The Spread of Christianity in the First Four Centuries : Essays in Explanation /
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The Spread of Christianity in the First Four Centuries: Essays in Explanation attempts to show how contemporary historical scholarship, or rather a selection of its exponents, views the perennial question why a new religion, indeed a new kind of religion, succeeded in subverting the other religions of the Roman Empire in the first three centuries and in the generations immediately following the 'conversion' of the usurper Constantine in 312.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789047427476
9789004147171
Christian origins and Greco-Roman culture : social and literary contexts for the New Testament /
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In Christian Origins and Greco-Roman Culture , Stanley Porter and Andrew Pitts assemble an international team of scholars whose work has focused on reconstructing the social matrix for earliest Christianity through the use of Greco-Roman materials and literary forms. Each essay moves forward the current understanding of how primitive Christianity situated itself in relation to evolving Hellenistic culture. Some essays focus on configuring the social context for the origins of the Jesus movement and beyond, while others assess the literary relation between early Christian and Greco-Roman texts.
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1 online resource (vii, 751 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004236219 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Fake prophecy and polluted sacraments : ecclesiastical and imperial reactions to Montanism /
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During the four centuries of its existence (ca. 165-550), Montanism, an early-Christian prophetic movement, stirred up considerable controversy. Known to its adherents as the 'New Prophecy,' its opponents viewed it as a ' fake prophecy' with 'polluted sacraments.' Accused of introducing novelty and heresy into Christianity. Montanism, in the post-Constantinian era, was also persecuted by Christian emperors. This book identifies all known opponents of Montanism, analyzes and classifies the various charges leveled against Montanism, and describes the methods used to counteract and ultimately destroy the movement. Also described are the ways in which the Montanists reacted to the opposition against them, revealing that the picture painted of the New Prophecy by its opponents was grossly distorted. Fake Prophecy and Polluted Sacraments provides an insightful case-study of the treatment of a minority Christian movement by Church and State both before and after 'catholic' Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire.
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1 online resource (xxxvii, 485 pages) : maps. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 425-444) and indexes. :
9789047421313 :
0920-623X ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Studies in ancient Judaism and early Christianity /
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Over the past 45 years Professor Pieter W. van der Horst contributed extensively to the study of ancient Judaism and early Christianity. The 24 papers in this volume, written since his early retirement in 2006, cover a wide range of topics, all of them concerning the religious world of Judaism and Christianity in the Hellenistic, Roman, and early Byzantine era. They reflect his research interests in Jewish epigraphy, Jewish interpretation of the Bible, Jewish prayer culture, the diaspora in Asia Minor, exegetical problems in the writings of Philo and Josephus, Samaritan history, texts from ancient Christianity which have received little attention (the poems of Cyrus of Panopolis, the Doctrina Jacobi nuper baptizati, the Letter of Mara bar Sarapion), and miscellanea such as the pagan myth of Jewish cannibalism, the meaning of the Greek expression 'without God,' the religious significance of sneezing in pagan antiquity, and the variety of stories about pious long-sleepers in the ancient world (pagan, Jewish, Christian).
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789004271111 :
0169-734X ;
Fair play : diversity and conflicts in early Christianity : essays in honour of Heikki Räisänen /
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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.
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1 online resource (xii, 592 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789004268210 :
0167-9732 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The Catechumenate in Late Antique Africa (4th -6th centuries) : Augustine of Hippo, his Contemporaries and Early Reception /
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In The Catechumenate in Late Antique Africa (4th-6th centuries) Matthieu Pignot explores how individuals became Christian in ancient North Africa. Before baptism, converts first became catechumens and spent a significant time of gradual integration into the community through rituals and teaching. This book provides the first historical study of this process in African sources, from Augustine of Hippo, to canon of councils, anonymous sermons and 6th-century letters. Pignot shows that practices varied more than is generally assumed and that catechumens, because of their liminal position, were a disputed and essential group in the development of Christian communities until the 6th century at least. This book demonstrates that the catechumenate is key to understanding the processes of Christianisation and conversion in the West.
