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The second century CE has often been described as a kind of dark period with regard to our knowledge of how the earliest Christian writings (the gospels and Paul’s letters) were transmitted and gradually came to be accepted as authoritative and then, later on, as “canonical”. At the same time a number of other Christian texts, of various genres, saw the light. Some of these seem to be familiar with the gospels, or perhaps rather with gospel traditions identical or similar to those that found their way into the NT gospels. The volume focuses on representative texts and authors of the time in order to see how they have struggled to find a way to work with the NT gospels and/or the traditions behind these, while at the same time giving a place also to other extra-canonical traditions. It studies in a comparative way the reception of identifiably “canonical” and of extra-canonical traditions in the second century. It aims at discovering patterns or strategies of reception within the at first sight often rather chaotic way some of these ancient authors have cited or used these traditions. And it will look for explanations of why it took such a while before authors got used to cite gospel texts (more or less) accurately.
Christianity in the Second Century seeks to show how academic study on this critical period of Christian development has undergone change over the last thirty years. It focuses on contributions from early Christian and ancient Jewish studies, and ancient history, all of which have contributed to a changing scholarly landscape.
Despite virtually unanimous patristic association of the Gospel of Mark with the apostle Peter, the Gospel was mostly neglected by those same writers. Michael J. Kok surveys the second-century reception of Mark, from Papias of Hierapolis to Clement of Alexandria, and finds that the patristic writers were hesitant to embrace Mark because they perceived it to be too easily adapted to rival Christian factions. Kok describes the story of Marks Petrine origins as a second-century move to assert ownership of the Gospel on the part of the emerging Orthodox Church.
Eight essays, originally presented by scholars from six nations at a conference held April 1988, Notre Dame, Indiana. They explore Gospel traditions in the second century, focusing on, among other subjects: the Western Text, the papyri, the text of the Fathers, the status of synoptics, and redactorial activities. Annotation(c) 2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
The four canonical gospels are long set in established sequence as Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. This book is about four other gospels, the Gospel of Thomas, the Secret Gospel of Mark; the Gospel of Peter, and Egerton Papyrus 2. These four other gospels have generally been regarded as mere digests or collages of the canonical gospels, whereas in fact, as Professor Crossan persuasively shows, the four others hold within their mutilated fragments independent or earlier traditions than those tradition has canonized. Four Other Gospels proposes a spectrum of relations between the canonical gospels and these others. This spectrum ranges from the Gospel of Thomas, which is a parallel and independent tradition, to Egerton Papyrus 2, on which both John and Mark are dependent, to the Secret Gospel of Mark, on which Mark directly and John indirectly are dependent, and on to the Gospel of Peter, which contains an original Passion-Resurrection source used by all four of the canonical gospels, but which submitted to their eventual ascendancy by attempting a harmonization between it and them, and placed the new complex under the authority and authorship of Simon Peter. Four Other Gospels does not propose a new or alternative canon. The canon is a fact both of history and of theology. But the thesis of this book is that anyone who takes the four other gospels seriously and thoughtfully will never again be able to read the four canonical gospels in quite the same way. A new light has been shed.
The earliest of the four Gospels, the book portrays Jesus as an enigmatic figure, struggling with enemies, his inner and external demons, and with his devoted but disconcerted disciples. Unlike other gospels, his parables are obscure, to be explained secretly to his followers. With an introduction by Nick Cave
For many years now, the topic of the New Testament canon has been the main focus of my research and writing. It is an exciting field of study that probes into questions that have long fascinated both scholars and laymen alike, namely when and how these 27 books came to be regarded as a new scriptural deposit. But, the story of the New Testament canon is bigger than just the "when" and the "how". It is also, and perhaps most fundamentally, about the "why". Why did Christians have a canon at all? Does the canon exist because of some later decision or action of the second- or third-century church? Or did it arise more naturally from within the early Christian faith itself? Was the canon an extrinsic phenomenon, or an intrinsic one? These are the questions this book is designed to address. And these are not micro questions, but macro ones. They address foundational and paradigmatic issues about the way we view the canon. They force us to consider the larger framework through which we conduct our research - whether we realized we had such a framework or not. Of course, we are not the first to ask such questions about why we have a canon. Indeed, for many scholars this question has already been settled. The dominant view today, as we shall see below, is that the New Testament is an extrinsic phenomenon; a later ecclesiastical development imposed on books originally written for another purpose. This is the framework through which much of modern scholarship operates. And it is the goal of this volume to ask whether it is a compelling one. To be sure, it is no easy task challenging the status quo in any academic field. But, we should not be afraid to ask tough questions. Likewise, the consensus position should not be afraid for them to be asked.
This volume offers an appreciation of the value of intertextuality—from Greek, Roman, Jewish, and biblical traditions—as related to the post-apostolic level of Christian development within the second century. Not least of these foundational pillars is the certain impact of the Second Sophistic movement during this period with its insipient influence on much of early Christian theology’s formation. The variety of these strands of inspiration created a tapestry of many diverse elements that came to shape the second-century Christian situation. Here one sees biblical texts at work, Jewish and Greek foundations at play, and interaction among patristic authors as they seek to reconcile their competing perspectives on what it meant to be “Christian” within the contemporary context.
In this magisterial volume, which is destined to become the standard text for studying the tradition and history of the early Christian Gospel literature, the author treats more than a dozen Gospel writings from the first two centuries. These Gospels include more than the standard canonical Gospels, covering also such writings as the Gospel of Thomas, the Apocryphon ofJames, the Gospel of Mary and others.
Gnosticism is a countercultural spirituality that forever changed the practice of Christianity. Before it emerged in the second century, passage to the afterlife required obedience to God and king. Gnosticism proposed that human beings were manifestations of the divine, unsettling the hierarchical foundations of the ancient world. Subversive and revolutionary, Gnostics taught that prayer and mediation could bring human beings into an ecstatic spiritual union with a transcendent deity. This mystical strain affected not just Christianity but many other religions, and it characterizes our understanding of the purpose and meaning of religion today. In The Gnostic New Age, April D. DeConick recovers this vibrant underground history to prove that Gnosticism was not suppressed or defeated by the Catholic Church long ago, nor was the movement a fabrication to justify the violent repression of alternative forms of Christianity. Gnosticism alleviated human suffering, soothing feelings of existential brokenness and alienation through the promise of renewal as God. DeConick begins in ancient Egypt and follows with the rise of Gnosticism in the Middle Ages, the advent of theosophy and other occult movements in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and contemporary New Age spiritual philosophies. As these theories find expression in science-fiction and fantasy films, DeConick sees evidence of Gnosticism's next incarnation. Her work emphasizes the universal, countercultural appeal of a movement that embodies much more than a simple challenge to religious authority.