Charisma, Converts, Competitors

Charisma, Converts, Competitors PDF Author: Jack T. Sanders
Publisher: SCM Press
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 244

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Book Description
Jack T. Sanders investigates the reasons for the remarkable early successes of Christianity using techniques and methods drawn from the social sciences. The author does not attempt to provide a history of early Christianity.

Charisma, Converts, Competitors

Charisma, Converts, Competitors PDF Author: Jack T. Sanders
Publisher: SCM Press
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 244

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Book Description
Jack T. Sanders investigates the reasons for the remarkable early successes of Christianity using techniques and methods drawn from the social sciences. The author does not attempt to provide a history of early Christianity.

A History of Charisma

A History of Charisma PDF Author: J. Potts
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 0230244831
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 276

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Book Description
This book traces the history of the word 'charisma', and the various meanings assigned to it, from its first century origins in Christian theology to its manifestations in twenty-first century politics and culture, while considering how much of the word's original religious meaning persists in the contemporary secular understanding.

A History of Christian Conversion

A History of Christian Conversion PDF Author: David W. Kling
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199717591
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 304

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Book Description
Conversion has played a central role in the history of Christianity. In this first in-depth and wide-ranging narrative history, David Kling examines the dynamic of turning to the Christian faith by individuals, families, and people groups. Global in reach, the narrative progresses from early Christian beginnings in the Roman world to Christianity's expansion into Europe, the Americas, China, India, and Africa. Conversion is often associated with a particular strand of modern Christianity (evangelical) and a particular type of experience (sudden, overwhelming). However, when examined over two millennia, it emerges as a phenomenon far more complex than any one-dimensional profile would suggest. No single, unitary paradigm defines conversion and no easily explicable process accounts for why people convert to Christianity. Rather, a multiplicity of factors-historical, personal, social, geographical, theological, psychological, and cultural-shape the converting process. A History of Christian Conversion not only narrates the conversions of select individuals and peoples, it also engages current theories and models to explain conversion, and examines recurring themes in the conversion process: divine presence, gender and the body, agency and motivation, testimony and memory, group- and self-identity, "authentic" and "nominal" conversion, and modes of communication. Accessible to scholars, students, and those with a general interest in conversion, Kling's book is the most satisfying and comprehensive account of conversion in Christian history to date; this major work will become a standard must-read in conversion studies.

Reconceptualising Conversion

Reconceptualising Conversion PDF Author: Zeba A. Crook
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
ISBN: 311091560X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 328

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Book Description
Die Studie nimmt die bisherige Diskussion der Konversion in der Antike neu auf durch eine Verknüpfung von klassischen, epigraphischen und biblischen Quellen mit einer sozialwissenschaftlichen Methodologie. Der Autor hinterfragt dabei die bisher vorausgesetzte psychologische Kontinuität zwischen antiken und modernen Menschen und bietet statt dessen ein Modell, welches an den Denkvoraussetzungen der Antike selbst gebildet wurde. Die griechisch-römischen und mediterranen Religionen und Philosophien - also auch das hellenistische Judentum und das Christentum - orientierten sich an den Modellen von Patronat und Loyalität. Das Verständnis der antiken Konversion muss also hier ansetzen. In diesem Zusammenhang wird auch die "Bekehrung" des Paulus neu gedeutet.

Genius

Genius PDF Author: Roberto Manzocco
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3031270924
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 188

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Book Description
Genius is a fascinating topic. Everyone has an opinion on it, but not a lot of clarity. Much has been written on the subject - biographies, autobiographies, technical books, popular science books, and practical manuals - but genius in all of its dimensions has yet to be addressed. This book seeks to remedy that. What follows is a work of significant breadth that hopes to facilitate a nuanced popular understanding of the definition of genius, examining all of the main theories and approaches regarding the nature and origin of brilliance, the cognitive path that geniuses follow, and the difference that exists between “geniuses” on one side and “normal people” on the other. Pragmatic indications surrounding this issue are also examined, regarding such questions as: is it possible to become a genius or is genius innate? If it is possible, what is the path – no doubt long and difficult – that one must take? Is there a method for becoming a genius that can be taught and learned? This book will appeal to anyone who has ever contemplated great ideas and works and wondered how they came into being.

Jesus in an Age of Terror

Jesus in an Age of Terror PDF Author: James G. Crossley
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317490363
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 271

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Book Description
New Testament and Christian origins scholarship have historically been influenced by their political and social context. 'Jesus in an Age of Terror' applies the work of critical and media theorists to contemporary Christian origins and New Testament scholarship. Part one examines the influence of the mass media on the writing of contemporary biblical scholars, whose political views - as demonstrated in their 'biblio-blogging' - are shown to have striking similarity to the media s depiction of the 'war on terror' and conflict in the Middle East. Part two argues that the Anglo-American cultural mis-representation of Islam as the 'great enemy' has led New Testament and Christian origins scholarship to collude with intellectual defences of the war in Iraq. Part three examines the influence of the media's approach to Palestine and Israel on biblical studies, exploring the shift towards widespread support for Israel in contemporary scholarship.

