The Acts of Peter, Gospel Literature, and the Ancient Novel

The Acts of Peter, Gospel Literature, and the Ancient Novel PDF Author: Christine M. Thomas
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0195344146
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 201

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Book Description
The Acts of Peter, one of the Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles that detail the exploits of the key figures of early Christianity, provides a unique window into the formation of early Christian narrative. Like the Gospels, the Acts of Peter developed from disparate oral and written narrative from the first century. The apocryphal text, however, continued to develop into a number of re-castings, translations, abridgements, and expansions. The Acts of Peter present Christian narrative in an alternate universe, in which canonization did not halt the process of creative re-composition. Now, in this groundbreaking book, Thomas examines the sources and subsequent versions of the Acts, from the earliest traditions through the sixth-century Passions of the Apostles, arguing the importance of its "narrative fluidity": the existence of the work in several versions or multiforms. This feature, shared with the Jewish novels of Esther and Daniel, the Greek romance about Alexander the Great, and the Christian Gospels, allows these narratives to adapt to accommodate the changing historical circumstances of their audiences. In each new version, the audiences' defining conflicts were reflected in the text, echoing a historical consciousness more often identified with primary oral societies, in which the account of the past is a malleable script explaining the present. Although the genre most closely comparable to these works is the ancient novel, their serious historical intent separates them from the later, more self-consciously fictive novels, and maintains them within the realm of the earlier historical novels produced by ethnic subcultures within the Roman empire.

The Acts of Peter, Gospel Literature, and the Ancient Novel

The Acts of Peter, Gospel Literature, and the Ancient Novel PDF Author: Christine M. Thomas
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0195344146
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 201

Get Book

Book Description
The Acts of Peter, one of the Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles that detail the exploits of the key figures of early Christianity, provides a unique window into the formation of early Christian narrative. Like the Gospels, the Acts of Peter developed from disparate oral and written narrative from the first century. The apocryphal text, however, continued to develop into a number of re-castings, translations, abridgements, and expansions. The Acts of Peter present Christian narrative in an alternate universe, in which canonization did not halt the process of creative re-composition. Now, in this groundbreaking book, Thomas examines the sources and subsequent versions of the Acts, from the earliest traditions through the sixth-century Passions of the Apostles, arguing the importance of its "narrative fluidity": the existence of the work in several versions or multiforms. This feature, shared with the Jewish novels of Esther and Daniel, the Greek romance about Alexander the Great, and the Christian Gospels, allows these narratives to adapt to accommodate the changing historical circumstances of their audiences. In each new version, the audiences' defining conflicts were reflected in the text, echoing a historical consciousness more often identified with primary oral societies, in which the account of the past is a malleable script explaining the present. Although the genre most closely comparable to these works is the ancient novel, their serious historical intent separates them from the later, more self-consciously fictive novels, and maintains them within the realm of the earlier historical novels produced by ethnic subcultures within the Roman empire.

Oxford Bibliographies

Oxford Bibliographies PDF Author: Ilan Stavans
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780199913701
Category : Hispanic Americans
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
"An emerging field of study that explores the Hispanic minority in the United States, Latino Studies is enriched by an interdisciplinary perspective. Historians, sociologists, anthropologists, political scientists, demographers, linguists, as well as religion, ethnicity, and culture scholars, among others, bring a varied, multifaceted approach to the understanding of a people whose roots are all over the Americas and whose permanent home is north of the Rio Grande. Oxford Bibliographies in Latino Studies offers an authoritative, trustworthy, and up-to-date intellectual map to this ever-changing discipline."--Editorial page.

The Acts of the Apostles

The Acts of the Apostles PDF Author: P.D. James
Publisher: Canongate Books
ISBN: 0857861077
Category : Bibles
Languages : en
Pages : 93

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Book Description
Acts is the sequel to Luke's gospel and tells the story of Jesus's followers during the 30 years after his death. It describes how the 12 apostles, formerly Jesus's disciples, spread the message of Christianity throughout the Mediterranean against a background of persecution. With an introduction by P.D. James

The Apocryphal Acts of Peter

The Apocryphal Acts of Peter PDF Author: Jan N. Bremmer
Publisher: Peeters Publishers
ISBN: 9789042900196
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 238

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Book Description
This is the first modern collection of studies on the most important aspects of the Acts of Peter, the source of the famous novel Quo Vadis ? by Henry Sienkiewicz. The collection of essays discusses many aspects of the Acts of Peter: its relationship with the Acts of John and the Acts of Paul, but also important themes such as the fascinating figure of Simon the Magician, Agrippa and his concubines. It looks at the nature of the theos aner, the role of women, the place of magic, the performance of miracles, the famous death of Peter upside-down, the regulae fidei and other early credal formulations. Finally it discusses the transmission and Latinity of the Acts, and the date and place of its publication.

