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1
Witmer, Stephen E. "Divine instruction in early Christianity." Thesis, Tübingen Mohr Siebeck, 2007. http://d-nb.info/988962802/04.
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Dacy, Marianne Josephine, and Marianne Josephine Dacy. "The Separation of Early Christianity from Judaism." University of Sydney. Semitic Studies, 2000. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/837.
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The Separation of Early Christianity from Judaism The moving apart of early Christianity from Judaism was a gradual process of de- judaisation, with separation taking place on several levels. Chapter One looks at the spread of Christianity and the physical moving apart of Jews and Christians by observing the geographical locations of the bishops attending various councils. Chapter Two examines the question of the Jewish-Christians who attempted to be both Jewish and Christian at the same time. In Chapter Three, statements about Jews in the early church councils which reveal judaising practices have been examined. Chapter Four studies the process of juridical separation of Jews from Christians as shown by an examination of the Theodosian Code. The fifth chapter examines the Jewish roots of Christian liturgy and focuses on the element that radically differentiated Christian from Jewish liturgy - its christological focus. Chapter Six speaks of the separation of Sabbath observance from Sunday observance, outlining the struggle to prevent Christians, who were accused of judaising, from celebrating the Sabbath as well as Sunday. Chapter Seven concentrates on the separation of Passover from Easter. While Chapter Eight investigates the development of a distinctly Christian archaeology, the ninth area of separation concerns the subject of Christianity in the rabbinic writings. In the nine areas studied, two pervasive causes of separation have been identified. The first concerns the non-practice of Jewish ritual law, when Christianity became predominantly a religion of non-Jews. Christianity, in order to define itself closed its ranks to Jewish practices. The second cause leading to separation was the messianic movement centred on Jesus, and the growing emphasis on the divinity of Jesus. This was reflected in the developing Christian liturgy, in the christianisation of Passover, the Eucharist and the practice of Sunday over and above the Jewish Sabbath.
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Duff, Jeremy N. "A reconsideration of pseudepigraphy in early Christianity." Thesis, University of Oxford, 1998. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.287543.
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Harrill, James Albert. "The manumission of slaves in early christianity /." Tübingen : Mohr Siebeck, 1998. http://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb388891108.
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Valleskey, Karl. "Rome and early Christianity perception and prejudice /." [Gainesville, Fla.] : University of Florida, 2006. http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/UFE0014377.
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Middleton, Paul. "Radical martyrdom and cosmic conflict in early Christianity." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/30512.
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In the early Church, several views on martyrdom co-existed. The ‘orthodox’ position, generally accepted by scholars, was that a Christian should choose martyrdom rather than deny the Faith, but should not, on any account, court death. Although it has been recognised that some in the early Church did in fact seek out death, by giving themselves over to arrest, most scholars have dismissed these martyrs as ‘deviant,’ ‘heretical,’ and not displaying ‘the normal Christian attitude to martyrdom.’ Therefore, instances of volitional, or radical martyrdom, as I term it, have been largely ignored in scholarly investigation into the theology and origins of Christian martyrdom. However, this thesis argues that, far from being a deviant strand of early Christianity, radical martyrdom was a significant, and widely held idealised form of Christ-devotion in the late first to early third centuries. Since scholars have largely carried out historical and theological investigations without reference to radical martyrdom, their conclusions are incomplete. This project aims to make up for this omission, re-examining the presentation, theology, and origins of Christian martyrdom up to the beginning of the Decian persecutions. First, I demonstrate the pervasiveness of radical martyrdom in the second and early third centuries, noting that the phenomenon is found even in those martyr texts regarded as being ‘orthodox.’ Next, I examine the theological world in which the early Christians inhabited, making radical martyrdom (at least ideally), a viable option. I argue that the early Christian construction of reality clashed so dramatically with the Roman State, that Christians could not demonstrate even the base level of piety required by the Romans. This brought Christians into conflict with their pagan neighbours; conflict which they then Imperialised. After assessing various theories accounting for the development Christian martyrdom, I conclude that a matrix of factors influenced Christian martyrology, and in particular, a Christianisation of Jewish Holy War tradition.