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Revised and expanded version of the author's thesis (doctoral)--University of Oxford, 2016. :
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004431904
9789004431898
When Judaism and Christianity Began. Vol. 1 : Essays in Memory of Anthony J. Saldarini /
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In these volumes, top scholars in the study of religion celebrate the enduring heritage in learning bequeathed to coming generations by Anthony J. Saldarini (1941-2001). Twenty-nine commemorative essays focus on the topical areas of formative Christianity and Judaism to which Dr. Saldarini devoted his efforts: earliest Christianity, with special attention to the Gospels; Judaism in late antiquity; and the interchange between Judaism and Christianity then and now. So too the disciplines represented in these pages match his history (including archaeology), literature, religion, and theology. Recognizing the standards of learning set by Dr. Saldarini in all of these areas, the colleagues represented in these volumes memorialize him by following in the model he set, of meeting the highest standards of the diverse fields that intersect in the study of Judaic and Christian antiquity. The print edition is available as a set of two volumes (9789004136595).
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1 online resource :
9789004136601
9789004531505
When Judaism and Christianity Began. Vol. 2 : Essays in Memory of Anthony J. Saldarini /
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In these volumes, top scholars in the study of religion celebrate the enduring heritage in learning bequeathed to coming generations by Anthony J. Saldarini (1941-2001). Twenty-nine commemorative essays focus on the topical areas of formative Christianity and Judaism to which Dr. Saldarini devoted his efforts: earliest Christianity, with special attention to the Gospels; Judaism in late antiquity; and the interchange between Judaism and Christianity then and now. So too the disciplines represented in these pages match his history (including archaeology), literature, religion, and theology. Recognizing the standards of learning set by Dr. Saldarini in all of these areas, the colleagues represented in these volumes memorialize him by following in the model he set, of meeting the highest standards of the diverse fields that intersect in the study of Judaic and Christian antiquity. The print edition is available as a set of two volumes (9789004136595).
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1 online resource :
9789004136618
9789004531512
The missions of James, Peter, and Paul : tensions in early Christianity /
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The Missions of James, Peter, and Paul investigates the nature, diversity, and relationship of three early and important expressions of Judaic Christianity. It is the conviction of the contributors that the Judaic origins of the Christian movement have not been sufficiently understood in both ecclesiastical and academic circles. Comparison with contemporary Judaism is foundational and leads to the question that guides discussion: How did James relate to such prominent figures as Peter and Paul? Given James' own eminence, those relationships must have been hallmarks of his own stance and status, and they open the prospect that we might delineate James' theological perspective more precisely than otherwise possible by means of this contrast with Peter and Paul. That is the reason for the division of the present volume into two parts. The Missions of James, Peter, and Paul is presented in two parts: James and Peter, and James Paul. Several studies investigate the literary and archaeological evidence that clarifies the world in which James, Peter, and Paul lived, while other studies probe exegetical and theological aspects of the discussion.
