The religion of the earliest churches : creating a symbolic world
- Title
- The religion of the earliest churches : creating a symbolic world / Gerd Theissen ; translated by John Bowden.
- Published by
- Minneapolis, MN : Fortress Press, ©1999.
- Author
Items in the library and off-site
Displaying 1 item
Status | Format | Access | Call number | Item location |
---|---|---|---|---|
Status | FormatText | AccessUse in library | Call numberBT60 .T4413 1999 | Item locationOff-site |
Details
- Description
- xiv, 393 pages; 24 cm
- Summary
- "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. 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
- Theorie der urchristlichen Religion. English
- Alternative title
- Theorie der urchristlichen Religion.
- Subject
- Genre/Form
- History
- Contents
- Introduction: The programme of a theory of primitive Christian religion -- Pt. 1: Myth and history in primitive Christianity -- The significance of the historical Jesus for the origin of primitive Christian religion -- The revitalization of the Jewish religion by Jesus -- 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 -- The two basic values of the primitive Christian ethic: love of neighbor and renunciation of status -- Dealing with power and possessions in primitive Christianity -- Ethical demands in the light of the two basic values: I -- 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 -- The origin of the primitive Christian sacraments from symbolic actions -- The sacrificial interpretation of the death of Jesus and the end of sacrifice.
- Owning institution
- Princeton University Library
- Bibliography (note)
- Includes bibliographical references (p. [308]-374) and indexes.