Simon Peter in Scripture and Memory

Simon Peter in Scripture and Memory PDF Author: Markus Bockmuehl
Publisher: Baker Books
ISBN: 144123960X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 259

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Book Description
After Jesus, Peter is the most frequently mentioned individual both in the Gospels and in the New Testament as a whole. He was the leading disciple, the "rock" on which Jesus would build his church. How can we know so little about this formative figure of the early church? World-renowned New Testament scholar Markus Bockmuehl introduces the New Testament Peter by asking how first- and second-century sources may be understood through the prism of "living memory" among the disciples of the apostolic generation and the students of those disciples. He argues that early Christian memory of Peter underscores his central role as a bridge-building figure holding together the diversity of first-century Christianity. Drawing on more than a decade of research, Bockmuehl applies cutting-edge scholarship to the question of the history and traditions of this important but strangely elusive figure. Bockmuehl provides fresh insight into the biblical witness and early Christian tradition that New Testament students and professors will value.

The Book of Acts in Its Ancient Literary Setting

The Book of Acts in Its Ancient Literary Setting PDF Author: Winter
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
ISBN: 1467430862
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 484

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Book Description
The Book of Acts in Its Ancient Literary Setting includes fourteen chapters devoted to the literary framework that undergirds the Book of Acts. Topics include the text as historical monograph, ancient rhetoric and speeches, the Pauline corpus, biblical history, subsequent ecclesiastical histories, and modern literary method. All of these chapters arise out of a consultation by the project's scholars at Cambridge in March 1993.

The Acts of Peter

The Acts of Peter PDF Author: Robert Franklin Stoops
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781598150223
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 114

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Book Description
Five major apocryphal Acts survive from the early period of the Christian church, the so-called Acts of Andrew, Paul, Peter, John, and Thomas. The Acts of Peter deals primarily with the conflict between the apostle Peter and Simon Magus, and the apostle's martyrdom. It employs traditional stories and the literary conventions of its day in a free manner to assure believers that they have ample reason to remain loyal to Christ, or return to faith if they have faltered. (back cover).

Gospel Fictions

Gospel Fictions PDF Author: Randel Helms
Publisher: Prometheus Books
ISBN: 1615922938
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 154

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Book Description
Are the four canonical Gospels actual historical accounts or are they imaginative literature produced by influential literary artists to serve a theological vision? In this study of the Gospels based upon a demonstrable literary theory, Randel Helms presents the work of the four evangelists as the "supreme fictions" of our culture, self-conscious works of art deliberately composed as the culmination of a long literary and oral tradition.Helms analyzes the best-known and the most powerful of these fictions: the stories of Christ's birth, his agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, his betrayal by Judas, his crucifixion, death and resurrection. In Helms' exegesis of the Gospel miracle stories, he traces the greatest of these - the resurrection of Lazarus four days after his death - to the Egyptian myth of the resurrection of Osiris by the god Horus.Helms maintains that the Gospels are self-reflexive; they are not about Jesus so much as they are about the writers' attitudes concerning Jesus. Helms examines each of the narratives - the language, the sources, the similarities and differences - and shows that their purpose was not so much to describe the past as to affect the present.This scholarly yet readable work demonstrates how the Gospels surpassed the expectations of their authors, influencing countless generations by creating a life-enhancing understanding of the nature of Jesus of Nazareth.

The Acts of Andrew and the Acts of Andrew and Matthias in the City of the Cannibals

The Acts of Andrew and the Acts of Andrew and Matthias in the City of the Cannibals PDF Author: Dennis Ronald MacDonald
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Acts of Andrew
Languages : en
Pages : 488

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Book Description


Peter in Early Christianity

Peter in Early Christianity PDF Author: Helen K. Bond
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
ISBN: 0802871712
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 380

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Book Description
After playing second fiddle to the apostle Paul for a long, long time, Peter has received increased scholarly attention of late. This book builds on the recent resurgence of interest in the apostle Peter. Nineteen internationally prominent scholars of early Christian history here examine and reassess the historical Peter and his significance in Christian texts from the first three centuries. Giving due attention to archaeological data and recent scholarship, the contributors offer a comprehensive view of Peter through analysis of both New Testament texts and later, noncanonical literature. Markus Bockmuehl concludes the volume by considering present-day questions about the role of Peter, popes, and church leadership.