The "Atheism" of the Early Church

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Author :
Publisher : Chalcedon Foundation
ISBN 13 : 1879998181
Total Pages : 64 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (799 download)

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Book Synopsis The "Atheism" of the Early Church by : R. J. Rushdoony

Download or read book The "Atheism" of the Early Church written by R. J. Rushdoony and published by Chalcedon Foundation. This book was released on 2009-11-16 with total page 64 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Early Christians were called "heretics" and "atheists" when they denied the gods of Rome, in particular the divinity of the emperor and the statism he embodied in his personality cult. These Christians knew that Jesus Christ, not the state, was their Lord and that this faith required a different kind of relationship to the state than the state demanded. Because Jesus Christ was their acknowledged Sovereign, they consciously denied such esteem to all other claimants. Today the church must take a similar stand before the modern state.

Battling the Gods

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Publisher : Vintage
ISBN 13 : 0307958337
Total Pages : 306 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (79 download)

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Book Synopsis Battling the Gods by : Tim Whitmarsh

Download or read book Battling the Gods written by Tim Whitmarsh and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2015-11-10 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How new is atheism? Although adherents and opponents alike today present it as an invention of the European Enlightenment, when the forces of science and secularism broadly challenged those of faith, disbelief in the gods, in fact, originated in a far more remote past. In Battling the Gods, Tim Whitmarsh journeys into the ancient Mediterranean, a world almost unimaginably different from our own, to recover the stories and voices of those who first refused the divinities. Homer’s epic poems of human striving, journeying, and passion were ancient Greece’s only “sacred texts,” but no ancient Greek thought twice about questioning or mocking his stories of the gods. Priests were functionaries rather than sources of moral or cosmological wisdom. The absence of centralized religious authority made for an extraordinary variety of perspectives on sacred matters, from the devotional to the atheos, or “godless.” Whitmarsh explores this kaleidoscopic range of ideas about the gods, focusing on the colorful individuals who challenged their existence. Among these were some of the greatest ancient poets and philosophers and writers, as well as the less well known: Diagoras of Melos, perhaps the first self-professed atheist; Democritus, the first materialist; Socrates, executed for rejecting the gods of the Athenian state; Epicurus and his followers, who thought gods could not intervene in human affairs; the brilliantly mischievous satirist Lucian of Samosata. Before the revolutions of late antiquity, which saw the scriptural religions of Christianity and Islam enforced by imperial might, there were few constraints on belief. Everything changed, however, in the millennium between the appearance of the Homeric poems and Christianity’s establishment as Rome’s state religion in the fourth century AD. As successive Greco-Roman empires grew in size and complexity, and power was increasingly concentrated in central capitals, states sought to impose collective religious adherence, first to cults devoted to individual rulers, and ultimately to monotheism. In this new world, there was no room for outright disbelief: the label “atheist” was used now to demonize anyone who merely disagreed with the orthodoxy—and so it would remain for centuries. As the twenty-first century shapes up into a time of mass information, but also, paradoxically, of collective amnesia concerning the tangled histories of religions, Whitmarsh provides a bracing antidote to our assumptions about the roots of freethinking. By shining a light on atheism’s first thousand years, Battling the Gods offers a timely reminder that nonbelief has a wealth of tradition of its own, and, indeed, its own heroes.

Cold-Case Christianity

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Publisher : David C Cook
ISBN 13 : 1434705463
Total Pages : 224 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (347 download)

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Book Synopsis Cold-Case Christianity by : J. Warner Wallace

Download or read book Cold-Case Christianity written by J. Warner Wallace and published by David C Cook. This book was released on 2013-01-01 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Written by an L. A. County homicide detective and former atheist, Cold-Case Christianity examines the claims of the New Testament using the skills and strategies of a hard-to-convince criminal investigator. Christianity could be defined as a “cold case”: it makes a claim about an event from the distant past for which there is little forensic evidence. In Cold-Case Christianity, J. Warner Wallace uses his nationally recognized skills as a homicide detective to look at the evidence and eyewitnesses behind Christian beliefs. Including gripping stories from his career and the visual techniques he developed in the courtroom, Wallace uses illustration to examine the powerful evidence that validates the claims of Christianity. A unique apologetic that speaks to readers’ intense interest in detective stories, Cold-Case Christianity inspires readers to have confidence in Christ as it prepares them to articulate the case for Christianity.

