Download or read book The Moral World of the First Christians written by Wayne A. Meeks and published by Westminster John Knox Press. This book was released on 1986-01-01 with total page 188 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Describes the social setting of the early Christians, looks at the Greek and Roman ethical traditions, and explains the moral formation of the beginning Christian movement

Download or read book Women in the World of the Earliest Christians written by Lynn Cohick and published by Baker Academic. This book was released on 2009-11-01 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Lynn Cohick provides an accurate and fulsome picture of the earliest Christian women by examining a wide variety of first-century Jewish and Greco-Roman documents that illuminate their lives. She organizes the book around three major spheres of life: family, religious community, and society in general. Cohick shows that although women during this period were active at all levels within their religious communities, their influence was not always identified by leadership titles nor did their gender always determine their level of participation. The book corrects our understanding of early Christian women by offering an authentic and descriptive historical picture of their lives. Includes black-and-white illustrations from the ancient world.

Download or read book The Origins of Christian Morality written by Wayne A. Meeks and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 1993-01-01 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: By the time Christianity became a political and cultural force in the Roman Empire, it had come to embody a new moral vision. This wise and eloquent book describes the formative years--from the crucifixion of Jesus to the end of the second century of the common era--when Christian beliefs and practices shaped their unique moral order. Wayne A. Meeks examines the surviving documents from Christianity's beginnings (some of which became the New Testament) and shows that they are largely concerned with the way converts to the movement should behave. Meeks finds that for these Christians, the formation of morals means the formation of community; the documents are addressed not to individuals but to groups, and they have among their primary aims the maintenance and growth of these groups. Meeks paints a picture of the process of socialization that produced the early forms of Christian morality, discussing many factors that made the Christians feel that they were a single and "chosen" people. He describes, for example, the impact of conversion; the rapid spread of Christian household cult-associations in the cities of the Roman Empire; the language of Christian moral discourse as revealed in letters, testaments, and "moral stories"; the rituals, meetings, and institutionalization of charity; the Christians' feelings about celibacy, sex, and gender roles; and their sense of the end-time and final judgment. In each of these areas Meeks seeks to determine what is distinctive about the Christian viewpoint and what is similar to the moral components of Greco-Roman or Jewish thought.

Download or read book The Social World of the First Christians written by Wayne A. Meeks and published by Augsburg Fortress Publishing. This book was released on 1995 with total page 456 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: F. Hock -- Paul's thorn and cultural models of affliction / Susan R. Garrett -- Light on Paul from the Testaments of the twelve patriarchs? / M. de Jonge -- God's new family in Thessalonica / Abraham J. Malherbe -- Parents and children in the letters of Paul / O. Larry Yarbrough -- Matthew and the spirit / Leander E. Keck -- The problem of perjury in Greek context : prolegomena to an exegesis of Matthew 5:33; 1 Timothy 1:10; and Didache 2.3 / John T. Fitzgerald -- The social world of James : literary analysis and historical reconstruction / Luke Timothy Johnson -- The footwashing in John 13:6-11 : transformation ritual or ceremony? / Jerome H. Neyrey -- Rich and poor, proud and humble in Luke-Acts / David L. Balch -- Visualizing the "real" world of Acts 16: toward construction of a social index / L. Michael.

Download or read book Christian Ethics A Very Short Introduction written by D. Stephen Long and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2010-07-29 with total page 153 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides both a short history of Christian ethics and looks at itsbasic sources as they arise from Judaism, Greco-Roman ethics, andChristianity

Download or read book The Religion of the First Christians written by Frederick James Gould and published by . This book was released on 1901 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Moral Exhortation written by and published by Westminster John Knox Press. This book was released on 1986-01-01 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Translated selections of writings on ethics by Arius Didymus, Cicero, Crates, Demetrius of Phalerum, Dio Chrysostom, Diogenes, Diogenes Laertius, Epictetus, Epicurus, Hierocles, Horace, Isocrates, Julian, Lucian of Samosata, Maximus of Tyre, Melissa, Musonius Rufus, Pliny the Younger, Plutarch, Seneca, Sextus Empiricus, and Theano, and from the Gnomologium Vaticanum, Oxyrhynchus Papyrus, and Pythagorean Sentences.

