Why Christianity Happened


Book Description

Looking beyond theological narratives and offering a sociological, economic, and historical examination of the spread of earliest Christianity, James Crossley presents a thoroughly secular and causal explanation for why the once law-observant movement within Judaism became the beginnings of a new religion. First analyzing the historiography of the New Testament and stressing the problematic omission of a social scientific account, Crossley applies a socioeconomic lens to the rise of the Jesus movement and the centrality of sinners to his mission. Using macrosociological approaches, he explains how Jesus' Jewish teachings sparked the shift toward a gentile religion and an international monotheistic trend. Finally, using approaches from conversion studies, he provides a sociohistorical explanation for the rise of the Pauline mission.







Birth of Christianity


Book Description

John Dominic Crossan explores the lost years of earliest Christianity, the years immediately following Jesus' execution. He establishes the contextual setting through a combination of literary, anthropological, historical and archaeological approaches. He challenges the assumptions about the role of Paul and the meaning of resurrection, and forges a new understanding of the birth of the Christian church. Here is a vivid account of early Christianity's interaction with the world around it, and of the new traditions and communities established as Jesus' companions continued their movement after his death.




Turning Points


Book Description

Explores twelve pivotal events in the history of Christianity ranging from the fall of Jerusalem and the coronation of Charlemagne to the Edinburgh Missionary Conference.




A New History of Early Christianity


Book Description

"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.




The Lost History of Christianity


Book Description

The New York Times bestselling history of early Christianity in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East—from “one of America’s best scholars of religion” (The Economist). In this groundbreaking book, renowned scholar Philip Jenkins explores 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—eventually died. 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.




The Dawn of Christianity


Book Description

Drawing upon the most recent discoveries and scholarship in archaeology and the first-century Near East, The Dawn of Christianity reveals how a beleaguered group of followers of a crucified rabbi became the founders of a world-changing faith. How did Christianity truly come to be? Where did this worldwide faith come from? The Dawn of Christianity tells the story of how the first followers of Jesus survived the terror and despair of witnessing the one they knew to be the messiah—God’s agent for the salvation of the world—suddenly arrested, tried, and executed. Soon after Jesus’ death, his relatives and closest followers began hearing reports that Jesus was alive again—reports that even his most loyal disciples at first refused to believe. Using the most recent studies by top Christian and secular scholars, Robert Hutchinson, known for his popular books on Christianity and Biblical Studies, reconstructs all of the known accounts of these early resurrection appearances and follows the witnesses to the resurrection as they experience brutal persecution at the hands of zealots such as Saul of Tarsus and then become committed evangelists to the major population centers in Antioch, Damascus, Rome, and Athens—and ultimately across the world. A riveting thriller of the most improbable history-changing movement imaginable, The Dawn of Christianity brings to life the compelling story of the birth of Christianity.




When Bad Christians Happen to Good People


Book Description

“Dave allowed God to navigate him through the pain of religious moralism to arrive at insightful, compelling, and gracious wisdom. He remains a sincere lover of God’s church and people as he directs weary pilgrims to safer lodging.” —John Lynch, coauthor of TrueFaced and Bo’s Café Have you been betrayed by a Christian friend? Are you disillusioned with the church? If you have been hurt by Christians, you know all about anger and resentment. But what about a workable solution? How can the words and actions of “bad Christians” be addressed so the mistakes are not repeated? When Bad Christians Happen to Good People offers a workable response and, ultimately, a new way of living. In this revised and updated edition, you will find healing for hurts infl icted by others. At the same time, you will discover ways to help Christians and church leaders recognize the damage that is done by unexamined assumptions, words, and actions. After dealing with his own hurt, Dave Burchett now shows believers how to: ■ Live as Jesus followers, not rule enforcers ■ Stop using religious performance as the standard for accepting others ■ Let go of moralism, legalism, and an allegiance to trying harder ■ Discover God’s grace as a daily reality, not just a word to use in evangelism Working toward a solution will benefi t your own life at the same time it helps others. Whether you have been a bad Christian in the past, or have been hurt by one, there is a better way to live. Discussion Guide Included for Individual and Small-Group Use




Jesus and the Chaos of History


Book Description

In Jesus and the Chaos of History, James Crossley looks at the way the earliest traditions about Jesus interacted with a context of social upheaval and the ways in which this historical chaos of the early first century led to a range of ideas which were taken up, modified, ignored, and reinterpreted in the movement that followed. Crossley examines how the earliest Palestinian tradition intersected with social upheaval and historical change and how accidental, purposeful, discontinuous, contradictory, and implicit meanings in the developments of ideas appeared in the movement that followed. He considers the ways seemingly egalitarian and countercultural ideas co-exist with ideas of dominance and power and how human reactions to socio-economic inequalities can end up mimicking dominant power. In this case, the book analyzes how a Galilean "protest" movement laid the foundations for its own brand of imperial rule. This evaluation is carried out in detailed studies on the kingdom of God and "Christology," "sinners" and purity, and gender and revolution.




Currents in the Interpretation of Paul


Book Description

The apostle Paul has long been championed, or criticized, as a Christian thinker, as a brilliant theological genius, or an enthusiastic convert who spun arguments to justify his new allegiances. In these essays, Neil Elliott engages some of the most provocative currents in contemporary scholarship, including Paul and the nature of violence; the presumptions of religious, cultural, or national innocence in particular interpretations of the apostle; the recent enthusiasm for Paul in some streams of Marxist thought; competing construals of economic realities in Paul's day (and our own); and questions surrounding Paul's legacy today.