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Kim, Joohan. "The pastoral letter in early Christianity up to the early fifth century C.E." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/71901.
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Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2012.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This dissertation aims to trace a Christian letter tradition, i.e. the pastoral letter type, during the first five centuries of this era. With this in mind I outlined the problem statements, goals, theoretical points of departure, research questions, hypotheses, methodologies and structures in Chapter I of the dissertation. I surveyed the history of modern studies on Greco-Roman epistolography in Chapter II. There I looked at how the study of Christian letters was related to Greco-Roman epistolography and what it contributed to the history of modern study on Greco-Roman epistolography. In the process I also focused on the study of the Christian letter tradition that flourished especially during the middle of the twentieth century. I pointed out some weaknesses in the preceding studies, such as limiting the analysis of letters to certain periods, failure to consider generic features and lack of attention to psychagogical intention. At the end of the chapter I concluded by pointing out what still remains to be done, such as considering a broader range of sources and periods, and paying more attention to how the pastoral letter continued to function during the first five centuries of our era. On the basis of the preceding survey I then focused in Chapter III on the generic features of Greco- Roman hortatory letters and their psychagogical functions to provide the background of a broader hortatory tradition for explaining the generic features and functions of the earliest Christian letters, i.e. the letters in the NT. From this research I concluded that Greco-Roman hortatory letters followed the pattern of common Greco-Roman letters in terms of structural and formal features. However, they not only focused on the guidance or education of the recipients in terms of function, but for effective persuasion the authors also employed various rhetorical devices which are often found in the other genres of hortatory works. In Chapter IV I analysed the letters in the NT in order to show that these letters resonate with the hortatory letters that were composed for psychagogy (viz. pastoral care). Firstly, I focused on the analysis of Paul’s first letter, i.e. 1 Thessalonians, to show that the author of the first Christian letter was as pastor above all concerned with pastoral care, and for effective pastoral care he borrowed from the Greco-Roman hortatory letter tradition. From this analysis I concluded that 1 Thessalonians can be located in the hortatory letter tradition, but has its own distinct character differing from common hortatory letters. These features must have resulted from Paul’s efforts to take care of his believers in the Christian faith. In the remainder of this chapter I analysed the rest of the letters in the NT, considering the outcome of the analysis of 1 Thessalonians together with the broader hortatory tradition. I found that the rest of the letters in the NT could be classed as hortatory letters for the purpose of psychagogy, i.e. pastoral letters, in terms of both their structural and formal features, and of their composition, purpose and function. In Chapter V I analysed a number of selected pastoral letters from early Christian authors. Firstly, I surveyed the history of Christian letters and their authors to provide a general background for this chapter. From these authors and their letters, I chose sixteen pastoral letters from fifteen Christian leaders based on stated criteria, and analysed them, considering both the earliest Christian pastoral letters (viz. the letters in the NT) and the broader Greco-Roman hortatory letter tradition. As a result of this analysis I found that these selected letters had features in common with the earliest Christian pastoral letters, especially in terms of their purpose and function, as well as distinctly Christian characteristics. I then compared the outcome of this analysis with selected letters from non-pastoral Christian letter types (viz. the festal or paschal letter type, the synodic letter type, the papal letter type and the “essay in letter form”). I found that, though the selected pastoral letters and nonpastoral letters had some literary features in common, such as structure and form, and employed rhetorical devices, they nevertheless differed in terms of purposes and function. In the last chapter, Chapter VI, I briefly summarised the entire dissertation
