Varieties of Early Christianity

Provides a broad and balanced understanding of how Christianity originated in the first five centuries

Varieties of Early Christianity: The Formation of the Western Christian Tradition traces the origins and evolution of Christian concepts from the first through the sixth century CE, exploring the events, issues, and individuals that helped shape the beliefs and practices of Christianity. With a multidisciplinary Religious Studies approach, this reader-friendly textbook places the early sources of Christian teaching within their historical and cultural contexts to highlight what gave rise to the beliefs and rituals that Christians follow in the present day.

Chronologically organized chapters analyse the ways in which Christians absorbed and adapted ancient concepts from Judaism and Greco-Roman religion and culture from the first through the sixth centuries. Combining both traditions, early bishops, Church Fathers, and theologians added innovations that contributed to the establishment of a unique systematic theology (dogma) that became “Christianity.”

Throughout the text, readers are encouraged to consider how the ways early Christians integrated their worldviews, politics, and daily lives can help articulate their own “systems of meaning” in the modern world.

• Helps readers navigate the vast amount of Christian literature produced in the early centuries of the Church
• Provides the religious and cultural background of Judaism and Greco-Roman religion and culture, the two major contributors to Christian thought
• Describes the methodology used to analyze the gospels in relation to ancient literature
• Explores topics such as Christian martyrs in the Roman Empire, the role of women in Mediterranean society, Gnostic Christians, the Christianization of the Roman Empire, the work of Saint Augustine, and the Council of Chalcedon
• Includes excerpts from primary documents, definitions of words and concepts, further readings, and numerous figures, timelines, and maps

Featuring concise analyses of key scholarly and archaeological research, Varieties of Early Christianity: The Formation of the Western Christian Tradition is an excellent textbook for secondary school classes and college undergraduate courses on the history of Christianity, as well as a valuable resource for general readers interested in examining the history of Christian ideas in their historical context.

Preface vii

I Shared Concepts of Ancient Religions 1

II the History of Israel 21

Excursus I The Origins and Evolution of Satan, the Devil 51

Excursus II Introduction to the Gospels 59

III the Origins of Christianity 79

IV Martyrdom 99

Excursus III The Church Fathers 123

V Classical Culture (paideia) 127

VI Greco-roman VIews on Life, Sex and Marriage: Christian “innovations” 145

VII the Challenge of Gnosticism, “wisdom, Falsely So-called” 159

VIII Finding An Identity and Separating From Judaism 179

IX Charismatic Christianity: Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha 193

X Institutional Development: Bishops and Their Authority 205

XI The Conversion of the Roman Empire: Constantine and Nicaea 221

XII Asceticism and Monasticism: The Desert Fathers and the Cult of the Saints 239

Excursus IV The Latin Fathers 251

XIII Augustine (354–430) 257

Excursus V Chalcedon and Beyond 271

Epilog The Legacy of Christianity in the Western Tradition 277

Appendix I: A Brief Outline of the History of Rome 291

Appendix II: Timeline for the Early History of Christianity 293

Glossary 297

Index 323

REBECCA I. DENOVA, Emeritus Lecturer in the Early History of Christianity, Department of Religious Studies, University of Pittsburgh. Her area of expertise is in the historical exploration of the origins of Christianity within Hellenistic Judaism. Dr. Denova is the author of The Origins of Christianity and the New Testament and Greek and Roman Religions.

VARIETIES OF EARLY CHRISTIANITY

In Varieties of Early Christianity: The Formation of the Western Christian Tradition, Rebecca I. Denova presents a broad and balanced account of the origins of Christian dogma from the first through the sixth century CE. Using a multidisciplinary Religious Studies approach, the author places the early sources of Christian teaching within their historical and cultural contexts while exploring the events and individuals that helped establish the practice of modern Christianity.

Assuming no prior background in the subject, this reader-friendly textbook provides the religious and cultural background of Judaism and Greco-Roman religion and culture—the two major contributors to Christian thought—and explores how the worldviews, politics, and daily lives of early Christians shaped the concepts and rituals that Christians follow in the present day.

Chronologically organized chapters describe the relationship between the Judaism of the Jewish Scriptures and the new Christian sects, the Christianization of the Roman Empire, the contributions of the early Church Fathers and Bishops, and more. Throughout the book, concise analyses of key scholarly and archaeological research are supported by excerpts from primary documents and numerous figures, timelines, and maps.

Varieties of Early Christianity: The Formation of the Western Christian Tradition is an excellent textbook for secondary school classes and college undergraduate courses on the history of Christianity, and a valuable resource for general readers interested in examining the history of Christian ideas in their historical context.