The religion of the earliest churches : creating a symbolic world

Title
  1. The religion of the earliest churches : creating a symbolic world / Gerd Theissen ; translated by John Bowden.
Published by
  1. Minneapolis, MN : Fortress Press, [1999], ©1999.
Author
  1. Theissen, Gerd.

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Details

Description
  1. xii, 393 pages; 24 cm
Summary
  1. "In these Oxford lectures, Theissen picks up where he left off in The Historical Jesus: A Comprehensive Guide (1998). Employing the notion of religion as a "cultural sign language that promises a gain in life by corresponding to an ultimate reality," he plots the emergence of Christianity as a religion, with elements of myth, ritual, ethics, and an emergent symbolic system.
  2. He expands upon the historical, social, and theological analysis of his earlier works to cover such issues as the relationship of Jesus to the earliest churches, power, possessions, interpretations of Jesus' death, and the separation of the church and synagogue."--BOOK JACKET.
Uniform title
  1. Theorie der urchristlichen Religion. English
Alternative title
  1. Theorie der urchristlichen Religion.
Subject
  1. Christianity > History
  2. Christianity > Origin
  3. Church history > Primitive and early church, ca. 30-600
Contents
  1. 1. Introduction: The Programme of a Theory of Primitive Christian Religion -- Pt. 1. Myth and History in Primitive Christianity. 2. The Significance of the Historical Jesus for the Origin of Primitive Christian Religion: The Revitalization of the Jewish Religion by Jesus. 3. How Did Jesus Come to be Deified? The Transformation of the Jewish Sign System by Post-Easter Belief in Christ -- Pt. 2. The Ethics of Primitive Christianity. 4. The Two Basic Values of the Primitive Christian Ethic: Love of Neighbour and Renunciation of Status. 5. Dealing with Power and Possessions in Primitive Christianity. Ethical Demands in the Light of the Two Basic Values: I. 6. Dealing with Wisdom and Holiness in Primitive Christianity Ethical Demands in the Light of the Two Basic Values: II -- Pt. 3. The Ritual Sign Language of Primitive Christianity. 7. The Origin of the Primitive Christian Sacraments from Symbolic Actions.
  2. 8. The Sacrificial Interpretation of the Death of Jesus and the End of Sacrifice -- Pt. 4. Primitive Christian Religion as an Autonomous Sign World. 9. The Way from Primitive Christian Religion to an Autonomous Sign World: From Paul to the Synoptic Gospels. 10. The Gospel of John: The Internal Autonomy of the Primitive Christian Sign World is Brought to Consciousness -- Pt. 5. The Crises and Consolidation of Primitive Christianity. 11. The Crises of Primitive Christianity. 12. Plurality and Unity in Primitive Christianity and the Origin of the Canon. 13. Conclusion: The Construction and Plausibility of the Primitive Christian Sign World.
Owning institution
  1. Columbia University Libraries
Bibliography (note)
  1. Includes bibliographical references (p. [308]-374) and indexes.