recognizing early Christians. He claims that recognition was a response to Christians who presented themselves as philosophers. Huttunen reads Romans 13 as a part of the ancient tradition of the law of the stronger. His pioneering study on early Christian soldiers uncovers the practical dimension of recognizing the empire.

Author: Helen K. Bond
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
ISBN: 0802871712
Category : Bibles
Languages : en
Pages : 380

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Book Description
Long overshadowed by the apostle Paul, Peter has received increased scholarly attention of late. Building on that resurgence of interest, nineteen internationally prominent scholars of early Christian history examine and reassess the historical Peter and his significance in Christian texts from the first three centuries. Giving due attention to archaeological data and recent scholarship, the contributors offer a comprehensive view of Peter through analysis of both New Testament texts and later, noncanonical literature. Markus Bockmuehl concludes the volume by considering present-day questions about the role of Peter, popes, and church leadership.

Author: Carlos R. Galvao-Sobrinho
Publisher: University of California Press
ISBN: 0520383168
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 322

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Book Description
During the fourth century a.d., theological controversy divided Christian communities throughout the Eastern half of the Roman Empire. At stake was not only the truth about God but also the authority of church leaders, whose legitimacy depended on their claims to represent that truth. In this book, Carlos R. Galvao-Sobrinho argues that out of these disputes was born a new style of church leadership, one in which the power of the episcopal office was greatly increased. He shows how these disputes compelled church leaders repeatedly to assert their orthodoxy and legitimacy—tasks that required them to mobilize their congregations and engage in action that continuously projected their power in the public arena. These developments were largely the work of prelates of the first half of the fourth century, but the style of command they inaugurated became the basis for a dynamic model of ecclesiastical leadership found throughout late antiquity.

Author: J. D. Atkins
Publisher: Mohr Siebeck
ISBN: 3161581652
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 587

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Book Description
"Why do the Gospels depict the risen Jesus as touchable and able to eat? J. D. Atkins challenges the common view that Luke 24 and John 20 are apologetic responses to docetism by re-examining the redaction of the appearance stories in light of their reception among early docetists and church fathers."--Page 4 of cover.

Author: Edward W. Klink III
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139466704
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 257

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Book Description
The last generation of gospel scholarship has considered the reconstruction and analysis of the audience behind the gospels as paradigmatic. The key hermeneutical template for reading the gospels has been the quest for the community that each gospel represents. This scholarly consensus regarding the audience of the gospels has been reconsidered. Using as a test case one of the most entrenched gospels, Edward Klink explores the evidence for the audience behind the Gospel of John. This study challenges the prevailing gospel paradigm by examining the community construct and its functional potential in early Christianity, the appropriation of a gospel text and J. L. Martyn's two-level reading of John, and the implied reader located within the narrative. The study concludes by proposing a more appropriate audience model for reading John, as well as some implications for the function of the gospel in early Christianity.

Author: David J. Chalcraft
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317491394
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 278

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Book Description
'Sectarianism in Early Judaism' applies recent developments in sociological analysis to sect formation and development in early Judaism. The essays examine sectarianism in a wide range of different forms: the many layers of redaction in religious texts; the development arcs of sectarian groups; the role of sectarianism across Jewish history as well as in the time of the Second Temple; and the relations within and between sects and between sects and wider society. The book aims to establish a conceptual framework for the analysis of sects and, in doing so, makes particular use of the work of Max Weber and Bryan Wilson, exploring the limits of their typologies and sociological theories.