Free Download John-christian Eurell, "Peter's Legacy in Early Christianity: The Appropriation and Use of Peter's Authority in the First Three Centuries "
English | ISBN: 3161610989 | 2021 | 358 pages | PDF | 4 MB
John-Christian Eurell studies how Peter's authority is portrayed to create legitimacy in Christian texts. Peter emerges as a central figure in the diverse early Christian movement and is used to discuss theological legitimacy. The main divide is between those who argue that legitimate theology should have a conservative point of departure based on traditional material handed down from the earthly Jesus and an apostolic succession based on interpersonal relations and those who argue in favour of a more progressive point of departure which places emphasis on contemporary charismatic experiences. These perspectives are utilised by groups of various theological persuasions to argue their own position. Peter is seen as a positive and negative example for both these ways of creating legitimacy.

Free Download Crossroad Discourses Between Christianity And Culture By Jerald D. Gort; Henry Jansen; Wessel Stoker
2010 | 641 Pages | ISBN: 9042028637 | PDF | 4 MB
Christianity exists in relation to and interacts with its cultural environment in a number of ways. In this volume authors from a wide variety of backgrounds explore various facets of the relationship and interaction of Christianity with its cultural environment: politics, society, esthetics, religion and spirituality, and with itself. Divided into three main sections, Crossroad Discourses between Christianity and Culture looks at the interaction of Christianity with culture in the first section, with other religions and spiritualities in the second, and finally with itself in the third. The contributions engage in a critical examination of not only the culture in which Christianity finds itself but also in a critical examination of Christianity itself and its interaction with that culture.The editors hope that teachers, students, and readers in general will profit greatly from the critical articles contained in this book.

Free Download Reyhan Durmaz, "Stories between Christianity and Islam: Saints, Memory, and Cultural Exchange in Late Antiquity and Beyond"
English | ISBN: 0520386469 | 2022 | 276 pages | PDF | 3 MB
Stories between Christianity and Islam offers an original and nuanced understanding of Christian-Muslim relations that shifts focus from discussions of superiority, conflict, and appropriation to the living world of connectivity and creativity. Here, the late antique and medieval Near East is viewed as a world of stories shared by Christians and Muslims. Public storytelling was a key feature for these late antique Christian and early Islamic communities, where stories of saints were used to interpret the past, comment on the present, and envision the future.

Free Download Roman Garrison, "Redemptive Almsgiving in Early Christianity"
English | 2015 | pages: 185 | ISBN: 1474230601 | PDF | 6,8 mb
In the light of the New Testament's conviction that Jesus Christ died for sins, and that the Cross is a 'once for all' act that makes the Temple cult unnecessary, this challenging work probes the reasons for the emerging doctrine of redemptive almsgiving in early Christianity. Do the New Testament writers themselves (even Jesus!) implicitly endorse the view that a 'supplementary' or alternative means of atonement is necessary? What is the background of this theme in Graeco-Roman sources and in the Hebrew Bible? What are the principal texts in early Christian literature that advocate almsgiving as a 'ransom' for sin? These questions firmly govern this investigation of the social and theological forces that gave legitimacy to a doctrine that at first appears to contradict the primary New Testament soteriology, namely that the death of Jesus Christ is the exclusive means of redemption from sin.

Free Download David J. Silverman, "Faith and Boundaries: Colonists, Christianity, and Community among the Wampanoag Indians of Martha's Vineyard, 1600-1871"
English | ISBN: 0521842808 | 2005 | 328 pages | PDF | 3 MB
This book examines how the Wamapanoag Indians' adoption of Christianity and other selective borrowing from English culture contributed to Indian/English coexistence and the long-term survival of Wamapanoag communities on the island of Martha's Vineyard, even as the racial barrier between peoples grew more rigid. On an island marked by centralized English authority, missionary commitment, and an Indian majority, the Wampanoags' adaptation to English culture, especially Christianity, checked violence while safeguarding their land, community, and ironically, even customs. Yet the colonists' exploitation of Indian land and labor exposed the limits of Christian fellowship and thus hardened racial division.

