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A New History of Early Christianity Hardcover - 2009

Name: A New History of Early Christianity
Price: 20.10 USD
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Author: Charles Freeman
ISBN: 9780300125818

by Freeman, Charles

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From the publisher

The relevance of Christianity is as hotly contested today as it has ever been. "A New History of Early Christianity" shows how our current debates are rooted in the many controversies surrounding the birth of the religion and the earliest attempts to resolve them. Charles Freeman s meticulous historical account of Christianity from its birth in Judaea in the first century A.D. to the emergence of Western and Eastern churches by A.D. 600 reveals that it was a distinctive, vibrant, and incredibly diverse movement brought into order at the cost of intellectual and spiritual vitality. Against the conventional narrative of the inevitable triumph of a single distinct Christianity, Freeman shows that there was a host of competing Christianities, many of which had as much claim to authenticity as those that eventually dominated. Looking with fresh eyes at the historical record, Freeman explores the ambiguities and contradictions that underlay Christian theology and the unavoidable compromises enforced in the name of doctrine.

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," religious uniformity, and an institutional framework that enforced orthodoxy were both consolidating and stifling. Uncovering the difficulties in establishing the Christian church, he examines its relationship with Judaism, Gnosticism, Greek philosophy and Greco-Roman society, and he offers dramatic new accounts of Paul, the resurrection, and the church fathers and emperors."

Details

Title A New History of Early Christianity
Author Freeman, Charles
Binding Hardcover
Edition 48954th
Pages 400
Language ENG
Publisher Yale University Press, New Haven
Date 2009-10
ISBN 9780300125818

About the author

Charles Freeman is a specialist on the ancient world and its legacy. He has worked on archaeological digs on the continents surrounding the Mediterranean and develops study tour programs in Italy, Greece, and Turkey. Freeman is Historical Consultant to the prestigious Blue Guides series and the author of numerous books, including the bestseller "The Closing of the Western Mind" and, most recently, "Holy Bones, Holy Dust." He lives in the UK.