Author: Alan Kreider
Publisher: Baker Academic
ISBN: 1493400339
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 336
Book Description
How and why did the early church grow in the first four hundred years despite disincentives, harassment, and occasional persecution? In this unique historical study, veteran scholar Alan Kreider delivers the fruit of a lifetime of study as he tells the amazing story of the spread of Christianity in the Roman Empire. Challenging traditional understandings, Kreider contends the church grew because the virtue of patience was of central importance in the life and witness of the early Christians. They wrote about patience, not evangelism, and reflected on prayer, catechesis, and worship, yet the church grew--not by specific strategies but by patient ferment.
The Patient Ferment of the Early Church
Author: Alan Kreider
Publisher: Baker Academic
ISBN: 1493400339
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 336
Book Description
How and why did the early church grow in the first four hundred years despite disincentives, harassment, and occasional persecution? In this unique historical study, veteran scholar Alan Kreider delivers the fruit of a lifetime of study as he tells the amazing story of the spread of Christianity in the Roman Empire. Challenging traditional understandings, Kreider contends the church grew because the virtue of patience was of central importance in the life and witness of the early Christians. They wrote about patience, not evangelism, and reflected on prayer, catechesis, and worship, yet the church grew--not by specific strategies but by patient ferment.
Publisher: Baker Academic
ISBN: 1493400339
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 336
Book Description
How and why did the early church grow in the first four hundred years despite disincentives, harassment, and occasional persecution? In this unique historical study, veteran scholar Alan Kreider delivers the fruit of a lifetime of study as he tells the amazing story of the spread of Christianity in the Roman Empire. Challenging traditional understandings, Kreider contends the church grew because the virtue of patience was of central importance in the life and witness of the early Christians. They wrote about patience, not evangelism, and reflected on prayer, catechesis, and worship, yet the church grew--not by specific strategies but by patient ferment.
Healing in the Early Church
Author: Andrew Daunton-Fear
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1606088742
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 211
Book Description
This monograph presents the most comprehensive investigation yet made into the healing activity of the Early Church. In contrast to early skeptics like B. B. Warfield, the author is convinced there was a vigorous healing ministry in the centuries that followed the apostles, though it fluctuated somewhat and changed its mode. Exorcism is prominently attested throughout the period. The pre-Nicene Fathers recognized its great apologetic value as a dramatic demonstration of the superiority of Jesus Christ over pagan gods. Interest in healing miracles per se appears to have been particularly characteristic of the less educated members of the Church and those who were chaste in their devotion to the cause of Christ. Amongst these groups gifts of healing were found, becoming rare it seems by the mid-third century, but well attested again later in monastic circles. In the pre-Nicene period anointing with oil (in the name of Christ) was clearly an avenue of healing and, though mentioned comparatively rarely, may have been widespread as part of the regular ministry of local clergy to the sick. Baptismal healing, physical as well as spiritual, also took place. In the post-Nicene Church the shrines of the martyrs became a prominent locus of healing. Devotion to this cult may have been encouraged by Church Fathers as an acceptable alternative to magical practices. But evidence suggests syncretism did occur and martyr's relics could be invested with quasi-magical awe. Most Fathers were positive about the medical profession, seeing it as an avenue of God's work, and in the late fourth century one pioneered the hospital which then spread throughout the eastern Mediterranean. In an appendix to his work, the author sets down nine pointers from the healing activity of the Early Church, and his own experience, to assist those engaged in the healing ministry today.
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1606088742
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 211
Book Description
This monograph presents the most comprehensive investigation yet made into the healing activity of the Early Church. In contrast to early skeptics like B. B. Warfield, the author is convinced there was a vigorous healing ministry in the centuries that followed the apostles, though it fluctuated somewhat and changed its mode. Exorcism is prominently attested throughout the period. The pre-Nicene Fathers recognized its great apologetic value as a dramatic demonstration of the superiority of Jesus Christ over pagan gods. Interest in healing miracles per se appears to have been particularly characteristic of the less educated members of the Church and those who were chaste in their devotion to the cause of Christ. Amongst these groups gifts of healing were found, becoming rare it seems by the mid-third century, but well attested again later in monastic circles. In the pre-Nicene period anointing with oil (in the name of Christ) was clearly an avenue of healing and, though mentioned comparatively rarely, may have been widespread as part of the regular ministry of local clergy to the sick. Baptismal healing, physical as well as spiritual, also took place. In the post-Nicene Church the shrines of the martyrs became a prominent locus of healing. Devotion to this cult may have been encouraged by Church Fathers as an acceptable alternative to magical practices. But evidence suggests syncretism did occur and martyr's relics could be invested with quasi-magical awe. Most Fathers were positive about the medical profession, seeing it as an avenue of God's work, and in the late fourth century one pioneered the hospital which then spread throughout the eastern Mediterranean. In an appendix to his work, the author sets down nine pointers from the healing activity of the Early Church, and his own experience, to assist those engaged in the healing ministry today.
Early Christian Thinkers
Author: Paul Foster
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
ISBN: 0830839372
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 225
Book Description
An international team of top scholars introduces a pivotal, early moment in the history of orthodox doctrine through the lives and works of key second and third century Christians.
