Research Catalog

Title

The religion of the earliest churches : creating a symbolic world / Gerd Theissen ; translated by John Bowden.

Author

Theissen, Gerd.

Publication

Minneapolis, MN : Fortress Press, ©1999.

Items in the Library & Off-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

• 30-600
• Christianity > Origin
• Church history > Primitive and early church, ca. 30-600
• Christianity > Essence, genius, nature > History
• Christianity > Essence, genius, nature
• Christianity > Origin
• Church history > Primitive and early church

Genre/Form

History

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. [308]-374) and indexes.

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.

ISBN

• 080063179X
• 9780800631796

LCCN

99050016

OCLC

• ocm42597699
• 42597699
• SCSB-1032551

Owning Institutions

Princeton University Library