Description
Book SynopsisProvides a broad and balanced understanding of how Christianity originated in the first five centuries
Varieties of Early Christianity: The Formation of the Western Christian Tradition traces the origins and evolution of Christian concepts from the first through the sixth century CE, exploring the events, issues, and individuals that helped shape the beliefs and practices of Christianity. With a multidisciplinary Religious Studies approach, this reader-friendly textbook places the early sources of Christian teaching within their historical and cultural contexts to highlight what gave rise to the beliefs and rituals that Christians follow in the present day.
Chronologically organized chapters analyse the ways in which Christians absorbed and adapted ancient concepts from Judaism and Greco-Roman religion and culture from the first through the sixth centuries. Combining both traditions, early bishops, Church Fathers, and theologians added innovations that contribute
Table of Contents
Preface vii
I Shared Concepts of Ancient Religions 1
II the History of Israel 21
Excursus I The Origins and Evolution of Satan, the Devil 51
Excursus II Introduction to the Gospels 59
III the Origins of Christianity 79
IV Martyrdom 99
Excursus III The Church Fathers 123
V Classical Culture (paideia) 127
VI Greco-roman VIews on Life, Sex and Marriage: Christian “innovations” 145
VII the Challenge of Gnosticism, “wisdom, Falsely So-called” 159
VIII Finding An Identity and Separating From Judaism 179
IX Charismatic Christianity: Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha 193
X Institutional Development: Bishops and Their Authority 205
XI The Conversion of the Roman Empire: Constantine and Nicaea 221
XII Asceticism and Monasticism: The Desert Fathers and the Cult of the Saints 239
Excursus IV The Latin Fathers 251
XIII Augustine (354–430) 257
Excursus V Chalcedon and Beyond 271
Epilog The Legacy of Christianity in the Western Tradition 277
Appendix I: A Brief Outline of the History of Rome 291
Appendix II: Timeline for the Early History of Christianity 293
Glossary 297
Index 323