Free Download Francois Decret, Edward Smither, "Early Christianity in North Africa"
English | 2011 | pages: 236 | ISBN: 0227173562 | PDF | 2,1 mb
Martyrs, exegetes, catechumens, and councils enlarge this study of North African Christianity, a region often reduced to its dominant patristic personalities. Smither provides English readers a quality translation of an important book that captures the unique spirit of an invaluable chapter of church history. Along with the churches located in large Greek cities of the East, the church of Carthage was particularly significant in the early centuries of Christian history. Initially, the Carthaginian church became known for its martyrs. Later, the North African church became further established and unified through the regular councils of its bishops. Finally, the church gained a reputation for its outstanding leaders, Tertullian of Carthage (c. 140-220), Cyprian of Carthage (195-258), and Augustine of Hippo (354-430), African leaders who continue to be celebrated and remembered today.

Free Download Michael Ruse, "The Problem of War: Darwinism, Christianity, and their Battle to Understand Human Conflict"
English | 2018 | pages: 280 | ISBN: 0190867574 | EPUB | 1,2 mb
Darwinian evolutionary theory is one of the brightest jewels in the crown of science, yet it has been highly controversial since its first appearance in the On the Origin of Species in 1859. Well known is the opposition of so many Christians, an opposition that shows little sign of abating today. In The Problem of War, philosopher Michael Ruse argues that the roots of the unease lie not simply (as many think) in a straight clash between science and religion, but more deeply in the fact that, while professional biologists are producing first-class science, Darwinism has always had a somewhat darker side where it functions as a secular religion, a form of humanism, directly challenging Christianity.

Free Download Ralph Martin Novak, "Christianity and the Roman Empire: Background Texts"
English | 2001 | pages: 351 | ISBN: 1563383470 | PDF | 6,1 mb
The rise of Christianity during the first four centuries of the common era was the pivotal development in Western history and profoundly influenced the later direction of all world history. Yet, for all that has been written on early Christian history, the primary sources for this history are widely scattered, difficult to find, and generally unknown to lay persons and to historians not specially trained in the field.In Christianity and the Roman Empire Ralph Novak interweaves these primary sources with a narrative text and constructs a single continuous account of these crucial centuries. The primary sources are selected to emphasize the manner in which the government and the people of the Roman Empire perceived Christians socially and politically; the ways in which these perceptions influenced the treatment of Christians within the Roman Empire; and the manner in which Christians established their political and religious dominance of the Roman Empire after Constantine the Great came to power in the early fourth century CE. Ralph Martin Novak holds a Masters Degree in Roman History from the University of Chicago.For: Undergraduates; seminarians; general audiences>

Free Download Markus Vinzent, "Christ's Resurrection in Early Christianity: and the Making of the New Testament"
English | 2011 | pages: 283 | ISBN: 1409417921, 1409417913 | PDF | 2,4 mb
Why is the Resurrection of Christ so remote, almost non-existent in many early Christian writings of the first 140 years of Christianity? This is the first Patristic book to focus on the development of the belief in the Resurrection of Christ through the first centuries A.D. By Paul, Christ's Resurrection is regarded as the basis of Christian hope. In the fourth century it becomes a central Christian tenet. But what about the discrepancy in the first three centuries? This thought provoking book explores this core topic in Christian culture and theology. Taking a broad approach - including iconography, archaeology, history, philosophy, Jewish Studies and theology - Markus Vinzent offers innovative reading of well known biblical and other texts complemented by rarely discussed evidence. Christ's Resurrection in Early Christianity takes the reader on a fascinating journey through the wilderness of unorthodox perspectives in the breadth of early Christian writings. It is an eye-opening experience with insights into the craftsmanship of early Christianity - and the earliest existential debates about life and death, death and life - all centred on the cross, on suffering, enduring and sacrifice.

Free Download Ian Osborn MD, "Can Christianity Cure Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder?: A Psychiatrist Explores the Role of Faith in Treatment"
English | 2008 | pages: 209 | ISBN: 1587432064 | PDF | 1,9 mb
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a relentless condition, the primary symptom being the occurrence of terrifying ideas, images, and urges that jump into a person's mind and return again and again, despite the individual's attempt to remove them.