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The Ancient Roots Of Christianity
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Book Synopsis In Search of Ancient Roots by : Kenneth J. Stewart
Download or read book In Search of Ancient Roots written by Kenneth J. Stewart and published by Inter-Varsity Press. This book was released on 2017-11-16 with total page 325 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Some evangelical churches appear to be uninterested in their historical roots, and so can be liturgically and doctrinally unstable. Perceiving this disconnection between their Protestant faith and ancient Christianity, a number of evangelicals have abandoned Protestantism for traditions that seem to be clearly rooted in the early church. Ken Stewart argues that the evangelical tradition’s track record of interaction with Christian antiquity is far healthier than is often assumed. He surveys five centuries of Protestant engagement with the ancient church, showing that Christians belonging to the evangelical churches of the Reformation consistently see their faith as connected to early Christianity. Stewart explores areas of positive engagement, including the Lord’s Supper and biblical interpretation, as well as areas that raise concerns, such as monasticism. In Search of Ancient Roots shows that Christian antiquity is the heritage of all orthodox Christians, and that evangelicals have the resources in their history to claim their place at the ecumenical table. ‘A must-read for every person struggling with the question, “What does evangelicalism have to do with history?”’ Leonardo De Chirico, Director of Reformanda Initiative
Book Synopsis The Secret Roots of Christianity by : David Wray
Download or read book The Secret Roots of Christianity written by David Wray and published by . This book was released on 2012-11-01 with total page 756 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Traditional religious history preserves a rarely acknowledged secret that Christianity developed from at least three ancient roots: a Western structural root derived from Mediterranean Greek culture, an Eastern spiritual root from Anatolia and Persia, and a literary Jewish historical root, which masked the other roots and supported the idea that Christians had taken the place of Jews in relationship with God by entering a new covenant with Jesus. Each root contributed something special to the development of Christianity as follows: Supported by pagan iconography and rhetoric, the Western root imprinted Christianity with Greek spirit in a Hellenistic universe. The Eastern root filled the Greek construct with magic, focused humanity on a divine mission, and infused popular reverence for goddesses into Christian beliefs about the Virgin Mary. The literary Jewish root played two contradictory roles: Jewish scripture served as the reliable witness that proved Jesus to be both God and savior; and double-edged moral lessons in the Old Testament explained catastrophic events in the first century A.D. as divine judgment against Jews, supporting beliefs by early pagan converts to Christianity that Romans were good, Jews were bad, and God abandoned Jews for treacherously murdering Jesus. Two thousand years ago, Mediterranean cults included practices and beliefs that modern Christians associate exclusively with Christianity. People worshipped divine mothers who gave birth to dying and resurrecting gods on December 25. Saviors miraculously healed faithful followers and guided them to lead moral lives. Some cults baptized their followers, some passed their sins and inner demons to pigs, and some waited for a complete destruction of evil during the imminent End of Days. Then, as now, people argued whether the end would come by fire or water and whether many or few souls would be saved. Numerous symbols and beliefs associated in modern times with Christianity already existed in pre-Christian Hellenistic cults: Madonna and child images, angels, God the Father, the cross as a symbol of life after death, and the gift of eternal life through the shedding of immortal blood. On temple walls, wise men offered gifts of incense and gold to newborn gods; and merciful mothers granted salvation to the poor in spirit who confessed, repented, and begged forgiveness for their sins. However, Jews generally rejected all these practices, symbols, and beliefs. Some Jews believed in physical resurrection, and some did not. Some believed in eternal life, and some did not. For most Jews, however, a righteous life required the following of God's laws. If a Jew sinned against another man, no automatic forgiveness from God was possible. Forgiveness required acknowledgement of wrongdoing, restitution, and then forgiveness from the wronged party. Applying Jewish ethics to problems at the Jerusalem Temple meant recognizing the corruption within the priesthood, refusing to tolerate the evil rule of Rome, and giving one's life if necessary to precipitate the Kingdom of God. Just as God always had responded to the prayers of suffering Jews in the Bible, he would do so again. Soon he would send a messiah to deliver Jerusalem from the evil power of Rome and to cleanse Judea from the polluting practices of pagan cults. Drawing from both visible and secret roots, Christians freed themselves from paying for salvation from mystery cults while preserving the ability to worship a virgin-born hero with all the trappings of a pagan solar deity. This book explores the roots of Christianity in seven parts. The first three parts provide an overview of religious beliefs, practices, and iconography in the ancient Greek world that influenced Western culture and religion. The fourth, fifth, and sixth parts describe how the West developed under Roman influence. Then the seventh part focuses on the life of Jesus and the emergence of Christian cults in the first century A.D.