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie proefskrif het ten doel om die bestaan van ’n Christelike brieftradisie, nl. die pastorale brieftipe, in die eerste vyf eeue van hierdie era na te spoor. Vir hierdie doel het ek die probleem- en doelstellings, teoretiese uitgangspunte, navorsingsvraagstukke, hipoteses, metodologieë en strukture van die proefskrif in Hoofstuk I uiteengesit. In Hoofstuk II het ek ’n oorsig gegee van moderne studie oor die Grieks-Romeinse epistolografie. Ek het ook nagevors hoe die studie van Christelike briewe aansluiting vind by die Grieks-Romeinse epistolografie, en watter bydrae hierdie studie tot die ontwikkeling van moderne studie oor die Grieks-Romeinse epistolografie gemaak het. Bykomend hiertoe het ek gefokus op die studie van ’n Christelike brieftradisie wat veral gedurende die middel van die twintigste eeu gefloreer het, en het sekere leemtes in hierdie vooraafgaande studies uitgewys, nl. die feit dat die analise van briewe tot slegs sekere periodes beperk is, en die versuim om generiese eienskappe en pastorale oogmerke in aanmerking te neem. Daarna het ek aan die einde van die hoofstuk aangedui wat nog gedoen behoort te word, soos om ’n breër spektrum van bronne en tydperke te benut, en om aandag te gee aan volgehoue tendense in die teorie en praktyk van psigagogiese briewe gedurende die eerste vyf eeue van hierdie era. In die lig van bogenoemde oorsig het ek in Hoofstuk III gefokus op die generiese eienskappe van Grieks-Romeinse hortatiewe briewe en hulle psigagogiese funksies, om die agtergrond te skets waarteen die generiese eienskappe en funksies van die vroegste Christelike briewe, nl. die briewe in die NT, teen ’n breër hortatiewe tradisie bestudeer kan word. Na aanleiding van hierdie ondersoek het ek tot die slotsom gekom dat Grieks-Romeinse hortatiewe briewe die algemene patroon van Grieks-Romeinse lettere met betrekking tot strukturele en formele eienskappe gevolg het. Nietemin was die funksie daarvan nie net gemik op die voorligting of onderrig van die ontvangers nie, maar die skrywers het ook vir die doel van oorreding verskeie retoriese middels ingespan wat dikwels in ander genres van hortatiewe werke gebruik is. In Hoofstuk IV het ek die briewe in die NT ontleed om aan te toon dat hierdie briewe behoort tot die hortatiewe briewe wat opgestel is vir die doeleindes van psigagogie, d.w.s. pastorale sorg. Eerstens het ek gefokus op die analise van Paulus se eerste sendbrief, nl. 1 Tessalonisense, om uit te wys dat hierdie eerste Christelike skrywer as pastor boweal gemoeid was met pastorale sorg, en vir die doeleindes van effektiewe pasorale sorg deels gesteun het op die Grieks-Romeinse hortatiewe brieftradisie. Uit hierdie analise kon ek aflei at 1 Tessalonisense geskaar kan word by die hortatiewe brieftradisie, maar tog die eiesoortigheid behou waardeur dit verskil van algemene hortatiewe briewe. Hierdie eienskappe moes voortgespruit het uit Paulus se bemoeienis om te sorg vir sy volgelinge in die Christelike geloof. In die daaropvolgende deel van hierdie hoofstuk ontleed ek die ander sendbriewe in die NT teen die agtergrond van die resultate van die analise van 1 Tessalonisense asook die breër hortatiewe tradisie, en geraak tot die gevolgtrekking dat die ander sendbriewe in die NT ook geklassifiseer kan word as hortatiewe briewe vir psigagogie, d.w.s. pastorale briewe, beide wat hulle strukturele en formele eienskappe aanbetref, en die doel van hulle samestelling en funksie. In Hoofstuk V het ek probeer om ’n aantal geselekteerde pastorale briewe van vroeë Christelike skrywers te ontleed. Eerstens het ek die geskiedenis van Christelike briewe en hulle skrywers as algemene agtergrond vir hierdie hoofstuk uitgelig. Uit hierdie skrywers en hulle briewe het ek sestien pastorale briewe van vyftien Christelike skrywers, leiers van mede-Christene, gekies, gebaseer op bepaalde kriteria. Dié het ek geanaliseer teen die agtergrond van die vroegste Christelike pastorale briewe, nl. die briewe in die NT, asook die breër Grieks-Romeinse hortatiewe lettere tradisie. Deur hierdie analise kon ek vasstel dat hierde geselekteerde briewe behalwe hulle Christelike eienskappe ook ooreenkomste met die vroegste Christelike pastorale briewe toon, veral met betrekking tot hulle doel en funksie,. Daarna het ek die resultate van hierdie analise vergelyk met geselekteerde briewe van nie-pastorale Christelike brieftipes, nl. die feesbrief, die sinodale brief, die pouslike brief en die essay in briefformaat. Alhoewel die geselekteerde pastorale briewe en die nie-pastorale briewe ooreenkomste getoon het wat literêre eienskappe soos struktuur, formaat en retoriese gebruike aanbetref, verskil hulle van mekaar in terme van doel en funksie. In die laaste hoofstuk, Hoofstuk VI, word die proefskrif kortliks opgesom
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Byrd, Charles Hannon. "Pentecostal aspects of early sixteenth century Anabaptism." Thesis, University of Birmingham, 2018. http://etheses.bham.ac.uk//id/eprint/8258/.
