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Early Christianity did not originate in a vacuum but in a world of linguistic, social, religious, and cultural richness and diversity. The twenty-two seminal essays in this volume -- some previously published, some newly written -- represent almost three decades of research by Troy W. Martin to understand how early Christianity developed in the ancient world. The broad-ranging investigations in these essays give attention not only to the linguistic and rhetorical features of early Christian texts, but also to the social, philosophical, physiological, and medical contexts in which these texts were written. The essays provide new understandings of early Christian conceptions of salvation and of the virtues of faith, hope and love that characterized early Christian communities. They include new medical and physiological explanations of early Christian sacraments, pneumatology, and eschatology and furthermore investigate early Christian communal life and practice, including the veiling of women, male/female relationships, and time-keeping. The essays include reception histories that describe their influence on subsequent research and place them within the context of contemporary research and scholarship. Those familiar with the well-trodden ground of New Testament studies will find in these essays new insights and previously unexplored comparative material for understanding early Christianity and the world in which it originated.
An Important Study on the Worship of the Early Church This introduction to the origins of Christian worship illuminates the importance of ancient liturgical patterns for contemporary Christian practice. Andrew McGowan takes a fresh approach to understanding how Christians came to worship in the distinctive forms still familiar today. Deftly and expertly processing the bewildering complexity of the ancient sources into lucid, fluent exposition, he sets aside common misperceptions to explore the roots of Christian ritual practices--including the Eucharist, baptism, communal prayer, preaching, Scripture reading, and music--in their earliest recoverable settings. Now in paper.
For the past fifty years, scholars in both pastoral and practical theology have attempted to recapture human religious experience and practice as essential sites for theological engagement -- redefining in the process what theology is, how it is done, and who does it. In this book Bonnie J. Miller-McLemore shows how this trend in scholarship has led to an expanded subject matter, alternative ways of knowing, and richer terms for analysis in doing Christian theology. Tracing more than two decades of her own search for a more inclusive discipline -- one that truly grapples with theology in the midst of life -- Christian Theology in Practice shows not only where Miller-McLemore herself has traveled in the field but also how pastoral and practical theology has developed during this time. Looking forward, Miller-McLemore calls on the academy and Christian congregations to disrupt conventional theological boundaries and to acknowledge the multiplicity of shapes and places in which the "wisdom of God" appears..
Marriage and Sexuality in Early Christianity is part of Ad Fontes: Early Christian Sources, a series designed to present ancient Christian texts essential to an understanding of Christian theology, ecclesiology, and practice. The books in the series make the wealth of early Christian thought available to new generations of students of theology and provide a valuable resource for the church. Developed in light of recent patristic scholarship, the volumes provide a representative sampling of theological contributions from both East and West. The series provides volumes that are relevant for a variety of courses: from introduction to theology to classes on doctrine and the development of Christian thought. The goal of each volume is not to be exhaustive but rather to be representative enough to denote for a nonspecialist audience the multivalent character of early Christian thought, allowing readers to see how and why early Christian doctrine and practice developed the way it did.
What can we learn from early Christian imagery about the theological meaning of baptism? Robin Jensen, a leading scholar of early Christian art and worship, examines multiple dimensions of the early Christian baptismal rite. She explores five models for understanding baptism--as cleansing from sin, sickness, and Satan; as incorporation into the community; as sanctifying and illuminative; as death and regeneration; and as the beginning of the new creation--showing how visual images, poetic language, architectural space, and symbolic actions signify and convey the theological meaning of this ritual practice. Considering image and action together, Jensen offers a holistic and integrated understanding of the power of baptism. The book is illustrated with photos.
Drawing on New Testament studies and recent scholarship on the expansion of the Christian church, Gary B. Ferngren presents a comprehensive historical account of medicine and medical philanthropy in the first five centuries of the Christian era. Ferngren first describes how early Christians understood disease. He examines the relationship of early Christian medicine to the natural and supernatural modes of healing found in the Bible. Despite biblical accounts of demonic possession and miraculous healing, Ferngren argues that early Christians generally accepted naturalistic assumptions about disease and cared for the sick with medical knowledge gleaned from the Greeks and Romans. Ferngren also explores the origins of medical philanthropy in the early Christian church. Rather than viewing illness as punishment for sins, early Christians believed that the sick deserved both medical assistance and compassion. Even as they were being persecuted, Christians cared for the sick within and outside of their community. Their long experience in medical charity led to the creation of the first hospitals, a singular Christian contribution to health care. "A succinct, thoughtful, well-written, and carefully argued assessment of Christian involvement with medical matters in the first five centuries of the common era . . . It is to Ferngren's credit that he has opened questions and explored them so astutely. This fine work looks forward as well as backward; it invites fuller reflection of the many senses in which medicine and religion intersect and merits wide readership."—Journal of the American Medical Association "In this superb work of historical and conceptual scholarship, Ferngren unfolds for the reader a cultural milieu of healing practices during the early centuries of Christianity."—Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith "Readable and widely researched . . . an important book for mission studies and American Catholic movements, the book posits the question of what can take its place in today's challenging religious culture."—Missiology: An International Review Gary B. Ferngren is a professor of history at Oregon State University and a professor of the history of medicine at First Moscow State Medical University. He is the author of Medicine and Religion: A Historical Introduction and the editor of Science and Religion: A Historical Introduction.
Early Christianity did not originate in a vacuum but in a world of linguistic, social, religious, and cultural richness and diversity. The twenty-two seminal essays in this volume - some previously published, some newly written - represent almost three decades of research by Troy W. Martin to understand how early Christianity developed in the ancient world. The broad-ranging investigations in these essays give attention not only to the linguistic and rhetorical features of early Christian texts, but also to the social, philosophical, physiological, and medical contexts in which these texts were written. The essays provide new understandings of early Christian conceptions of salvation and of the virtues of faith, hope and love that characterized early Christian communities. They include new medical and physiological explanations of early Christian sacraments, pneumatology, and eschatology and furthermore investigate early Christian communal life and practice, including the veiling of women, male/female relationships, and time-keeping. The essays include reception histories that describe their influence on subsequent research and place them within the context of contemporary research and scholarship. Those familiar with the well-trodden ground of New Testament studies will find in these essays new insights and previously unexplored comparative material for understanding early Christianity and the world in which it originated.
Provides an introduction to the academic study of early Christianity (c. 100-600 AD) and examines the vast geographical area impacted by the early church, in Western and Eastern late antiquity. --from publisher description.
What was the impact of liturgy on the development of orthodox doctrine in the early Christian church? With renowned liturgical historian Maxwell E. Johnson as a guide, readers of Praying and Believing in Early Christianity will discover the important and sometimes surprising ways that worship helped to shape what was believed, taught, and confessed. In particular, Johnson considers this relationship in terms of soteriology: What is the role of grace in the process of salvation? Trinity: How did early devotion to Christ and the church's baptismal and eucharistic liturgies help shape the developing doctrine of the Trinity? Christ and Mary: What does the devotional and liturgical term theotokos say about them both? ethics: How does the liturgy contribute not only to doctrine but also to convictions about morality? Johnson also explores the ways this relationship worked in the opposite direction: How did doctrinal developments shape liturgical texts in the patristic period? This is an excellent text for beginning students in liturgical studies at the master's level.
A comprehensive survey of the doctrine and practice of baptism in the first five centuries of Christian history, arranged geographically within chronological periods.