Early Christianity

by Humphries; Mark

• ISBN13: 9780415205399
• ISBN10: 0415205395
• Edition: Revised
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2006-05-12
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Examining sources and case studies, this fascinating book explores early Christianity, how it was studied, how it is studied now, and how Judaeo-Christian values came to form the ideological bedrock of modern western culture.Looking at the diverse source materials available, from the earliest New Testament texts and the complex treaties of third century authors such as Lactantius, to archaeology, epigraphy and papyrology, the book examines what is needed to study the subject, what materials were available, how useful they were, and how the study of the subject may be approached.Case study chapters focus on important problems in the study of early Christianity including:* the book of Acts as a text revelatory of the social dynamics of cities and as a text about the inherent tensions in Hellenistic Judaism* orthodoxy and organization in early Christianity* early Christianity and the Roman empire.Also including a comprehensive guide for students that lists major collections of literary and non-literary sources, major journals and series, and major text books, it is an excellent aid to the study of Christianity in history.

Author Biography

Mark Humphries is senior lecturer in Classics at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth

Table of Contents

Preface	p. xi
Introduction: how to use this book	p. 1
What is early Christianity and why does it deserve study?	p. 9
The shape of early Christianity	p. 9
Approaching early Christianity in the twenty-first century	p. 17
Tradition and revelation: the historical quest for early Christianity	p. 34
Discovering early Christianity in the age of Constantine	p. 35
Early Christianity from late antiquity to the middle ages	p. 41
Renewal, reform, and the origins of critical scholarship	p. 49
The rise of modern scholarship	p. 55
Towards modernity: early Christianity in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries	p. 59
The search for early Christianity: sources and their interpretation	p. 64
Christian literature	p. 65
Jewish and pagan literature	p. 82
Documentary sources and material remains	p. 88
Using the sources	p. 93
Messiahs and missions: contexts for the origins and spread of Christianity	p. 97
Christian origins and the problem of Judaism	p. 98
Mission and conversion: the expansion of early Christianity	p. 108
Case study: inscriptions and the missionary journeys of Paul	p. 125
Doctrine and power: orthodoxy and organization in early Christianity	p. 142
How many bishops attended the council of Nicaea?	p. 143
The ideal of unity in early Christianity	p. 146
Organization and personnel	p. 149
Ritual	p. 156
Orthodoxy and heresy	p. 158
Truth, tradition, text	p. 165
Case study: the Nag Hammadi discoveries and early Christianity	p. 167
Confronting Babylon: early Christianity and the Roman empire	p. 186
An age of persecutions?	p. 188
Christian alienation from Roman society	p. 196
Christian attitudes to the Roman empire	p. 202
Towards Christendom: an uneven progress	p. 206
Case study: Pliny the Younger and the Christians	p. 210
Discovering early Christianity	p. 225
Points of departure	p. 226
Source materials	p. 230
Specialist journals	p. 234
Bibliographical guides to chapters 3-6	p. 237
Notes	p. 244
Bibliography	p. 250
Index	p. 268
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.