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Early sixteenth century radical Anabaptism emanated in Switzerland during Huldrych Zwingli's protest against the Roman Catholic Church. Much like Martin Luther, Zwingli founded his reform effort on the Bible being the final arbiter of the faith, sola scriptura, and the sufficiency of the shed blood of Christ plus nothing for eternal salvation, sola fide. Based on these principles both adopted the doctrine of the Priesthood of the Believer which recognized every believer's Spirit empowered ability to read and interpret the Bible for themselves. These initial theological tenets resulted in the literal reading of the Bible and a very pragmatic Christian praxis including a Pauline pneumatology that recognized the efficacy of the manifestation of the charismata. Radical adherents of Zwingli rejected infant baptism as being totally unbiblical and insisted upon the rebaptism of adults but only on a personal confession of faith, thus the term Anabaptist. Notwithstanding any knowledge of the Anabaptist movement, early twentieth century Pentecostalism had a similar response to a literal reading of Paul with the same results, the manifestation of the charismata. This thesis identifies the similarities between Anabaptism and Pentecostalism notwithstanding the lack of knowledge of the early Anabaptist movement on the part of early Pentecostals.
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Gibson, Jeffrey B. "The traditions of the temptations of Jesus in early Christianity." Thesis, University of Oxford, 1993. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.239444.
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Turner, Samuel Charles. "Christianity and the landscape of early medieval south-west Britain." Thesis, University of York, 2004. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/9848/.
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Adubofuor, Samuel Brefo. "Evangelical parachurch movements in Ghanaian Christianity, c.1950-early 1990s." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 1994. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/18715.
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The thesis examines the origins, growth and indigenisation of parachurch movements, in their primary and secondary forms, in the context of established Christianity in Ghana in the post-war era. The historical accounts explore the operations of primary groups, particularly, Scripture Union and kindred Christian Fellowships, stimulating the development of secondary independent evangelistic and charismatic organisations. It includes early and later movements towards independency, culminating in "church formation" a metamorphosis in the whole parachurch movement. The indigenous and exogenous components of the parachurch phenomena - evangelical and Pentecostal, are discussed to indicate the complex multi-1ateral determinant factors involved. The very significant background factors include the traditional religion and national political and socio-economic situations to which the parachurch groups respond in diverse ways. Church relations emerges as the immediate problem in parachurch operations. Parachurch operations are intended to complement that of the Church, but they generate issues of conflict and mistrust which are discussed as they emerge in the historical accounts. Particular international and local efforts towards resolving conflict and promoting co¬ operation are considered. A detailed examination is made of the evangelicalism of the parachurch movements, expressed in terms of doctrinal affirmations, commitment to the Bible and evangelism, and particular modest acts of social concern. A radical brand of evangelicalism emerges with Pentecostal influence, involving the adoption of the music and spirituality of local Pentecostal Churches. Hence the engagement in fasting and extended prayer with glossolalia, particularly in all-night prayer meetings; focus on prophecies and visions; with the ministry of healing and deliverance emerging and enduring as evangelical Pentecostal response to the supernatural realities of the African world. The evangelical pentecostal impact of the parachurch movements on church life is evident in the rise of growth of charismatic renewal movements within the Protestant Churches, as indicated by the case of the Methodist Church which has been selected for special treatment.
