Joe E. Barnhart and Linda T. Kraeger
Ashgate
Hardback
226
2000
In Search of First Century Christianity contends that Christianity in the first century had no founder but rather evolved as a convergence of many forces: political disillusionment cultural mutations religious and theological motifs psychosocial losses and new expectations. Following an examination of the foundations of historical and literary criticism in the Renaissance and a detailed study of two writers in antiquity Thucydides and Chariton to examine writings in the period between Plato and the Gospel of Mark the authors explore the writing of Paul and the stories told in the Gospels as well as other Christian writings.This book explores the difficult question of whether Jesus was an historical figure or an image who first emerged within developing communities of visionaries. Through an exploration into how Christology developed in the early First Century the authors seek to show that Christianity's emerging theology was a venture in human problem solving and that both Paul and the Gospels sought to relate a story in which goodness would ultimately triumph in the person of Christ.
Ashgate
Hardback
226
2000
In Search of First Century Christianity contends that Christianity in the first century had no founder but rather evolved as a convergence of many forces: political disillusionment cultural mutations religious and theological motifs psychosocial losses and new expectations. Following an examination of the foundations of historical and literary criticism in the Renaissance and a detailed study of two writers in antiquity Thucydides and Chariton to examine writings in the period between Plato and the Gospel of Mark the authors explore the writing of Paul and the stories told in the Gospels as well as other Christian writings.This book explores the difficult question of whether Jesus was an historical figure or an image who first emerged within developing communities of visionaries. Through an exploration into how Christology developed in the early First Century the authors seek to show that Christianity's emerging theology was a venture in human problem solving and that both Paul and the Gospels sought to relate a story in which goodness would ultimately triumph in the person of Christ.