The Rise of Christianity

The Rise of Christianity PDF Author: Rodney Stark
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0060677015
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 274

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Book Description
This "fresh, blunt, and highly persuasive account of how the West was won—for Jesus" (Newsweek) is now available in paperback. Stark's provocative report challenges conventional wisdom and finds that Christianity's astounding dominance of the Western world arose from its offer of a better, more secure way of life. "Compelling reading" (Library Journal) that is sure to "generate spirited argument" (Publishers Weekly), this account of Christianity's remarkable growth within the Roman Empire is the subject of much fanfare. "Anyone who has puzzled over Christianity's rise to dominance...must read it." says Yale University's Wayne A. Meeks, for The Rise of Christianity makes a compelling case for startling conclusions. Combining his expertise in social science with historical evidence, and his insight into contemporary religion's appeal, Stark finds that early Christianity attracted the privileged rather than the poor, that most early converts were women or marginalized Jews—and ultimately "that Christianity was a success because it proved those who joined it with a more appealing, more assuring, happier, and perhaps longer life" (Andrew M. Greeley, University of Chicago).

The Rise of Christianity

The Rise of Christianity PDF Author: Rodney Stark
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0060677015
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 274

Get Book

Book Description
This "fresh, blunt, and highly persuasive account of how the West was won—for Jesus" (Newsweek) is now available in paperback. Stark's provocative report challenges conventional wisdom and finds that Christianity's astounding dominance of the Western world arose from its offer of a better, more secure way of life. "Compelling reading" (Library Journal) that is sure to "generate spirited argument" (Publishers Weekly), this account of Christianity's remarkable growth within the Roman Empire is the subject of much fanfare. "Anyone who has puzzled over Christianity's rise to dominance...must read it." says Yale University's Wayne A. Meeks, for The Rise of Christianity makes a compelling case for startling conclusions. Combining his expertise in social science with historical evidence, and his insight into contemporary religion's appeal, Stark finds that early Christianity attracted the privileged rather than the poor, that most early converts were women or marginalized Jews—and ultimately "that Christianity was a success because it proved those who joined it with a more appealing, more assuring, happier, and perhaps longer life" (Andrew M. Greeley, University of Chicago).

Emergence Christianity

Emergence Christianity PDF Author: Phyllis Tickle
Publisher: Baker Books
ISBN: 1441239650
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 283

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Book Description
Whatever else one might say about Emergence Christianity, says Phyllis Tickle, one must agree it is shifting and re-configuring itself in such a prodigious way as to defy any final assessments or absolute pronouncements. Yet the insightful and well-read Tickle offers us a dispatch from the field to keep us informed of where Emergence Christianity now stands, where it may be going, and how it is aligning itself with other parts of God's church. Through her careful study and culture-watching, Tickle invites readers to join this investigation and conversation as open-minded explorers rather than fearful opponents. As readers join Tickle down the winding stream of Emergence Christianity, they will discover fascinating insights into concerns, organizational patterns, theology, and most pressing questions. Anyone involved in an emergence church or a traditional one will find here a thorough and well-written account of where things are--and where they are going.

History of Christianity

History of Christianity PDF Author: Paul Johnson
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1451688512
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 816

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Book Description
First published in 1976, Paul Johnson’s exceptional study of Christianity has been loved and widely hailed for its intensive research, writing, and magnitude—“a tour de force, one of the most ambitious surveys of the history of Christianity ever attempted and perhaps the most radical” (New York Review of Books). In a highly readable companion to books on faith and history, the scholar and author Johnson has illuminated the Christian world and its fascinating history in a way that no other has. Johnson takes off in the year AD 49 with his namesake the apostle Paul. Thus beginning an ambitious quest to paint the centuries since the founding of a little-known ‘Jesus Sect’, A History of Christianity explores to a great degree the evolution of the Western world. With an unbiased and overall optimistic tone, Johnson traces the fantastic scope of the consequent sects of Christianity and the people who followed them. Information drawn from extensive and varied sources from around the world makes this history as credible as it is reliable. Invaluable understanding of the framework of modern Christianity—and its trials and tribulations throughout history—has never before been contained in such a captivating work.