Christianity in the Second Century

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Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1107165229
Total Pages : 367 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (71 download)

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Book Synopsis Christianity in the Second Century by : James Carleton Paget

Download or read book Christianity in the Second Century written by James Carleton Paget and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2017-05-15 with total page 367 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Christianity in the Second Century seeks to show how academic study on this critical period of Christian development has undergone change over the last thirty years. It focuses on contributions from early Christian and ancient Jewish studies, and ancient history, all of which have contributed to a changing scholarly landscape.

The Historical Reliability of the New Testament

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Publisher : B&H Publishing Group
ISBN 13 : 1433691701
Total Pages : 809 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (336 download)

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Book Synopsis The Historical Reliability of the New Testament by : Craig L. Blomberg

Download or read book The Historical Reliability of the New Testament written by Craig L. Blomberg and published by B&H Publishing Group. This book was released on 2016-11-01 with total page 809 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Questions about the reliability of the New Testament are commonly raised today both by biblical scholars and popular media. Drawing on decades of research, Craig Blomberg addresses all of the major objections to the historicity of the New Testament in one comprehensive volume. Topics addressed include the formation of the Gospels, the transmission of the text, the formation of the canon, alleged contradictions, the relationship between Jesus and Paul, supposed Pauline forgeries, other gospels, miracles, and many more. Historical corroborations of details from all parts of the New Testament are also presented throughout. The Historical Reliability of the New Testament marshals the latest scholarship in responding to New Testament objections, while remaining accessible to non-specialists.

The Patient Ferment of the Early Church

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Publisher : Baker Academic
ISBN 13 : 1493400339
Total Pages : 336 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (934 download)

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Book Synopsis The Patient Ferment of the Early Church by : Alan Kreider

Download or read book The Patient Ferment of the Early Church written by Alan Kreider and published by Baker Academic. This book was released on 2016-03-29 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

Atheism And The Case Against Christ

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Publisher : Prometheus Books
ISBN 13 : 161614582X
Total Pages : 349 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (161 download)

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Book Synopsis Atheism And The Case Against Christ by : Matthew S. Mccormick

Download or read book Atheism And The Case Against Christ written by Matthew S. Mccormick and published by Prometheus Books. This book was released on 2012-09-25 with total page 349 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hundreds of millions of people believe that Jesus came back from the dead. This cogent, forcefully argued book presents a decidedly unpopular view —namely, that the central tenet of Christianity, the resurrection of Jesus, is false. The author asks a number of probing questions: Is the evidence about Jesus as it has been relayed to us over the centuries of sufficient quantity and quality to justify belief in the resurrection? How can we accept the resurrection but reject magic at the Salem witch trials? What light does contemporary research about human rationality from the fields of behavioral economics, empirical psychology, cognitive science, and philosophy shed on the resurrection and religious belief? Can we use contemporary research about the reliability of people’s beliefs in the supernatural, miracles, and the paranormal to shed light on the origins of Christianity and other religions? Does it make sense that the all-powerful creator of the universe would employ miracles to achieve his ends? Can a Christian believe by faith alone and yet reasonably deny the supernatural claims of other religions? Do the arguments against Christianity support atheism? By carefully answering each of these questions, this book undermines Christianity and theism at their foundations; it gives us a powerful model for better critical reasoning; and it builds a compelling case for atheism. Without stooping to condescension or arrogance, the author offers persuasive arguments that are accessible, thoughtful, and new.

