A History of Early Christian Literature
Title | A History of Early Christian Literature PDF eBook |
Author | Justo L. González |
Publisher | Westminster John Knox Press |
Pages | 415 |
Release | 2019-08-27 |
Genre | Religion |
ISBN | 1611649544 |
Historical 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.
Early Christian Books in Egypt
Title | Early Christian Books in Egypt PDF eBook |
Author | Roger S. Bagnall |
Publisher | Princeton University Press |
Pages | 128 |
Release | 2021-07-13 |
Genre | Religion |
ISBN | 1400833787 |
For 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.
Early Christian Literature
Title | Early Christian Literature PDF eBook |
Author | Helen Rhee |
Publisher | Psychology Press |
Pages | 282 |
Release | 2005 |
Genre | History |
ISBN | 9780415354882 |
This 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).
Books and Readers in the Early Church
Title | Books and Readers in the Early Church PDF eBook |
Author | Harry Y. Gamble |
Publisher | Yale University Press |
Pages | 356 |
Release | 1995-01-01 |
Genre | Religion |
ISBN | 9780300069181 |
This 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.
The First Christian Centuries
Title | The First Christian Centuries PDF eBook |
Author | Paul McKechnie |
Publisher | |
Pages | 282 |
Release | 2001 |
Genre | History |
ISBN |
The Earliest History of the Christian Gathering
Title | The Earliest History of the Christian Gathering PDF eBook |
Author | Valeriy A. Alikin |
Publisher | BRILL |
Pages | 361 |
Release | 2010 |
Genre | Religion |
ISBN | 9004183094 |
Recent research has made a strong case for the view that Early Christian communities, sociologically considered, functioned as voluntary religious associations. This is similar to the practice of many other cultic associations in the Greco-Roman world of the first century CE. Building upon this new approach, along with a critical interpretation of all available sources, this book discusses the social and religio-historical background of the weekly gatherings of Christians and presents a fresh reconstruction of how the weekly gatherings originated and developed in both form and content. The topics studied here include the origins of the observance of Sunday as the weekly Christian feast-day, the shape and meaning of the weekly gatherings of the Christian communities, and the rise of customs such as preaching, praying, singing, and the reading of texts in these meetings.
History of Early Christian Literature in the First Three Centuries
Title | History of Early Christian Literature in the First Three Centuries PDF eBook |
Author | Gustav Krüger |
Publisher | |
Pages | 450 |
Release | 1897 |
Genre | Christian literature, Early |
ISBN |