The Rise of Christianity

The Rise of Christianity PDF Author: W. H. C. Frend
Publisher: Fortress Press
ISBN: 9781451419528
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 1048

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Book Description
Traces the early history of the Christian church from Jewish Palestine prior to Christ's birth to the sixth century monastic movement, and explains how Christianity survived under a variety of cultures

The Emergence of Christian Theology

The Emergence of Christian Theology PDF Author: Eric Francis Osborn
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 052143078X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 356

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Book Description
There are special times of movement in the history of ideas, and one such time - as the author of this study shows - was the second half of the second century, when Christian thought showed fresh vigour. By concentrating on five seminal Christian thinkers of the second century (Justin, Athenegoras, Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, and Tertullian), Eric Osborn illustrates how it was that Christianity made monotheism axiomatic to its central doctrinal claims while adapting, too, to the peculiar circumstances in which it developed. The stimulus for new thought came from the objections of the state, philosophers, Jews, Gnostics, and Marcion, who in different ways denied the Christian claim to faith in one God. In response, Christian thinkers argued for one God who was the first principle of being, goodness, and truth. In its presentation of the lively beginning which brought Christianity and classical thought together, this book casts light on the growth of the European intellectual tradition.

A History of Christianity

A History of Christianity PDF Author: Owen Chadwick
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 9780312187231
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 312

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Book Description
Presents a history of the Christian faith, from its beginning as a Jewish sect to the impact of twentieth-century issues such as birth control, Muslim fundamentalism, and Nazi racism.

A History of Christianity in the United States and Canada

A History of Christianity in the United States and Canada PDF Author: Mark A. Noll
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
ISBN: 9780802806512
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 596

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Book Description
Author Mark Noll presents the unfolding drama of American Christianity with accuracy and skill, from the first European settlements to ecumenism in the late 20th Century. This work has become a standard in the field of North American religious history.

Introduction to the History of Christianity

Introduction to the History of Christianity PDF Author: George Herring
Publisher: NYU Press
ISBN: 0814737005
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 399

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Book Description
Christianity is the world’s largest religion, and has had a profound impact on the course of civilization. Introduction to the History of Christianity is a beautifully crafted and clearly written introduction to Christianity over its 2000 year history. The broad underlying theme of the book is the interaction between Christianity and the secular world, exploring how one has shaped and been shaped by the other. The volume does not attempt to cover the whole of Christian history in detail. It focuses on three key chronological periods pivotal in the development of Christianity: Christ and Caesar, Christianity circa 300–500; Expansion and Order, Latin Christendom, circa 1050–1250; and Grace and Authority, Western Christianity, circa 1450–1650, as well as a concluding section on Christianity in the modern world, providing illustrative snapshots of the tradition over the course of its long development. In addition, the volume includes maps, timelines, quotations from primary source material, a glossary, and a further reading section. No staid, laborious introduction to its subject, Introduction to the History of Christianity offers an inviting and informative overview of this rich religious tradition.

Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews

Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews PDF Author: Paula Fredriksen
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0307826570
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
Paula Fredriksen, renowned historian and author of From Christ to Jesus, begins this inquiry into the historic Jesus with a fact that may be the only undisputed thing we know about him: his crucifixion. Rome reserved this means of execution particularly for political insurrectionists; and the Roman charge posted at the head of the cross indicted Jesus for claiming to be King of the Jews. To reconstruct the Jesus who provoked this punishment, Fredriksen takes us into the religious worlds, Jewish and pagan, of Mediterranean antiquity, through the labyrinth of Galilean and Judean politics, and on into the ancient narratives of Paul's letters, the gospels, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and Josephus' histories. The result is a profound contribution both to our understanding of the social and religious contexts within which Jesus of Nazareth moved, and to our appreciation of the mission and message that ended in the proclamation of Jesus as Messiah.

A New History of Early Christianity

A New History of Early Christianity PDF Author: Charles Freeman
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 030012581X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 416

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Book Description
"Tracing the astonishing transformation that the early Christian church underwent - from sporadic niches of Christian communities surviving in the wake of a horrific crucifixion to sanctioned alliance with the state - Charles Freeman shows how freedom of thought was curtailed by the development of the concept of faith. The imposition of 'correct belief' and an institutional framework that enforced orthodoxy were both consolidating and stifling. Uncovering the church's relationships with Judaism, Gnosticism, Greek philosophy and Greco-Roman society, Freeman offers dramatic new accounts of Paul, the resurrection, and the church fathers and emperors."--BOOK JACKET.