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1 online resource (xiv, 534 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789047414742 :
0167-9732 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Jews and Christians in the first and second centuries : how to write their history /
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The papers in this volume are organized around the ambition to reboot the writing of history about Jews and Christians in the first two centuries CE. Many are convinced of the need for a new perspective on this crucial period that saw both the birth of rabbinic Judaism and apostolic Christianity and their parting of ways. Yet the traditional paradigm of Judaism and Christianity as being two totally different systems of life and thought still predominates in thought, handbooks, and programs of research and teaching. As a result, the sources are still being read as reflecting two separate histories, one Jewish and the other Christian. The contributors to the present work were invited to attempt to approach the ancient Jewish and Christian sources as belonging to one single history, precisely in order to get a better view of the process that separated both communities. In doing so, it is necessary to pay constant attention to the common factor affecting both communities: the Roman Empire. Roman history and Roman archaeology should provide the basis on which to study and write the shared history of Jews and Christians and the process of their separation. A basic intuition is that the series of wars between Jews and Romans between 66 and 135 CE - a phenomenon unrivalled in antiquity - must have played a major role in this process. Thus the papers are arranged around three focal points: (1) the varieties of Jewish and Christian expression in late Second Temple times, (2) the socio-economic, military, and ideological processes during the period of the revolts, and (3) the post-revolt Jewish and Christian identities that emerged. As such, the volume is part of a larger project that is to result in a source book and a history of Jews and Christians in the first and second centuries.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004278479 :
1877-4970 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The past is prologue : the revolution of Nicene historiography /
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While there has been substantial scholarly work done on the development of Christian doctrine in the fourth and fifth centuries, very little corresponding attention has been paid to the writing of church history during this critical period. This work examines how authors began to construct the historical narrative of the "Arian" controversy and focuses on the interplay between theology and worshipping communities. Major figures such as Eusebius and Athanasius are examined, and important but overlooked figures such as an anonymous non-Nicene chronicler and Philostorgius are also included. In the introduction the book surveys recent developments in the study of "Arianism" and discusses the usefulness of the very category of an "Arian controversy." Subsequent chapters set forth the thesis that church histories are important sources for understanding the development of doctrine. A chapter is devoted to Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History, especially the oft-overlooked Book X. Further chapters explore the role of Rufinus as the first extant author to write a continuation of Eusebius. The work also consciously includes marginalized non-Nicene sources, and there are chapters which examine an anonymous non-Nicene chronicler and the Ecclesiastical History of the Eunomian Philostorgius of Borissus. The book is particularly useful for persons interested in examining the development of doctrine in the fourth century from fresh perspectives. The work approaches church histories as narrative myths of community origins produced by worshipping communities standing in continuity to local schools of thought.
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Originally presented as the author's thesis (doctoral)--Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, 2002. :
1 online resource (xiii, 226 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 171-177) and index. :
9789047407836 :
0920-623X ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
From temple to church : destruction and renewal of local cultic topography in late antiquity /
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Destruction of temples and their transformation into churches are central symbols of late antique change in religious environment, socio-political system, and public perception. Contemporaries were aware of these events' far-reaching symbolic significance and of their immediate impact as demonstrations of political power and religious conviction. Joined in any "temple-destruction" are the meaning of the monument, actions taken, and subsequent literary discourse. Paradigms of perception, specific interests, and forms of expression of quite various protagonists clashed. Archaeologists, historians, and historians of religion illuminate "temple-destruction" from different perspectives, analysing local configurations within larger contexts, both regional and imperial, in order to find an appropriate larger perspective on this phenomenon within the late antique movement "from temple to church".
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1 online resource (xi, 378 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789047443735 :
0927-7633 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Hilary of Poitiers' preface to his Opus historicum : translation and commentary /
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What precisely does Hilary's so-called Opus Historicum aim at? His Preface provides the clue. An introduction to the present edition sketches the mutilated work's discovery, tabulates its contents, and discusses problems of dating and authenticity. The English translation, which faces the Latin text, adopts some alternative readings. The Preface is elucidated in itself, and by reference to the earlier In Matthaeum . Central issues are hope and love, confessors and martyrs, imperial favours and threats, the bishop and his inner freedom. The circumspect treatment of both the reader and the subject reveals 'conscientization' of the bishops as the aim of the Opus Historicum . One of the book's excurses deals with the edict of Arles and Milan, and concludes that the nameless creed quoted by Hilary might preserve the lost edict's doctrinal preliminaries.
