The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Studies

by Harvey, Susan Ashbrook; Hunter, David

• ISBN13: 9780199271566
• ISBN10: 0199271569
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-08-15
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Studies responds to and celebrates the explosion of research in this inter-disciplinary field over recent decades. As a one-volume reference work, it provides an introduction to the academic study of early Christianity (c. 100-600 AD) and examines thevast geographical area impacted by the early church, in Western and Eastern late antiquity. It is thematically arranged to encompass history, literature, thought, practices, and material culture. It contains authoritative and up-to-date surveys of current thinking and research in the varioussub-specialties of early Christian studies, written by leading figures in the discipline. The essays orientate readers to a given topic, as well as to the trajectory of research developments over the past 30-50 years within the scholarship itself. Guidance for future research is also given. Eachessay points the reader towards relevant forms of extant evidence (texts, documents, or examples of material culture), as well as to the appropriate research tools available for the area.This volume will be useful to advanced undergraduate and post-graduate students, as well as to specialists in any area who wish to consult a brief review of the 'state of the question' in a particular area or sub-specialty of early Christian studies, especially one different from their own.

Table of Contents

Preface

Part 1

From Patristics to Early Christian Studies

Literature, Patristics, Early Christian Writing

Which Early Christianity?

Evidence: Material and Textual

Material Evidence (1): Archaeology

Material Evidence (2): Visual Culture

Epigraphy

Paleography and Codicology

Identities

Jews and Christians

Pagans and Christians

'Gnosticism'

Manichaeism

Arius and Arians

Pelagius and Pelagians

Regions

The West (1): Italy, Gaul, and Spain

The West (2): North Africa

The East (1): Greece and Asia Minor

The East (2): Egypt and Palestin

The East (3): Syria and Mesopotamia

Clergy and Laity

The Biblical Canon

Creeds, Councils, and Canon

Church and Empire

Household and Family

Women and Gender

Monastic Life

Expressions of Christian Culture

Early Christian Apocryphal Literature

Apologetics

Homiletics

Early Christian Historiography

Martyrology and Hagiography

Poetry and Hymnography (1): Latin

Poetry and Hymnography (2): Greek

Poetry and Hymnography (3): Syriac

Christian Philosoph

Ritual, Piety, and Practice

Christian Initiation

Eucharistic Liturgy

Prayer

Asceticis

Penance

Martyrdom and the Cult of the Saints

Pilgrimage

Theological Themes

Interpretation of Scripture

Doctrine of God

Christ and Christologies

Doctrine of Creation

Early Christian Ethics

Tools of the Trade (Instrumenta Studiorum)

Index

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.