Contesting Orthodoxies in the History of Christianity

Contesting Orthodoxies in the History of Christianity PDF

Author: James Carleton Paget

Publisher: Boydell & Brewer

Published: 2021

Total Pages: 392

ISBN-13: 1783276274

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Examines the pursuit of orthodoxy, and its consequences for the history of Christianity. Christianity is a hugely diverse and quarrelsome family of faiths, but most Christians have nevertheless set great store by orthodoxy - literally, 'right opinion' - even if they cannot agree what that orthodoxy should be. The notion that there is a 'catholic', or universal, Christian faith - that which, according to the famous fifth-century formula, has been believed everywhere, at all times and by all people - is itself an act of faith: to reconcile it with the historical fact of persistent division and plurality requires a constant effort. It also requires a variety of strategies, from confrontation and exclusion, through deliberate choices as to what is forgotten or ignored, to creative or even indulgent inclusion. In this volume, seventeen leading historians of Christianity ask how the ideal of unity has clashed, negotiated, reconciled or coexisted with the historical reality of diversity, in a range of historical settings from the early Church through the Reformation era to the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. These essays hold the huge variety of the Christian experience together with the ideal of orthodoxy, which Christians have never (yet) fully attained but for which they have always striven; and they trace some of the consequences of the pursuit of that ideal for the history of Christianity.

Contesting Orthodoxies in the History of Christianity

Contesting Orthodoxies in the History of Christianity PDF

Author: James Carleton Paget

Publisher: Boydell & Brewer

Published: 2021

Total Pages: 392

ISBN-13: 1783276274

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Examines the pursuit of orthodoxy, and its consequences for the history of Christianity. Christianity is a hugely diverse and quarrelsome family of faiths, but most Christians have nevertheless set great store by orthodoxy - literally, 'right opinion' - even if they cannot agree what that orthodoxy should be. The notion that there is a 'catholic', or universal, Christian faith - that which, according to the famous fifth-century formula, has been believed everywhere, at all times and by all people - is itself an act of faith: to reconcile it with the historical fact of persistent division and plurality requires a constant effort. It also requires a variety of strategies, from confrontation and exclusion, through deliberate choices as to what is forgotten or ignored, to creative or even indulgent inclusion. In this volume, seventeen leading historians of Christianity ask how the ideal of unity has clashed, negotiated, reconciled or coexisted with the historical reality of diversity, in a range of historical settings from the early Church through the Reformation era to the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. These essays hold the huge variety of the Christian experience together with the ideal of orthodoxy, which Christians have never (yet) fully attained but for which they have always striven; and they trace some of the consequences of the pursuit of that ideal for the history of Christianity.

The Faith

The Faith PDF

Author: Brian Moynahan

Publisher: Image

Published: 2003-10-21

Total Pages: 818

ISBN-13: 0385491158

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Beginning with the birth of Jesus and tracing the religion established by his followers up to the present day, The Faith is a comprehensive exploration of the history of Christianity. Judiciously covering all the signal moments without bogging down in minutia, author Brian Moynahan's superbly written and generously illustrated book is of central importance to Christians, historians, and anyone interested in a faith that shaped the modern world. Moynahan's research uses little-known sources to tell a magnificent story encompassing everything from the early tremulous years after Jesus' death to the horrors of persecution by Nero, from the growth of monasteries to the bloody Crusades, from the building of the great cathedrals to the cataclysm of the Reformation and the Catholic Counter-Reformation, from the flight of pilgrims from Europe in pursuit of religious freedom to the Salem Witch Trials, from the advent of a traveling pope to the rise of televangelists. Coming just in time for Jubilee 2000, this ambitious book reveals and commemorates the significance of the Christian faith.

British Christianity and the Second World War

British Christianity and the Second World War PDF

Author: Michael Snape

Publisher: Boydell & Brewer

Published: 2023-02-21

Total Pages: 243

ISBN-13: 1837650195

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Examines the role of Christianity in British statecraft, politics, media, the armed forces and in the education and socialization of the young during the Second World War. This volume presents a major reappraisal of the role of Christianity in Great Britain between 1939 and 1945, examining the influence of Christianity on British society, statecraft, politics, the media, the armed forces, and on the education and socialization of the young. Its chapters address themes such as the spiritual mobilization of nation and empire; the limitations of Mass Observation's commentary on wartime religious life; Catholic responses to strategic bombing; servicemen and the dilemma of killing; the development of Christian-Jewish relations, and the predicament of British military chaplains in Germany in the summer of 1945. By demonstrating the enduring -even renewed- importance of Christianity in British national life, British Christianity and the Second World War also sets the scene for some major post-war developments. Though the war years triggered a 'resacralization' of British society and culture, inherent racism meant that the exalted self-image of Christian Britain proved sadly deceptive for post-war immigrants from the Caribbean. Wartime confidence in the prospective role of the state in religious education soon transpired to be ill-founded, while the profound upheavals of war -and even the bromides of 'BBC Religion'- were, in the longer term, corrosive of conventional religious practice and traditional denominational loyalties. This volume will be of interest to historians of British society and the Second World War, twentieth-century British religion, and the perennial interplay of religion and conflict.