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Laird, Benjamin Paul. "The formation, publication, and circulation of the Corpus Paulinum in early Christianity." Thesis, University of Aberdeen, 2016. http://digitool.abdn.ac.uk:80/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=230961.
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Wake, Eleanor J. "Framing the sacred : native interpretations of Christianity in early colonial Mexico." Thesis, University of Essex, 1995. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.412288.
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Hannah, Darrell Dale. "Michael and Christ : Michael traditions and angel Christology in early Christianity." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 1996. https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/272282.
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Hultin, Jeremy F. "The ethics of obscene speech in early Christianity and its environment /." Leiden : Brill, 2008. http://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb41303973j.
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Jordan, Caroline Sophy Amanda. "Gender, spirit and soul : the differences in attitude of Plato and Augustine of Hippo towards women and slaves." Thesis, Durham University, 2003. http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/4068/.
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This thesis will look at the changes brought about in the perception of women's role in society by the advent of Christianity. The early chapters will discuss the actual status of women in ancient Graeco-Roman and Jewish society, so far as that can be discovered; followed by St Paul's views on women, which heavily influenced St Augustine. I shall then examine the status assigned to women and slaves by Plato in his two outlines for ideal societies, the Republic and the Laws, and shall finish with an examination of Augustine's attitudes to women and slavery. Plato believed that intelligent women were just as capable as men of achieving the philosophical ideal, and he believed that there would be many intelligent women in any given society. Many of Augustine's Letters are addressed to 'holy women", though he was reluctant to accept that these women were not exceptional. Augustine had many female correspondents, most but not all of whom were consecrated virgins or chaste widows. It is quite clear that Augustine believed that these women could achieve salvation on their own account, and also that he respected the intellect of some of them. However, even these women were to live subdued, enclosed lives. In the City of God he follows Paul in circumscribing the actions of women, but his estimation of their intellect is consistently higher than Paul's. The major difference between Plato and the Christians on this issue was that for Plato, sex was a part of normal life, and indeed essential to the continuation of the State; whereas for Christians it had become a problem and a hindrance to salvation. Neither Paul nor Augustine considered it necessary to combat slavery, probably because they were more concerned with securing the afterlife than with correcting conditions in this life.
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Hogan, Pauline Nigh. "No longer male and female : interpreting Galatians 3:28 in early Christianity /." London : T&T Clark, 2008. http://opac.nebis.ch/cgi-bin/showAbstract.pl?u20=9780567033352.
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Hegedus, Timothy Michael Joseph. "Attitudes to astrology in early Christianity, a study based on selected sources." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 2000. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/ftp03/NQ49991.pdf.
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Hartwand, D. "Early Christianity and military service : A reinterpretation of the sound of silence." Thesis, Queen's University Belfast, 2009. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.517378.
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Munkholt, Christensen Maria Louise [Verfasser]. "Relating through Prayer : Identity Formation in Early Christianity / Maria Louise Munkholt Christensen." Frankfurt a.M. : Peter Lang GmbH, Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften, 2019. http://d-nb.info/1191649199/34.
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Hogan, Pauline Nigh Widdicombe Peter Reed Annette Yoshiko. ""No longer male and female": Interpreting Galatians 3:28 in early Christianity." *McMaster only, 2006.
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Russell, James C. "The germanization of early medieval christianity : a sociohistorical approach to religious transformation /." New York ; Oxford : Oxford university press, 1994. http://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb37473539m.
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Caraher, William R. "Church, society, and the sacred in early christian Greece." The Ohio State University, 2003. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1057071172.
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Christensen, Nikolaj. "Flickering flames : the early Pentecostal movement in Denmark, 1907-1924." Thesis, University of Birmingham, 2017. http://etheses.bham.ac.uk//id/eprint/7796/.
