Post by sandwiches on Nov 27, 2016 16:18:57 GMT
Destroyer of the gods: Early Christian Distinctiveness in the Roman World: Larry Hurtado
Forgive my laziness, but I have already posted this on a certain well-known book-supplier's website. Nevertheless, it is a very good read (you should all order it for Christmas):
There are thought-provoking chapters on early Christianity in the eyes of Non-Christians (they were none too keen since Christians disdained all other 'gods' - hence the title) and why this was "a new kind of faith": the inclusion of Jesus in religious beliefs and practices distinguished early Christianity even from Judaism.
A chapter on "A Different Identity" explains how early Christians were distinguished from both Jews (Christians were not from one particular ethnicity) and pagans/Romans (Christians could worship only one God)."A Bookish Religion" stresses the importance and dissemination of written texts (particularly in the codex form - the forerunner of books as opposed to scrolls).
The final chapter on "A New Way to Live" provokes many interesting reflections. I was particularly struck for example by the comments on ‘household codes’ and how Christian texts addressed not just male heads of households but also those in ‘subordinate’ positions – women, children, slaves and that these texts would have been read and discussed in he presence of such ‘subordinates’. I had never thought how distinctive this must have been. Curious that has never occurred to me or perhaps many others when we hear these texts now.
The author refers in the book, to the question of why anyone would become a Christian, when its distinctiveness seemed to excite such antipathy among pagans including relatives, acquiantances and authorities. That would have been a good addition to the book (the icing on a wonderful cake), though I think the author has dealt with that elsewhere
www.amazon.co.uk/Destroyer-gods-Early-Christian-Distinctiveness/dp/1481304739/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_pl_foot_top?ie=UTF8
Forgive my laziness, but I have already posted this on a certain well-known book-supplier's website. Nevertheless, it is a very good read (you should all order it for Christmas):
There are thought-provoking chapters on early Christianity in the eyes of Non-Christians (they were none too keen since Christians disdained all other 'gods' - hence the title) and why this was "a new kind of faith": the inclusion of Jesus in religious beliefs and practices distinguished early Christianity even from Judaism.
A chapter on "A Different Identity" explains how early Christians were distinguished from both Jews (Christians were not from one particular ethnicity) and pagans/Romans (Christians could worship only one God)."A Bookish Religion" stresses the importance and dissemination of written texts (particularly in the codex form - the forerunner of books as opposed to scrolls).
The final chapter on "A New Way to Live" provokes many interesting reflections. I was particularly struck for example by the comments on ‘household codes’ and how Christian texts addressed not just male heads of households but also those in ‘subordinate’ positions – women, children, slaves and that these texts would have been read and discussed in he presence of such ‘subordinates’. I had never thought how distinctive this must have been. Curious that has never occurred to me or perhaps many others when we hear these texts now.
The author refers in the book, to the question of why anyone would become a Christian, when its distinctiveness seemed to excite such antipathy among pagans including relatives, acquiantances and authorities. That would have been a good addition to the book (the icing on a wonderful cake), though I think the author has dealt with that elsewhere
www.amazon.co.uk/Destroyer-gods-Early-Christian-Distinctiveness/dp/1481304739/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_pl_foot_top?ie=UTF8