Book Synopsis Ancient Christian Worship by : Andrew B. McGowan
Download or read book Ancient Christian Worship written by Andrew B. McGowan and published by Baker Academic. This book was released on 2014-09-30 with total page 466 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An Important Study on the Worship of the Early Church This introduction to the origins of Christian worship illuminates the importance of ancient liturgical patterns for contemporary Christian practice. Andrew McGowan takes a fresh approach to understanding how Christians came to worship in the distinctive forms still familiar today. Deftly and expertly processing the bewildering complexity of the ancient sources into lucid, fluent exposition, he sets aside common misperceptions to explore the roots of Christian ritual practices--including the Eucharist, baptism, communal prayer, preaching, Scripture reading, and music--in their earliest recoverable settings. Now in paper.
Book Synopsis Ancient Egyptian Roots of Christianity, Expanded 2nd Edition by : Moustafa Gadalla
Download or read book Ancient Egyptian Roots of Christianity, Expanded 2nd Edition written by Moustafa Gadalla and published by Moustafa Gadalla. This book was released on 2016-12-02 with total page 104 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Egyptian roots of Christianity, both historically and spiritually. This book reveals the Ancient Egyptian roots of Christianity, both historically and spiritually. This Expanded Version of the book consists of three parts to coincide with the terms of trinity. The first part demonstrates that the major biblical ancestors of the biblical Jesus are all Ancient Egyptian prominent characters. The second part demonstrates that the accounts of the “historical Jesus” are based entirely on the life and death of the Egyptian Pharaoh, Twt/Tut-Ankh-Amen. The third part demonstrates that the “Jesus of Faith” and the Christian tenets are all Egyptian in origin—such as the essence of the teachings/message, the creation of the universe and man (according to the Book of Genesis), as well as the religious holidays. The very thing that is now called the Christian religion was already in existence in Ancient Egypt, long before the adoption of the New Testament. The British Egyptologist, Sir E. A. Wallis Budge, wrote in his book, The Gods of the Egyptians [1969], The new religion (Christianity) which was preached there by St. Mark and his immediate followers, in all essentials so closely resembled that which was the outcome of the worship of Osiris, Isis, and Horus. The similarities, noted by Budge and everyone who has compared the Egyptian Osiris/Isis/ Horus allegory to the Gospel story, are striking. Both accounts are practically the same, e.g. the supernatural conception, the divine birth, the struggles against the enemy in the wilderness, and the resurrection from the dead to eternal life. The main difference between the “two versions”, is that the Gospel tale is considered historical and the Osiris/Isis/Horus cycle is an allegory. The spiritual message of the Ancient Egyptian Osiris/Isis/Horus allegory and the Christian revelation is exactly the same. The British scholar A.N. Wilson pointed out in his book, Jesus: The Jesus of History and the Christ of Faith are two separate beings, with very different stories. It is difficult enough to reconstruct the first, and in the attempt we are likely to do irreparable harm to the second. This book will demonstrate that the “Jesus of History”, the ”Jesus of Faith”, and the tenets of Christianity are all Ancient Egyptian. This will be done without causing any “irreparable harm” as per A.N. Wilson’s concern, for two main reasons: Firstly, the truth must be told. Secondly, explaining Christian tenets via their original Ancient Egyptian contexts will enhance the idealism of Christianity. This Expanded Version of the book consists of three parts to coincide with the terms of trinity—the Three that are Two that are One. The first part demonstrates that the major biblical ancestors of the biblical Jesus are all Ancient Egyptian prominent individuals. The second part demonstrates that the accounts of the “historical Jesus” are based entirely on the life and death of the Egyptian Pharaoh, Twt/Tut- Ankh-Amen. The third part demonstrates that the “Jesus of Faith” and the Christian tenets are all Egyptian in origin—such as the essence of the teachings/message, the creation of the universe and man (according to the Book of Genesis), as well as the religious holidays. There is an undeniable irony and a profound, deep, undeniable truth in Hosea’s prophetic saying, Out of Egypt have I called my Son. A deep irony indeed. Let us open our minds and review the available evidence. For the truth is a composite of different and complementary pieces of a puzzle. Let us put the pieces in the right location, time and order.