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This study is the most extensive treatment of Danish Pentecostal history to date. It is also the first case study of early European Pentecostalism focused on describing the hindrances to Pentecostal growth in this part of the world and the ways the movement responded to these. The otherwise successful Anglo-Norwegian preacher T.B. Barratt attempted but failed to make Copenhagen a hub of the fledgling Pentecostal movement from 1907, though the movement managed to penetrate a wide range of socio-economic strata there. The movement was hampered by a relative lack of existing minority denominations, along with rejection by Evangelical and Holiness leaders within the state church. Many Danish Pentecostals themselves undermined the movement's survival, by resisting any departure from its original, ecumenical, spontaneous state. They often pursued interdenominational, itinerant strategies- or travelled abroad as missionaries - rather than forming Pentecostal congregations as in contexts where the movement was more successful. When the inevitable institutionalisation happened, it was accompanied by a few years of dynamic growth, but ended in a debilitating schism. The difficulties imposed by the combination of aggressive secularisation and a monopolistic state church should not be underestimated. These may also help us understand contemporary religious minorities.
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Pyle, Rhonda. "Bad Blood: Impurity and Danger in the Early Modern Spanish Mentality." Thesis, University of North Texas, 2010. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc30504/.
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The current work is an intellectual history of how blood permeated early modern Spaniards' conceptions of morality and purity. This paper examines Spanish intellectuals' references to blood in their medical, theological, demonological, and historical works. Through these excerpts, this thesis demonstrates how this language of blood played a role in buttressing the church's conception of good morals. This, in turn, will show that blood was used as a way to persecute Jews and Muslims, and ultimately define the early modern Spanish identity.
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Lo, Wai-kin, and 盧偉健. "From seed to harvest: a heritage trail of early christianity in Hong Kong." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2011. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B47093353.
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In Hong Kong Cemetery, there are many stories of the prominent figures which are
said to be significant to the history of colonial Hong Kong. However, there are also
some quiet stories left yet to be told. Being a Christian, I have put my focus on those
people who died for the Christian belief. Not far away from the entrance, I am deeply
impressed and sympathetic to a story inscribed on a grave: Mrs. Henrietta Hall Shuck,
the first American female missionary to China, died young in 1844 when she was
only 27. What was the driving force pulling this young woman from the comfortable
home in America and bringing her to Hong Kong, and finally buried here? Is there
any reference left behind by her to let me know much about her life? Her story has
been in my mind for years if I can find much information on her life.
Every time when I take bus running along Caine Road and Bonham Road to the
University of Hong Kong, I see a splendid architecture sitting on a platform at the
junction of Bonham Road and Seymour Road, like a lighthouse guarding the area.
Afterwards, I know that it is called Church of Christ in China (CCC) Hop Yat Church.
Once when I walked along and came closer to the church building, I found a stone
plaque embedded on the fa?ade of the church, on which there were four Chinese
words: “To Tsai Hui Tong” (道濟會堂), which is “To Tsai Church” in English. The
first question came to my mind: why the plaque of another church was embedded on
the fa?ade of this church? Is there any story behind? What is the relationship between
this “To Tsai Church” and the existing CCC Hop Yat Church?
These questions finally converge on many of the “firsts”: Henrietta was not only the
first foreign female missionary to Hong Kong, but also sharing the other three “firsts”:
the first foreign female resided in Hong Kong, the first person started female
education in Hong Kong, and finally, the first foreign missionary died in Hong Kong.
For the To Tsai Church, it was also the first independent Chinese church in Hong
Kong.
These “firsts” imply that both Henrietta and To Tsai Church were in significant
positions in the early Christianity development in Hong Kong. Henrietta joined the
first foreign missionary to Hong Kong but died in Hong Kong like a seed; To Tsai
Church developed from the foreign missionary works and rooted itself in the local
Chinese community and finally came to harvest. All these pioneer stories lead to this
study: to work out a heritage trail on the footprints of Henrietta and To Tsai Church so
as to illustrate how the early Christianity developed in Hong Kong.
The dissertation is divided into three main parts. The first part, covered by Chapter 2,
describes the definition of heritage trail, and introduces the purposes of the heritage
trails by making reference to those in Hong Kong. Then, referring to our case of a
heritage trail in Christianity, discussion is focused on the nature of the religious
heritage trail with examples.