Download or read book Social Reality and the Early Christians written by Gerd Theissen and published by Augsburg Fortress Publishing. This book was released on 1992 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Theissen inquires into the correlation between the theological and ethical convictions of the first Christians as well as the social realities of the world in which they lived. He expands the form-critical inquiry into the Sitz im Leben of early Christian texts to ask about the significance of early Christian convictions in society.

Download or read book The World of the Early Christians written by Joseph Francis Kelly and published by Michael Glazier. This book was released on 1997 with total page 231 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Like every lost world," the world of the early Christians was a combination of the foreign and the familiar, the unique and the commonplace. In "The World of the Early Christians, " Joseph Kelly introduces and explains the world of the early Christians, and while he examines the differences between our two societies, he also stresses our similarities. The early Christians were people, like us, trying to make their way in life. There are many introductions to the world of the early Christians, but few if any deal with its historical background and the basic questions non-specialists ask: Why did the Christians use philosophy at al? Didn't it make everything confusing? Why didn't they just stay with the Bible? In "The World of the Early Christians" Kelly answers such preliminary questions and concentrates on the fundamental issue of "why" Christians used philosophy, rather than simply listing the philosophies they used. Not only do most people know little about the early Christians, they often have erroneous views about them. For example, many modern Christians think their ancient spiritual ancestors were impoverished, uneducated people from the lowest strata of Roman society. "The World of the Early Christians" addresses some of these misconceptions by considering the historical evidence available about these people. Similarly, Kelly also explains some ancient topics - such as magic and astrology - and considers how they can be misleading to modern students. He then describes the early Christians' relationships with other groups, such as Jews, pagans, and members of popular and official cults, and then explores the intellectual and cultural lives of the early Christians. Students and anyone interested in understanding the now lost world of early Christianity will appreciate this volume's straightforward treatment of this essential background material. Kelly touches upon topics treated by the other volumes in the "Message of the Fathers of the Church" series. He refers to original sources in translation unless no translation is available, and he includes bibliographic references for further research. In a direct and easy manner, Kelly brings to life for us today the rich world of the early Christians. Chapters are: "Who Were the Early Christians?" "How Do We Know About the Early Christians?" "The Physical World," "Others," "Intellectual and Cultural Life," "Living in the World," and "A Brief History of Early Christianity.""

Download or read book Dominion written by Tom Holland and published by Basic Books. This book was released on 2019-10-29 with total page 624 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A "marvelous" (Economist) account of how the Christian Revolution forged the Western imagination. Crucifixion, the Romans believed, was the worst fate imaginable, a punishment reserved for slaves. How astonishing it was, then, that people should have come to believe that one particular victim of crucifixion-an obscure provincial by the name of Jesus-was to be worshipped as a god. Dominion explores the implications of this shocking conviction as they have reverberated throughout history. Today, the West remains utterly saturated by Christian assumptions. As Tom Holland demonstrates, our morals and ethics are not universal but are instead the fruits of a very distinctive civilization. Concepts such as secularism, liberalism, science, and homosexuality are deeply rooted in a Christian seedbed. From Babylon to the Beatles, Saint Michael to #MeToo, Dominion tells the story of how Christianity transformed the modern world.

Download or read book Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs written by David W. Bercot and published by Hendrickson Publishers. This book was released on 2021-04-18 with total page 1305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Interest in the ways of the early church has never been more intense. What did early Christians believe about the divinity of Christ? What were the beliefs of those who sat at the feet of Jesus’ disciples? Now, for the first time, a unique dictionary has been developed to allow easy access to the ancient material and furnish ready answers to these questions and others like them. David W. Bercot has painstakingly combed the writings of these early church leaders and categorized the heart of their thinking into more than 700 theological, moral, and historical topics to create A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs. Wonderfully suited for devotional or thematic study as well as sermon illustration, this resource offers a window into the world of the early church and affords special opportunity to examine topically the thoughts of students of the original apostles, as well as other great lights in the life of the early church. Collects relevant comments on key Christian concepts from prominent figures such as Origen, Clement of Alexandria, Clement of Rome, and Hippolytus Includes key biblical verses associated with a given topic Offers brief definitions of unfamiliar terms or concepts, allowing easy access to the ancient material Provides a “who’s who” of ante-Nicene Christianity to put in context the ancient Christian writers Discusses more than 700 key theological, moral, and historical topics Gives strategic cross-references to related topics Functions as a topical index to the writings of Ante-Nicene Fathers