Book Synopsis Christianity: An Ancient Egyptian Religion by : Ahmed Osman
Download or read book Christianity: An Ancient Egyptian Religion written by Ahmed Osman and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2005-04-19 with total page 477 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contends that the roots of Christian belief come not from Judaea but from Egypt • Shows that the Romans fabricated their own version of Christianity and burned the Alexandrian library as a way of maintaining political power • Builds on the arguments of the author's previous books The Hebrew Pharaohs of Egypt, Moses and Akhenaten, and Jesus in the House of the Pharaohs In Christianity: An Ancient Egyptian Religion author Ahmed Osman contends that the roots of Christian belief spring not from Judaea but from Egypt. He compares the chronology of the Old Testament and its factual content with ancient Egyptian records to show that the major characters of the Hebrew scriptures--including Solomon, David, Moses, and Joshua--are based on Egyptian historical figures. He further suggests that not only were these personalities and the stories associated with them cultivated on the banks of the Nile, but the major tenets of Christian belief--the One God, the Trinity, the hierarchy of heaven, life after death, and the virgin birth--are all Egyptian in origin. He likewise provides a convincing argument that Jesus himself came out of Egypt. With the help of modern archaeological findings, Osman shows that Christianity survived as an Egyptian mystery cult until the fourth century A.D., when the Romans embarked on a mission of suppression and persecution. In A.D. 391 the Roman-appointed Bishop Theophilus led a mob into the Serapeum quarter of Alexandria and burned the Alexandrian library, destroying all records of the true Egyptian roots of Christianity. The Romans' version of Christianity, manufactured to maintain political power, claimed that Christianity originated in Judaea. In Christianity: An Ancient Egyptian Religion Osman restores Egypt to its rightful place in the history of Christianity.
Book Synopsis The Origins of Christianity and the New Testament by : Rebecca I. Denova
Download or read book The Origins of Christianity and the New Testament written by Rebecca I. Denova and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2021-07-21 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Denova explores how the first followers of Jesus arrived at their faith, the way their sacred texts developed into the New Testament, and how their movement eventually became the religion of Christianity. [Her] volume examines the concepts, beliefs, issues, and events that gave rise to institutional Christianity--providing readers with the historical context of the gospels of Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John, the Acts of the Apostles, the Book of Revelation, the letters of Paul, and other foundational New Testament documents"--Back cover.
Book Synopsis Loving and Studying Nature by : Malcolm Skilbeck
Download or read book Loving and Studying Nature written by Malcolm Skilbeck and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2022-01-05 with total page 458 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume investigates crucial ways in which nature has been apprehended, understood and valued in different cultures and over time. It is grounded in current global concerns about growing threats to the natural environment. Through a critical appraisal of specific examples, it ranges widely over historical and contemporary attitudes and behaviours. It presents a wide ranging analysis of selected ideas and attitudes in the evolution mainly of western civilisation, from the time of the cave artists to the present day. It argues for preservation and conservation of the natural resources and beauty of the earth in the face of religious supernatural arguments and the rise of consumer capitalism and consumerism.
Book Synopsis Late Ancient Christianity by : Virginia Burrus
Download or read book Late Ancient Christianity written by Virginia Burrus and published by Fortress Press. This book was released on 2010-03-01 with total page 346 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The particular excitement of this volume lies in its focus on the everyday realities of Christians' lives in the era of Christian ascendancy and Roman decline. Popular fiction, childrearing and toys, rituals of inclusion, the beginning of veneration of saints and shunning of heretics, the ascetic impulse, food practices—all these and more lend color and texture to the story of a "people's" Christianity in this formative stage.
Book Synopsis Christianity, Empire, and the Making of Religion in Late Antiquity by : Jeremy M. Schott
Download or read book Christianity, Empire, and the Making of Religion in Late Antiquity written by Jeremy M. Schott and published by University of Pennsylvania Press. This book was released on 2013-04-23 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Christianity, Empire, and the Making of Religion in Late Antiquity, Jeremy M. Schott examines the ways in which conflicts between Christian and pagan intellectuals over religious, ethnic, and cultural identity contributed to the transformation of Roman imperial rhetoric and ideology in the early fourth century C.E. During this turbulent period, which began with Diocletian's persecution of the Christians and ended with Constantine's assumption of sole rule and the consolidation of a new Christian empire, Christian apologists and anti-Christian polemicists launched a number of literary salvos in a battle for the minds and souls of the empire. Schott focuses on the works of the Platonist philosopher and anti- Christian polemicist Porphyry of Tyre and his Christian respondents: the Latin rhetorician Lactantius, Eusebius, bishop of Caesarea, and the emperor Constantine. Previous scholarship has tended to narrate the Christianization of the empire in terms of a new religion's penetration and conquest of classical culture and society. The present work, in contrast, seeks to suspend the static, essentializing conceptualizations of religious identity that lie behind many studies of social and political change in late antiquity in order to investigate the processes through which Christian and pagan identities were constructed. Drawing on the insights of postcolonial discourse analysis, Schott argues that the production of Christian identity and, in turn, the construction of a Christian imperial discourse were intimately and inseparably linked to the broader politics of Roman imperialism.