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
ISBN: 0830839372
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 225
Book Description
An international team of top scholars introduces a pivotal, early moment in the history of orthodox doctrine through the lives and works of key second and third century Christians.
The Lost History of Christianity
Author: John Philip Jenkins
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0061980595
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 443
Book Description
The New York Times bestselling history of early Christianity in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East—from “one of America’s best scholars of religion” (The Economist). In this groundbreaking book, renowned scholar Philip Jenkins explores a vast and forgotten network of the world’s largest and most influential Christian churches that existed to the east of the Roman Empire. These churches and their leaders ruled the Middle East for centuries and became the chief administrators and academics in the new Muslim empire. The author recounts the shocking history of how these churches—those that had the closest link to Jesus and the early church—eventually died. Jenkins offers a new lens through which to view our world today, including the current conflicts in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. Without this lost history, we lack an important element for understanding our collective religious past. By understanding the forgotten catastrophe that befell Christianity, we can appreciate the surprising new births that are occurring in our own time, once again making Christianity a true world religion.
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0061980595
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 443
Book Description
The New York Times bestselling history of early Christianity in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East—from “one of America’s best scholars of religion” (The Economist). In this groundbreaking book, renowned scholar Philip Jenkins explores a vast and forgotten network of the world’s largest and most influential Christian churches that existed to the east of the Roman Empire. These churches and their leaders ruled the Middle East for centuries and became the chief administrators and academics in the new Muslim empire. The author recounts the shocking history of how these churches—those that had the closest link to Jesus and the early church—eventually died. Jenkins offers a new lens through which to view our world today, including the current conflicts in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. Without this lost history, we lack an important element for understanding our collective religious past. By understanding the forgotten catastrophe that befell Christianity, we can appreciate the surprising new births that are occurring in our own time, once again making Christianity a true world religion.
Worship and Mission After Christendom
Author: Eleanor Kreider
Publisher: Herald Press
ISBN: 9780836195545
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
Today, as Christendom weakens, worship and mission are poised to reunite after centuries of separation. But this requires the church to rethink both “mission” and “worship.” In post-Christendom mission, God is the main actor and God calls all Christians to participate. In post-Christendom worship, the church tells and celebrates the story of God, enabling members to live in hope and attract outsiders to its many tables of hospitality. In this passionate and thoughtful study, Alan Kreider and Eleanor Kreider draw upon missiology, liturgiology, biblical studies, church history, and the vast experience of today’s global Christian church-to say nothing of their long tenure as teachers and writers in contemporary England and the United States. Academically responsible but also practical and accessible, Worship and Mission After Christendom is a much-needed guide for people who take seriously God’s call to be the church in a world where institutional religion is no longer taken for granted.
Publisher: Herald Press
ISBN: 9780836195545
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
Today, as Christendom weakens, worship and mission are poised to reunite after centuries of separation. But this requires the church to rethink both “mission” and “worship.” In post-Christendom mission, God is the main actor and God calls all Christians to participate. In post-Christendom worship, the church tells and celebrates the story of God, enabling members to live in hope and attract outsiders to its many tables of hospitality. In this passionate and thoughtful study, Alan Kreider and Eleanor Kreider draw upon missiology, liturgiology, biblical studies, church history, and the vast experience of today’s global Christian church-to say nothing of their long tenure as teachers and writers in contemporary England and the United States. Academically responsible but also practical and accessible, Worship and Mission After Christendom is a much-needed guide for people who take seriously God’s call to be the church in a world where institutional religion is no longer taken for granted.
So Beautiful
Author: Leonard Sweet
Publisher: David C Cook
ISBN: 9781434799791
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 308
Book Description
In this seminal work, Sweet shares how three strands form the church: missional, relational, and incarnational. He calls for the re-union of these three essential, complementary components of Christian life.
Publisher: David C Cook
ISBN: 9781434799791
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 308
Book Description
In this seminal work, Sweet shares how three strands form the church: missional, relational, and incarnational. He calls for the re-union of these three essential, complementary components of Christian life.