Atheism in Christianity

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Publisher : Herder & Herder
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 284 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (91 download)

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Book Synopsis Atheism in Christianity by : Ernst Bloch

Download or read book Atheism in Christianity written by Ernst Bloch and published by Herder & Herder. This book was released on 1972 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Sermons of Theism, Atheism, and the Popular Theology

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Publisher : Theclassics.Us
ISBN 13 : 9781230322834
Total Pages : 110 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (228 download)

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Book Synopsis Sermons of Theism, Atheism, and the Popular Theology by : Theodore Parker

Download or read book Sermons of Theism, Atheism, and the Popular Theology written by Theodore Parker and published by Theclassics.Us. This book was released on 2013-09 with total page 110 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1859 edition. Excerpt: ... the Hebrew prophets atheists, for they denied all the God that Gentile knew. Paul, in the New Testament, more of a theist than the Greeks and Asiatics about him, with a larger religious development than they dreamed of, said, --" an Idol is nothing." That is, there is no divine being which corresponds exactly to the qualities ascribed to any material idol. Their idea of God, said Paul, lacked actuality; it was a personal or national whimsey; not a perfect subjective representation of the objective fact of the universe; but only a mistaken notion of that fact. If a man has outgrown the Hebrew, or common Christian idea of God, he may say what Paul said of the Idol, --" It is nothing." He will not be an atheist, but a theist all the more.. The superior conception of God always nullifies the inferior conception. Thus as the world grows in its development, it necessarily outgrows its ancient ideas of God, which were only temporary and_provisional. As it goes forward, the ancient deities are looked on first as devils; next as a mere mistaken notion which some men had formed about God. For example, a hundred years ago it was the custom of the learned men of the Christian church to speak of the Heathen deities, --Jupiter, Apollo, Venus, and the rest, --as Devils. They did not deny the actual existence of those beings, only affirmed them to be not Gods but devils or "fallen angels;" at any rate, evil beings. Some of the heretics among the early Christians said the same of the Hebrew Jehovah, that he was not the true God, but only a Devil who misled the Jews. Now-a-days well educated men who still use the terms, say that Jupiter, Apollo, Venus, and the others, were only mistaken notions which men formed of God. They deny the actuality of the idea;...

The Myth of Persecution

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Publisher : Harper Collins
ISBN 13 : 0062104543
Total Pages : 247 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (621 download)

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Book Synopsis The Myth of Persecution by : Candida Moss

Download or read book The Myth of Persecution written by Candida Moss and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2013-03-05 with total page 247 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In The Myth of Persecution, Candida Moss, a leading expert on early Christianity, reveals how the early church exaggerated, invented, and forged stories of Christian martyrs and how the dangerous legacy of a martyrdom complex is employed today to silence dissent and galvanize a new generation of culture warriors. According to cherished church tradition and popular belief, before the Emperor Constantine made Christianity legal in the fourth century, early Christians were systematically persecuted by a brutal Roman Empire intent on their destruction. As the story goes, vast numbers of believers were thrown to the lions, tortured, or burned alive because they refused to renounce Christ. These saints, Christianity's inspirational heroes, are still venerated today. Moss, however, exposes that the "Age of Martyrs" is a fiction—there was no sustained 300-year-long effort by the Romans to persecute Christians. Instead, these stories were pious exaggerations; highly stylized rewritings of Jewish, Greek, and Roman noble death traditions; and even forgeries designed to marginalize heretics, inspire the faithful, and fund churches. The traditional story of persecution is still taught in Sunday school classes, celebrated in sermons, and employed by church leaders, politicians, and media pundits who insist that Christians were—and always will be—persecuted by a hostile, secular world. While violence against Christians does occur in select parts of the world today, the rhetoric of persecution is both misleading and rooted in an inaccurate history of the early church. Moss urges modern Christians to abandon the conspiratorial assumption that the world is out to get Christians and, rather, embrace the consolation, moral instruction, and spiritual guidance that these martyrdom stories provide.

