The Early Christians in Ephesus from Paul to Ignatius


Book Description

The capital city of the province of Asia in the first century CE, Ephesus played a key role in the development of early Christianity. In this book Paul Trebilco examines the early Christians from Paul to Ignatius, seen in the context of our knowledge of the city as a whole. Drawing on Paul's letters and the Acts of the Apostles, Trebilco looks at the foundations of the church, both before and during the Pauline mission. He shows that in the period from around 80 to 100 CE there were a number of different communities in Ephesus that regarded themselves as Christians -- the Pauline and Johannine groups, Nicolaitans, and others -- testifying to the diversity of that time and place. Including further discussions on the Ephesus addresses of the apostle John and Ignatius, this scholarly study of the early Ephesian Christians and their community is without peer.




Early Christian Fathers


Book Description

This selection of writings from early church leaders includes work by Clement of Rome, Ignatius, Polycarp, Irenaeus, Athenagoras, and Justin Martyr.Long recognized for the quality of its translations, introductions, explanatory notes, and indexes, the Library of Christian Classics provides scholars and students with modern English translations of some of the most significant Christian theological texts in history. Through these works--each written prior to the end of the sixteenth century--contemporary readers are able to engage the ideas that have shaped Christian theology and the church through the centuries.




Inside the Nye Ham Debate


Book Description

With Millions watching this live debate on February 4, 2014, "Bill Nye, the Science Guy" squared off with Answers in Genesis founder and president Ken Ham. This event echoed the worldviews at work in our lives today and put two of the most unique and recognizable advocates of their positions on the same stage to face not only each other, but the many who watched. More answers, more perspectives, more truth to answer the world's most critical question: How did we and all we know come to be here, at this place and this time in the history of the universe? Are we accidental products of evolution or the centerpiece of God's marvelous creation? Debate Stats: Over 3.8 Million computers watched the debate live 7.6 Million people watched (Based on an extremely conservative estimate of 2 viewers per stream, or 11.4 Million based on 3 people per stream) 3.5 million views on You Tube Note: The YouTube Page only shows views AFTER the event, not Live views




The Emergence of the Church


Book Description

Arthur G. Patzia explores the story, weighs the issues and traces the contours of the early church's expansion and growth, life and practices, leadership and worship.




The New Testament and Early Christian Literature in Greco-Roman Context


Book Description

This volume is a collection of scholarly studies honoring Prof.Dr. David. E. Aune on his 65th birthday. Its title, The New Testament and Early Christian Literature in Greco-Roman Context: Studies in Honor of David E. Aune, reflects Prof. Aune's academic training, interests, and extensive publications. The volume's studies investigate a range of topics within the Pauline correspondence, Gospels, Apocalypse of John, and other early Christian writings with insights drawn from Greco-Roman culture and Hellenistic Judaism. Thus, the studies make use of Greco-Roman literature, rhetoric, magic, medicine, moral philosophy, iconography, archaeology, religious cults, and social conventions while also utilizing social-historical, social-scientific, literary-critical, and rhetorical-critical methodologies, thereby adding an interdisciplinary dimension to the volume. These groundbreaking studies have been written by prominent international scholars and are published here for the first time.







Enslaved Leadership in Early Christianity


Book Description

Slaves were ubiquitous in the first- and second-century CE Roman Empire, and early Christian texts reflect this fact. This book argues that enslaved persons engaged in leadership roles in civic and religious activities. Such roles created tension within religious groups, including second-century communities connected with Paul's legacy. -




Jesus as Mediator


Book Description

This book addresses the influence of the imperial cult in first-century AD Asia Minor and its subsequent relevance to the reading of the New Testament. In particular, this work argues, through a contrapuntal reading of 1 Timothy 2:1-7, that the early Christian community strongly resisted the Emperor's claim to be the «mediator» between the gods and humanity. In contrast to this claim, the author shows that 1 Timothy 2:1-7 can be read as a polemic from a minority community, the Christian church in Ephesus, against the powerful voice of the Roman Empire in regard to divine mediation.




The Epistles for All Christians


Book Description

In The Epistles for All Christians David Smith argues, drawing from ancient media practices of publication and circulation and using social network theory, that epistolary literature offers analogous evidence of circulation to the wide circulation of the Gospels.




The First Urban Churches 3


Book Description

Investigate the challenges, threats, and opportunities experienced by the early church in Ephesus The third installment of The First Urban Churches focuses on the urban context of Christian churches in first-century Ephesus. As with previous volumes, contributors illustrate how an investigation of the material evidence will help readers understand properly the challenges, threats, and opportunities that the early Ephesian believers faced in that city. Brad Bitner, James R. Harrison, Michael Haxby, Fredrick J. Long, Guy M. Rogers, Michael Theophilos, Paul Trebilco, and Stephan Witetschek demonstrate decisively the difference that such an approach makes in grappling with the meaning and context of the New Testament writings, particularly Ephesians, Acts, and Revelation. Features Analysis of urban evidence of the inscriptions, papyri, archaeological remains, coins, and iconography Proposed reconstructions of the past and its social, religious and political significance A nuanced, informed portrait of ancient urban life in Ephesus