The Change of Conversion and the Origin of Christendom
Author: Alan Kreider
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1725219492
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 142
Book Description
First-class insight into the life and mission of the Christian church in the first four centuries, based on solid scholarship and a clear sense of mission. --Samuel Escobar, Palmer Theological Seminary Written in a lively and clear manner, this small volume makes many connections between different aspects of early Christian history and practice. I have learned from reading it and recommend it to both scholars and beginners. --Paul Bradshaw, University of Notre Dame Kreider traces the changing nature of the process of conversion across some four centuries. I know of no better treatment of religious initiation undergone by the most seriously committed Christians of this period. --Ramsay MacMullen, Yale University I recommend this book highly to anyone interested not only in the history and theology of Christian initiation, but in the relationship of Christianity and culture throughout the ages. - Maxwell E. Johnson, University of Notre Dame, in 'Worship'
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1725219492
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 142
Book Description
First-class insight into the life and mission of the Christian church in the first four centuries, based on solid scholarship and a clear sense of mission. --Samuel Escobar, Palmer Theological Seminary Written in a lively and clear manner, this small volume makes many connections between different aspects of early Christian history and practice. I have learned from reading it and recommend it to both scholars and beginners. --Paul Bradshaw, University of Notre Dame Kreider traces the changing nature of the process of conversion across some four centuries. I know of no better treatment of religious initiation undergone by the most seriously committed Christians of this period. --Ramsay MacMullen, Yale University I recommend this book highly to anyone interested not only in the history and theology of Christian initiation, but in the relationship of Christianity and culture throughout the ages. - Maxwell E. Johnson, University of Notre Dame, in 'Worship'
Called to Be Church
Author: Anthony B. Robinson
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
ISBN: 9780802860651
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 308
Book Description
Biblical scholar Robert Wall and pastoral leader Anthony Robinson here join forces to bring the Acts of the Apostles forward to our time as a resource for congregational renewal and transformation.Featuring both careful exegetical study and exciting contemporary exposition, the fifteen chapters of Called to Be Church each first interpret the text of Acts as Scripture and then engage Acts for today's church. The book dives into many of the most vexing issues faced by the church then and now -- such issues as conflict resolution, pluralism and multiculturalism, sexuality, money, church and state, the role of the Holy Spirit, and more.Enhanced by study questions at the end of each chapter, Called to Be Church will lend itself especially well to small-group study within congregations. Pastors, lay readers, students, and ordinary believers alike will find the book helpful and inspiring.
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
ISBN: 9780802860651
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 308
Book Description
Biblical scholar Robert Wall and pastoral leader Anthony Robinson here join forces to bring the Acts of the Apostles forward to our time as a resource for congregational renewal and transformation.Featuring both careful exegetical study and exciting contemporary exposition, the fifteen chapters of Called to Be Church each first interpret the text of Acts as Scripture and then engage Acts for today's church. The book dives into many of the most vexing issues faced by the church then and now -- such issues as conflict resolution, pluralism and multiculturalism, sexuality, money, church and state, the role of the Holy Spirit, and more.Enhanced by study questions at the end of each chapter, Called to Be Church will lend itself especially well to small-group study within congregations. Pastors, lay readers, students, and ordinary believers alike will find the book helpful and inspiring.
From Shame to Sin
Author: Kyle Harper
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674074564
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 318
Book Description
The transformation of the Roman world from polytheistic to Christian is one of the most sweeping ideological changes of premodern history. At the center was sex. Kyle Harper examines how Christianity changed the ethics of sexual behavior from shame to sin, and shows how the roots of modern sexuality are grounded in an ancient religious revolution.
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674074564
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 318
Book Description
The transformation of the Roman world from polytheistic to Christian is one of the most sweeping ideological changes of premodern history. At the center was sex. Kyle Harper examines how Christianity changed the ethics of sexual behavior from shame to sin, and shows how the roots of modern sexuality are grounded in an ancient religious revolution.
Between Cross and Resurrection
Author: Alan E. Lewis
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
ISBN: 9780802826787
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 496
Book Description
For much of Christian history the church has given no place to Holy Saturday in its liturgy or worship. Yet the space dividing Calvary and the Garden may be the best place from which to reflect on the meaning of Christ's death and resurrection. This superb work by the late Alan Lewis develops on a grand scale and in great detail a theology of Holy Saturday.The first comprehensive theology of Holy Saturday ever written, Between Cross and Resurrectionshows that at the center of the biblical story and the church's creed lies a three-day narrative. Lewis explores the meaning of Holy Saturday -- the restless day of burial and waiting -- from the perspectives of narrative (hearing the story), doctrine (thinking the story), and ethics (living the story). Along the way he visits as many spiritual themes as possible in order to demonstrate the range of topics that take on fresh meaning when viewed from the vantage point of Holy Saturday.Between Cross and Resurrection is not only incisive and elegantly written, but it is also a uniquely moving work deeply rooted in Christian experience. While writing this book Lewis experienced his own Holy Saturday in suffering from and finally succumbing to cancer. He considered Between Cross and Resurrection to be the culmination of his life's work.
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
ISBN: 9780802826787
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 496
Book Description
For much of Christian history the church has given no place to Holy Saturday in its liturgy or worship. Yet the space dividing Calvary and the Garden may be the best place from which to reflect on the meaning of Christ's death and resurrection. This superb work by the late Alan Lewis develops on a grand scale and in great detail a theology of Holy Saturday.The first comprehensive theology of Holy Saturday ever written, Between Cross and Resurrectionshows that at the center of the biblical story and the church's creed lies a three-day narrative. Lewis explores the meaning of Holy Saturday -- the restless day of burial and waiting -- from the perspectives of narrative (hearing the story), doctrine (thinking the story), and ethics (living the story). Along the way he visits as many spiritual themes as possible in order to demonstrate the range of topics that take on fresh meaning when viewed from the vantage point of Holy Saturday.Between Cross and Resurrection is not only incisive and elegantly written, but it is also a uniquely moving work deeply rooted in Christian experience. While writing this book Lewis experienced his own Holy Saturday in suffering from and finally succumbing to cancer. He considered Between Cross and Resurrection to be the culmination of his life's work.