Not the Impossible Faith

Not the Impossible Faith PDF Author: Richard Carrier
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 0557044642
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 456

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Book Description
Dr. Richard Carrier is an expert in the history of the ancient world and a critic of Christian attempts to distort history in defense of their faith. Not the Impossible Faith is a tour de force in that genre, dissecting and refuting the oft-repeated claim that Christianity could not have succeeded in the ancient world unless it was true. Though framed as a detailed rebuttal to Christian apologist J.P. Holding (author of The Impossible Faith), Carrier takes a general approach that educates the reader on the history and sociology of the ancient world, answering many questions like: How did Christians approach evidence? Was there a widespread prejudice against the testimony of women? Was resurrection such a radical idea? Who would worship a crucified criminal? And much more. Written with occasional humor and an easy style, and thoroughly referenced, with many entertaining "gotcha!" moments, Not the Impossible Faith is a must-read for anyone interested in the origins of Christianity.

And Man Created God

And Man Created God PDF Author: Selina O'Grady
Publisher: Macmillan + ORM
ISBN: 1250016827
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 578

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Book Description
At the time of Jesus' birth , the world was full of gods. Thousands of them jostled, competed and merged with one another. In Syria ecstatic devotees castrated themselves in the streets to become priests of Atargatis In Galilee, holy men turned oil into wine, healed the sick, drove out devils, and claimed to be the Messiah. Every day thousands of people were leaving their family and tribes behind them and flocking into brand new multi-ethnic cities. The ancient world was in ferment as it underwent the first phase of globalisation, and in this ferment rulers and ruled turned to religion as a source of order and stability. Augustus, the first emperor of Rome (though he never dared officially to call himself so) was maneuvering his way to becoming worshipped as a god – it was one of the most brilliant makeovers ever undertaken by a ruler and his spin doctors. In North Africa, Amanirenas the warrior queen exploited her god-like status to inspire her armies to face and defeat Rome. In China the usurper Wang Mang won and lost his throne because of his obsession with Confucianism. To explore the power that religious belief has had over societies through the ages, Selina O'Grady takes the reader on a dazzling journey across the empires of the ancient world and introduces us to rulers, merchants, messiahs, priests and holy men. Throughout, she seeks to answer why, amongst the countless religious options available, the empires at the time of Jesus ‘chose' the religions they did? Why did China's rulers hitch their fate to Confucianism, a philosophy more than a religion? And why was a tiny Jewish cult led by Jesus eventually adopted by Rome's emperors rather than the cult of Isis which was far more popular and widespread? The Jesus cult , followed by no more than 100 people at the time of his death, should, by rights, have disappeared in a few generations. Instead it became the official religion of the Roman Empire. Why did Christianity grow so quickly to become the predominant world religion? What was it about its teachings that so appealed to people? And Man Created God looks at why and how religions have had such an immense impact on human history and in doing so uncovers the ineradicable connection between politics and religion - a connection which still defines us in our own age. This is an important, thrilling and necessary new work of history.

In Christ, in Colossae

In Christ, in Colossae PDF Author: Derek Tidball
Publisher: Authentic Media Inc
ISBN: 1780782861
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 259

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Book Description
In this book Derek Tidball takes the reader through a number of sociological models and engages with Paul's Letter to the Colossians. He examines such topics as conversion, identity, the social construction of belief and institution, and Christian ethics. Finally, he discerns the church as a reading community. The purpose of the book is to apply major sociological discussions of the New Testament to the letter of Colossians with the objectives of (a) introducing those who do not know the rich literature on the sociology of the New Testament to some concrete examples of it and the illumination it provides; (b) providing a systematic sociological approach to Colossians; and (c) engaging with and evaluating the scattered discussion that has been held with regard to Colossians. The result is a rich engagement with the Letter to the Colossians and an encouragement to look again at our own Christian communities.

The Chosen Few

The Chosen Few PDF Author: Maristella Botticini
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400842484
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 345

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Book Description
How the Jewish people went from farmers to merchants In 70 CE, the Jews were an agrarian and illiterate people living mostly in the Land of Israel and Mesopotamia. By 1492 the Jewish people had become a small group of literate urbanites specializing in crafts, trade, moneylending, and medicine in hundreds of places across the Old World, from Seville to Mangalore. What caused this radical change? The Chosen Few presents a new answer to this question by applying the lens of economic analysis to the key facts of fifteen formative centuries of Jewish history. Maristella Botticini and Zvi Eckstein offer a powerful new explanation of one of the most significant transformations in Jewish history while also providing fresh insights into the growing debate about the social and economic impact of religion.