Download or read book The Myth of Persecution written by Candida Moss and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2013-03-05 with total page 247 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In The Myth of Persecution, Candida Moss, a leading expert on early Christianity, reveals how the early church exaggerated, invented, and forged stories of Christian martyrs and how the dangerous legacy of a martyrdom complex is employed today to silence dissent and galvanize a new generation of culture warriors. According to cherished church tradition and popular belief, before the Emperor Constantine made Christianity legal in the fourth century, early Christians were systematically persecuted by a brutal Roman Empire intent on their destruction. As the story goes, vast numbers of believers were thrown to the lions, tortured, or burned alive because they refused to renounce Christ. These saints, Christianity's inspirational heroes, are still venerated today. Moss, however, exposes that the "Age of Martyrs" is a fiction—there was no sustained 300-year-long effort by the Romans to persecute Christians. Instead, these stories were pious exaggerations; highly stylized rewritings of Jewish, Greek, and Roman noble death traditions; and even forgeries designed to marginalize heretics, inspire the faithful, and fund churches. The traditional story of persecution is still taught in Sunday school classes, celebrated in sermons, and employed by church leaders, politicians, and media pundits who insist that Christians were—and always will be—persecuted by a hostile, secular world. While violence against Christians does occur in select parts of the world today, the rhetoric of persecution is both misleading and rooted in an inaccurate history of the early church. Moss urges modern Christians to abandon the conspiratorial assumption that the world is out to get Christians and, rather, embrace the consolation, moral instruction, and spiritual guidance that these martyrdom stories provide.

Download or read book The Moral World of James written by James Riley Strange and published by Peter Lang. This book was released on 2010 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In The Moral World of James, James Riley Strange compares the moral system in the Epistle of James with other Greco-Roman and Judaic texts. The author of the epistle prescribed moral practices in a world in which other people, both pagan and Jewish, had long been expressing similar concerns, and more would continue to take up the task centuries after Christianity was well established in the Roman Empire. In this fresh and thick analysis, Strange's systemic comparison of texts (among them works of Plato, Plutarch, Epictetus, and Aelius Aristides, as well as Greek Magical Papyri, tractates of the Mishnah, and the Community Rule of the Dead Sea Scrolls) reveals how James's vision of a distinctive way of community life was both part of and distinct from the moral and religious systems among which it emerged.

Download or read book In Stone and Story written by Bruce W. Longenecker and published by Baker Academic. This book was released on 2020-02-18 with total page 471 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This beautifully designed, full-color textbook introduces the Roman background of the New Testament by immersing students in the life and culture of the thriving first-century towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum, which act as showpieces of the world into which the early Christian movement was spreading. Bruce Longenecker, a leading scholar of the ancient world of the New Testament, discusses first-century artifacts in relation to the life stories of people from the Roman world. The book includes discussion questions, maps, and 175 color photographs. Additional resources are available through Textbook eSources.

Download or read book The Crucible of Christian Morality written by J. Ian H. McDonald and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-04-29 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Crucible of Christian Morality explores the notion of Christian ethics and discusses its roots in the teachings of Jesus and also Hellenistic philosophy. Its significance in developing moral standards throughout the world and its stability in the modern world. The Crucible of Christian Morality uses new critical perspectives including: * the sociology of knowledge * and discourse analysis. J. Ian H. McDonald challenges conventional approaches by focusing on the behaviour of early Christian communities rather than their texts to shed new light on the nature of Christian morality in its earliest and most formative years.

Download or read book The Christians as the Romans Saw Them written by Robert Louis Wilken and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2003-01-01 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book offers an engrossing portrayal of the early years of the Christian movement from the perspective of the Romans.

Download or read book Backgrounds of Early Christianity written by Everett Ferguson and published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. This book was released on 2003 with total page 676 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: New to this expanded & updated edition are revisions of Ferguson's original material, updated bibliographies, & a fresh dicussion of first century social life, the Dead Sea Scrolls & much else.