Book Synopsis Christ Circumcised by : Andrew S. Jacobs
Download or read book Christ Circumcised written by Andrew S. Jacobs and published by University of Pennsylvania Press. This book was released on 2012-05-28 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the first full-length study of the circumcision of Jesus, Andrew S. Jacobs turns to an unexpected symbol—the stereotypical mark of the Jewish covenant on the body of the Christian savior—to explore how and why we think about difference and identity in early Christianity. Jacobs explores the subject of Christ's circumcision in texts dating from the first through seventh centuries of the Common Era. Using a diverse toolkit of approaches, including the psychoanalytic, postcolonial, and poststructuralist, he posits that while seeming to desire fixed borders and a clear distinction between self (Christian) and other (Jew, pagan, and heretic), early Christians consistently blurred and destabilized their own religious boundaries. He further argues that in this doubled approach to others, Christians mimicked the imperial discourse of the Roman Empire, which exerted its power through the management, not the erasure, of difference. For Jacobs, the circumcision of Christ vividly illustrates a deep-seated Christian duality: the fear of and longing for an other, at once reviled and internalized. From his earliest appearance in the Gospel of Luke to the full-blown Feast of the Divine Circumcision in the medieval period, Christ circumcised represents a new way of imagining Christians and their creation of a new religious culture.
Book Synopsis Ancient Judaism and Christian Origins by : George W. E. Nickelsburg
Download or read book Ancient Judaism and Christian Origins written by George W. E. Nickelsburg and published by Fortress Press. This book was released on 2003 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the nineteenth and first half of the twentieth century, Christian scholars portrayed Judaism as the dark religious backdrop to the liberating events of Jesus' life and the rise of the early church. Since the 1950s, however, a dramatic shift has occurred in the study of Judaism, driven by new manuscript and archaeological discoveries and new methods and tools for analyzing sources. George Nickelsburg here provides a broad and synthesizing picture of the results of the past fifty years of scholarship on early Judaism and Christianity. He organizes his discussion around a number of traditional topics: scripture and tradition, Torah and the righteous life, God's activity on humanity's behalf, agents of God's activity, eschatology, historical circumstances, and social settings. Each of the chapters discusses the findings of contemporary research on early Judaism, and then sketches the implications of this research for a possible reinter-pretation of Christianity. Still, in the author's view, there remains a major Jewish-Christian agenda yet to be developed and implemented.
Book Synopsis The Lost History of Christianity by : John Philip Jenkins
Download or read book The Lost History of Christianity written by John Philip Jenkins and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2008-10-28 with total page 342 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this groundbreaking book, renowned religion scholar Philip Jenkins offers a lost history, revealing that, for centuries, Christianity's center was actually in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa, with significant communities extending as far as China. The Lost History of Christianity unveils 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—died. Jenkins takes a stand against current scholars who assert that variant, alternative Christianities disappeared in the fourth and fifth centuries on the heels of a newly formed hierarchy under Constantine, intent on crushing unorthodox views. In reality, Jenkins says, the largest churches in the world were the “heretics” who lost the orthodoxy battles. These so-called heretics were in fact the most influential Christian groups throughout Asia, and their influence lasted an additional one thousand years beyond their supposed demise. 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.
Book Synopsis A History of Christianity by : Diarmaid MacCulloch
Download or read book A History of Christianity written by Diarmaid MacCulloch and published by Penguin UK. This book was released on 2010 with total page 1065 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From a prize-winning author, this book charts the course of Christianity from ancient history onwards.
Book Synopsis The Roots of Nubian Christianity Uncovered by : Salim Faraji
Download or read book The Roots of Nubian Christianity Uncovered written by Salim Faraji and published by Africa Research and Publications. This book was released on 2012 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Revised version of the author's dissertation--Claremont Graduate University, 2008.
Book Synopsis A New History of Early Christianity by : Charles Freeman
Download or read book A New History of Early Christianity written by Charles Freeman and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2009-01-01 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "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.
Book Synopsis The Limits of Ancient Christianity by : Robert Austin Markus
Download or read book The Limits of Ancient Christianity written by Robert Austin Markus and published by University of Michigan Press. This book was released on 1999 with total page 380 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sixteen essays explore the end of ancient Christianity
Book Synopsis The Story of Christianity by : Jean-Pierre Isbouts
Download or read book The Story of Christianity written by Jean-Pierre Isbouts and published by National Geographic Books. This book was released on 2014 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Focuses on the rich social and cultural history of Christianity through the ages, from its roots in Palestine to its development as a global movement.
