The Ancient Church as Family

The Ancient Church as Family PDF Author: Joseph H. Hellerman
Publisher: Fortress Press
ISBN: 9780800632489
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 324

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Book Description
The author explores the literature of the first three centuries of the church in terms of group identity and formation as surrogate kinship. Why did this become the organizing model in the earliest churches? How did historical developments intervene to shift the paradigm? How do ancient Mediterranean kinship structures correlate with church formation? Hellerman traces the fascinating story of these developments over three centuries and what brought them about. His focus is the New Testament documents (especially Paul's letters), second-century authors, and concluding with Cyprian in the third century. Kinship terminology in these writings, behaviors of group solidarity, and the symbolic power of kinship language in these groups are examined.

The Ancient Church as Family

The Ancient Church as Family PDF Author: Joseph H. Hellerman
Publisher: Fortress Press
ISBN: 9780800632489
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 324

Get Book

Book Description
The author explores the literature of the first three centuries of the church in terms of group identity and formation as surrogate kinship. Why did this become the organizing model in the earliest churches? How did historical developments intervene to shift the paradigm? How do ancient Mediterranean kinship structures correlate with church formation? Hellerman traces the fascinating story of these developments over three centuries and what brought them about. His focus is the New Testament documents (especially Paul's letters), second-century authors, and concluding with Cyprian in the third century. Kinship terminology in these writings, behaviors of group solidarity, and the symbolic power of kinship language in these groups are examined.

When the Church was a Family

When the Church was a Family PDF Author: Joseph H. Hellerman
Publisher: B&H Publishing Group
ISBN: 0805447792
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 242

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Book Description
A study of the early Christian church in the Mediterranean region and its emphasis on collective good over individual desire clarifies much about what is wrong with the American church today.

Children in the Early Church

Children in the Early Church PDF Author: W.A. Strange
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 159244668X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 135

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Book Description
Jesus talks about children often, and we quote him time after time. But are we correctly understanding the position of children as Jesus intended? In this thorough, nontechnical summary, Dr. Strange provides a wealth of cultural background that often challenges popular assumptions. Within this framework he also discusses key Bible passages, looking especially at the role Jesus ascribes to children in his Kingdom and in relation to church membership, baptism, and the Eucharist. He draws from the many sources available on the position of children in the ancient world, the writings of the New Testament, and the early church. The author concludes by encouraging us to be passionately involved with children and to imitate them in our adult discipleship, motivated by the example of Jesus himself. Anyone involved in children's ministry, in education, or with an interest in the doctrinal position of children in the church will find this book of interest and value.

Constructing Early Christian Families

Constructing Early Christian Families PDF Author: Halvor Moxnes
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134757433
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
The family is a topical issue for studies of the Ancient world. Family, household and kinship have different connotations in antiquity from their modern ones. This volume expands that discussion to investigate the early Christian family structures within the larger Graeco-Roman context. Particular emphasis is given to how family metaphors, such as 'brotherhood' function to describe relations in early Christian communities. Asceticism and the rejection of sexuality are considered in the context of Christian constructions of the family. Moxnes' volume presents a comprehensive and timely addition to the study of familial and social structures in the Early Christian world, which will certainly stimulate further debate.

Early Christian Families in Context

Early Christian Families in Context PDF Author: David L. Balch
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
ISBN: 9780802839862
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 444

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Book Description
Much has been written about the Roman family unit, but relatively little about the early Christian period, comparing Roman, Jewish and Christian concepts of the family.

Embracing Shared Ministry

Embracing Shared Ministry PDF Author: Joseph Hellerman
Publisher: Kregel Academic
ISBN: 0825442648
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Book Description
Social historian and pastor Joe Hellerman addresses issues of power and authority in the church—in the New Testament and in the church today—in a fresh, culturally nuanced way. The local church, Hellerman maintains, should be led and taught by a community of leaders who relate to one another first as brothers and sisters in Christ, and who function only secondarily—and only within the parameters of that primary relational context—as vision-casting, decision-making leaders for the broader church family. Unique among contemporary treatments of servant leadership, Hellerman interprets the biblical materials against the background of ancient Roman cultural values, in order to demonstrate a social context for ministry that will provide healthy checks and balances on the use of pastoral power and authority in our congregations.

Prayer Book of the Early Christians

Prayer Book of the Early Christians PDF Author: John A McGuckin
Publisher: Paraclete Press (MA)
ISBN: 9781640600065
Category : Prayers
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Prayers and rituals from the ancient Church (especially early Greek Christianity), re-presenting them ofor the use of 21st-century Christians at home, in small prayer groups, cohorts, and house churches.

Melania

Melania PDF Author: Catherine Michael Chin
Publisher: University of California Press
ISBN: 0520379217
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 338

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Book Description
Melania the Elder and her granddaughter Melania the Younger were major figures in early Christian history, using their wealth, status, and forceful personalities to shape the development of nearly every aspect of the religion we now know as Christianity. This volume examines their influence on late antique Christianity and provides an insightful portrait of their legacies in the modern world. Departing from the traditionally patriarchal view, Melania gives a poignant and sometimes surprising account of how the rise of Christian institutions in the Roman Empire shaped our understanding of women’s roles in the larger world.

Reading the Old Testament with the Ancient Church

Reading the Old Testament with the Ancient Church PDF Author: Ronald E. Heine
Publisher: Baker Academic
ISBN: 0801027772
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 208

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Book Description
Examines the role played by the Old Testament in the formation of early Christian thinking.

Family Revision: How Ancient Wisdom Can Heal the Modern Family

Family Revision: How Ancient Wisdom Can Heal the Modern Family PDF Author: Jeremy Pryor
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780578526126
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 198

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Book Description
Prepare to hear ideas you've never considered. This ancient vision is new again and adopting it today will take a complete family revision. But few are able to locate the root of the problem. This book offers a surprising perspective. Maybe the way forward for the family can be found in the past. The Bible provides a lost family blueprint that is almost entirely unknown by modern Christians.