The Atheist Delusion

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Publisher : Xulon Press
ISBN 13 : 1607915820
Total Pages : 230 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (79 download)

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Book Synopsis The Atheist Delusion by : Fernandes

Download or read book The Atheist Delusion written by Fernandes and published by Xulon Press. This book was released on 2009-04 with total page 230 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

The Early Church Was the Catholic Church

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Publisher : Catholic Answers Press
ISBN 13 : 9781683572466
Total Pages : 256 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (724 download)

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Book Synopsis The Early Church Was the Catholic Church by : Joe Heschmeyer

Download or read book The Early Church Was the Catholic Church written by Joe Heschmeyer and published by Catholic Answers Press. This book was released on 2021-10-15 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

The Christian Atheist

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Publisher : Zondervan
ISBN 13 : 0310597412
Total Pages : 180 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (15 download)

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Book Synopsis The Christian Atheist by : Craig Groeschel

Download or read book The Christian Atheist written by Craig Groeschel and published by Zondervan. This book was released on 2010-04-06 with total page 180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Are you putting your whole faith in God but still living as if everything is up to you? You may believe in God, attend church, and generally treat people with kindness…but are you living as if God doesn't exist? Have you surrendered to God completely, living every day depending upon the Holy Spirit? Pastor and bestselling author Craig Groeschel will lead you on a personal journey toward an authentic, God-honoring life. This honest, hard-hitting, and eye-opening look into the ways people believe in God but live as if he doesn't exist is a classic of discipleship training. Groeschel's personal journey will help you break down your own barriers between simple belief and a more intentional faith. This book will help you: Let go of the shame of your past and know that you’re forgiven. Embrace Christ’s profound love for you. Believe in the power of prayer. Give up control when life doesn't seem fair. Trust God with all your anxious thoughts, heartache, struggles, and pain. From the author of Winning the War in Your Mind, The Christian Atheist is a rallying cry to get honest with God, shed the self-sufficiency and the hypocrisy, and live a life that truly brings glory to Christ.

Give Me an Answer

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Publisher : InterVarsity Press
ISBN 13 : 9780877845690
Total Pages : 172 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (456 download)

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Book Synopsis Give Me an Answer by : Cliffe Knechtle

Download or read book Give Me an Answer written by Cliffe Knechtle and published by InterVarsity Press. This book was released on 1986-03-31 with total page 172 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cliffe Knechtle offers clear, reasoned and compassionate responses to the tough questions skeptics ask.

Battling the Gods

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Publisher : Vintage
ISBN 13 : 0307948773
Total Pages : 306 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (79 download)

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Book Synopsis Battling the Gods by : Tim Whitmarsh

Download or read book Battling the Gods written by Tim Whitmarsh and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2016-10-18 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How new is atheism? Although adherents and opponents alike today present it as an invention of the European Enlightenment, when the forces of science and secularism broadly challenged those of faith, disbelief in the gods, in fact, originated in a far more remote past. In Battling the Gods, Tim Whitmarsh journeys into the ancient Mediterranean, a world almost unimaginably different from our own, to recover the stories and voices of those who first refused the divinities. Whitmarsh provides a bracing antidote to our assumptions about the roots of freethinking. By shining a light on atheism’s first thousand years, Battling the Gods offers a timely reminder that nonbelief has a wealth of tradition of its own, and, indeed, its own heroes.

Why Study the Past?

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Publisher : Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
ISBN 13 : 9780802829900
Total Pages : 140 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (299 download)

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Book Synopsis Why Study the Past? by : Rowan Williams

Download or read book Why Study the Past? written by Rowan Williams and published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. This book was released on 2005-07-06 with total page 140 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this small but thoughtful volume, a respected theologian and churchman opens up a theological approach to history.

Atheist Delusions

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Publisher : Yale University Press
ISBN 13 : 0300155646
Total Pages : 268 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (1 download)

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Book Synopsis Atheist Delusions by : David Bentley Hart

Download or read book Atheist Delusions written by David Bentley Hart and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2009-04-21 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Religious scholar Hart argues that contemporary antireligious polemics are based not only upon conceptual confusions but upon facile simplifications of history and provides a powerful antidote to the New Atheists' misrepresentations of the Christian past.