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1 online resource (x, 169 pages, [1] leaf of plates) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 157-162) and indexes. :
9789004312968 :
0920-623X ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Targums and the transmission of scripture into Judaism and Christianity /
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This collection of seventeen previously published essays and two hitherto unpublished articles examines strategies adopted by ancient Aramaic translators of the Hebrew Bible in their attempts to transmit the meaning of Scripture to their own generations. The intricate interpretations of Targum Pseudo-Jonathan feature prominently: analysis of them suggests a date for the substance of this Targum rather earlier than is commonly assumed. The biblical exegesis of Jerome (ca. 342-420 CE) often reflects Targumic interpretation of Scripture: as well as helping to date items of Jewish interpretation, Jerome's writings also witness to continuing close contacts between Christians and Jews at a crucial stage in the history of both communities. The essays also demonstrate the relationship of the Targums both to other Rabbinic texts and to early translations of the Bible like Septuagint; the versions of Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion; and the Peshitta.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789047443865 :
1570-1336 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Explaining Christian origins and early Judaism : contributions from cognitive and social science /
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Cognitive science of religion is a radically new paradigm in the study of religion. Apart from psychology and anthropology of religion, also historians of religion have shown increasing interest in this approach. This volume is groundbreaking in combining cognitive analysis with historical and social-scientific approaches to biblical materials, Christian origins, and early Judaism. The book is in four parts: an introduction to cognitive and social-scientific approaches, applications of cognitive science, applications of conceptual blending theory, and applications of socio-cognitive analyses. The book will be of interest for historians of religion, biblical scholars, and those working in the cognitive science of religion.
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Proceedings of a symposium held Aug.-Sept. 2005 at the Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies. :
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789047431961 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Order and (dis)order in the first Christian century : a general survey of attitudes /
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Articulate first century Mediterranean society, Jewish and Christian included, expressly favoured harmonious order in society, in individuals, in communication, and in thought. Its common basis was the patriarchal family, the rule of law, rational self-control, and rational thought. Yet there was also resistance to oppressive and unjust order in all spheres; and while law could be held educative, yet there were substantial first century critiques of law, not just Paul's, and awareness that judicial procedures could be chaotic and biassed. Strands of such dissidence appear in Jesus and in Paul, with significant relevance for any understanding of the early Christian movement(s) and contemporary Judaism(s) in Graeco-Roman context, but also with important implications for any practical reflections and application.
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1 online resource (xiii, 395 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 319-353) and indexes. :
9789004255814 :
0167-9732 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Pre-Nicene christology in paschal contexts : the case of the divine Noetic anthropos /
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In Pre-Nicene Christology in Paschal Contexts Dragoş A. Giulea re-examines the earliest texts related to the festival of Easter in light of Second Temple traditions. Commonly portrayed as sacrificial lamb, the key actor of the paschal narrative is here designated as heavenly Kabod , Divine Image, King of the Powers, celestial Anthropos, Demiurge, Son of Man, each of these divine names implying a corresponding soteriological function. Dragoş A. Giulea indicates as well that the Greek philosophical vocabulary and certain idioms of the mystery religions inspired new categories which reshaped the traditional way of describing the nature of celestial entities and the epistemological capacities able to access these realities. Thus, the King of the Powers, or the Son of Man, is several times described as a noetic Anthropos, while initiation and noetic perception become the appropriate methods of accessing the divine.
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1 online resource (xviii, 400 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004251700 :
0920-623X ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Christian origins and Hellenistic Judaism : social and literary contexts for the New Testament /
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In Christian Origins and Hellenistic Judaism , Stanley E. Porter and Andrew W. Pitts assemble an international team of scholars whose work has focused on reconstructing the social matrix for earliest Christianity through reference to Hellenistic Judaism and its literary forms. Each essay moves forward the current understanding of how primitive Christianity situated itself in relation to evolving Greco-Roman Jewish culture. Some essays focus on configuring the social context for the origins of the Jesus movement and beyond, while others assess the literary relation between early Christian and Hellenistic Jewish texts.
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1 online resource ([xi], , 619 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004236394 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
A wandering Galilean : essays in honour of Seán Freyne /
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Starting his career as a scholar of the New Testament, Seán Freyne's work became synonymous with the study of Galilee in the Greek and Roman periods. His search for a deeper and more nuanced understanding of Judaism in the Greek and Roman periods and the development of the early Christian movement has led him to interface with scholars in many related disciplines. In order to do justice to the breadth of Seán Freyne's interests, this volume includes contributions from scholars in the fields of Archaeology, Ancient History, Classics, Hebrew Bible, Early Judaism, Rabbinic Judaism, Early Christianity, New Testament, and Medieval Judaism. The resulting volume demonstrates not only the honoree's interdiciplinary interests, but also the interconnectedness of these disciplines.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789047427018 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.