Shapers of Christian Orthodoxy

Shapers of Christian Orthodoxy PDF

Author: Bradley G. Green

Publisher: InterVarsity Press

Published: 2010-10-05

Total Pages: 401

ISBN-13: 0830838864

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

"The purpose of this volume is threefold: to introduce a selection of key early and medieval theologians, to strengthen the faith of evangelical Christians by helping them to understand the riches of the church's theological reflection, and to help them learn how to think theologically"--From publisher description.

Worship by Faith Alone

Worship by Faith Alone PDF

Author: Zac Hicks

Publisher: InterVarsity Press

Published: 2023-02-28

Total Pages: 192

ISBN-13: 1514005239

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

In every age, the church must consider what it means to gather together to worship God. If the church is primarily the people who follow the risen Christ, then its worship should be "gospel-centered." But where might the church find an example of such worship for today? In this Dynamics of Christian Worship volume, scholar, worship leader, and songwriter Zac Hicks contends that such a focus can be found in the theology of worship presented by Thomas Cranmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury during the English Reformation. Hicks argues that Cranmer's reformation of the church's worship and liturgy was shaped primarily by the Protestant principle of justification by faith alone as reflected in his 1552 edition of the Book of Common Prayer, which was later codified under Elizabeth I and has guided Anglican worship for centuries. Here, we find a model of "gospel-centered" worship through which the church of today might be reformed yet again. The Dynamics of Christian Worship series draws from a wide range of worshiping contexts and denominational backgrounds to unpack the many dynamics of Christian worship—including prayer, reading the Bible, preaching, baptism, the Lord's Supper, music, visual art, architecture, and more—to deepen both the theology and practice of Christian worship for the life of the church.

Old and New

Old and New PDF

Author: Morna D. Hooker

Publisher: Mohr Siebeck

Published: 2024-04-17

Total Pages: 777

ISBN-13: 3161624548

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

This volume's essays by Morna D. Hooker were written over a period of more than fifty years (1970-2021) and include two previously unpublished essays. They all deal with the theme of continuity and discontinuity - primarily between first-century Judaism and early Christianity - and explore the different ways in which New Testament writers interpreted their experience of Jesus, drawing on their own cultures and beliefs. Evangelists and letter-writers alike attempted to show how their new beliefs were 'in accordance with the scriptures', though those beliefs inevitably shaped the ways in which they read the scriptures. Alongside essays on the Gospels and Paul, the collection also features an exploration of how Paul himself was in turn interpreted by Luther, illustrating the way in which continuity and discontinuity are to be seen in every generation.

Heresy

Heresy PDF

Author: Alister McGrath

Publisher: Zondervan

Published: 2010-11-02

Total Pages: 290

ISBN-13: 0061998990

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Why the Church must defend the truth. Our ongoing fascination with alternative Christianities is on display every time a never-before-seen gospel text is revealed, an archaeological discovery about Jesus makes front-page news, or a new work of fiction challenges the very foundations of the church. Now, in a timely corrective to this trend, renowned church historian Alister McGrath examines the history of subversive ideas, overturning common misconceptions that heresy is somehow more spiritual or liberating than traditional dogma. In so doing, he presents a powerful, compassionate orthodoxy that will equip the church to meet the challenge from renewed forms of heresy today.

The Gospel according to Heretics

The Gospel according to Heretics PDF

Author: David E. Wilhite

Publisher: Baker Academic

Published: 2015-10-13

Total Pages: 274

ISBN-13: 1441223517

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Since what Christian doctrine denies can be as important as what it affirms, it is important to understand teachings about Jesus that the early church rejected. Historians now acknowledge that proponents of alternative teachings were not so much malicious malcontents as they were misguided or even misunderstood. Here a recognized expert in early Christian theology teaches orthodox Christology by explaining the false starts (heresies), making the history of theology relevant for today's church. This engaging introduction to the christological heresies is suitable for beginning students. In addition, pastors and laypeople will find it useful for apologetic purposes.