The second part, covered by Chapters 3, 4 and 5, gives a detailed description on the
history of how the Christian missionary reached China and then Hong Kong from the
time of Jesus until the British occupation of Hong Kong in 1841. Then, histories of
the missionary by Mrs. Henrietta Hall Shuck and the evolution of To Tsai Church to
CCC Hop Yat Church are discussed and the associated heritage sites are identified for
the design of heritage trail.
The third part, covered by Chapters 6 and 7, focuses on the heritage values of this
heritage trial, the justification for developing this trail and then the detailed design of
the trail.
The concluding chapter 8 describes the importance of a religious heritage trail in the
congested developed city like Central and Western District and also Hong Kong.
Re-examination of the hypothesis and the answers to the research questions are to be
illustrated. Finally, recommendations are suggested to find the possible ways to turn
the heritage trail into reality.published_or_final_version
Conservation
Master
Master of Science in Conservation
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Lynch-Baldwin, Kelle Anne. "The Rediscovery of Early Irish Christianity and Its Wisdom for Religious Education Today." Thesis, Boston College, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/2345/648.
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Thesis advisor: Thomas H. GroomeWhat does it mean to "be church"? How can we foster a sense of collective faith identity through religious education? What resources can we draw upon in this endeavor? I propose that the authentic early Irish Church offers insights that add to the field of religious education by suggesting that religious educators focus on forming persons in faith to be Christians both within a community of believers and in the world. Doing so not only enriches the individual, but also invigorates the Church and allows it to reclaim its voice in the twenty-first century public square. This thesis suggests an approach to religious education rooted in the example of the early Irish tradition yet pertinent to the contemporary desire for faith, spirituality and community. The faith of the early Irish centered upon the triad of Christ the King, covenant, and community. Together these three Christian principles foster holistic lives where faith and life become inseparable, what I term abiding faith. My approach to this task is threefold: 1. To survey the original texts and practices, and catechetical efforts of Early Christian Ireland (5th - 10th centuries) in an effort to recover an authentic understanding of the Early Irish Church. 2. To place the prominent Early Irish Christian understandings of a) Jesus Christ, b) covenantal relationship, and c) community of believers, into conversation with modern theology. 3. To bring the Irish recovery into conversation with the field of contemporary religious education. Chapter 1 contextualizes the research by sketching the historical setting of pre-Christian Ireland through the arrival of Christianity with Palladius in the early fifth century. Chapter 2 continues the historical survey concentrating on the Christianization process, pedagogical practices and the subsequent transformation of Irish society. Chapter 3 turns to the content of the evangelization of Ireland first examining the Irish use of the heretics Pelagius and Theodore of Mospsuestia. I demonstrate that their influence in Ireland was primarily exegetical and that Irish use of their texts did not render the Irish Church heterodox. Secondly, I focus on the texts produce by the Irish Christians with an eye towards their christological and ecclesiological motifs. Chapter 4 engages the wisdom of the early Irish Church, their emphasis on Christ the King, covenant, and community with modern theological understandings. Here, I liberate these understandings from unnecessary tangential concepts that are detrimental to forming persons for an integrated, life-giving, abiding faith. I then take these recovered Christian foci into a conversation with contemporary religious education text. Chapter 5 demonstrates the viability for religious education for abiding faith through the shared Christian praxis approach of Thomas Groome. I offer a description of shared Christian praxis followed by a discussion of its use in both the formal educational setting and the liturgy. Chapter 6 offers, as the title states, some concluding thoughts on the development of the work as a whole
Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2009
Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
Discipline: Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry
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Harlow, Daniel C. "The Greek Apocalypse of Baruch (3 Baruch) in Hellenistic Judaism and early Christianity /." Leiden ; New York ; Köln : E. J. Brill, 1996. http://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb35803319d.
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Grayson, James Huntley. "Early Buddhism and Christianity in Korea : a study in the emplantation of religion /." Leiden : E. J. Brill, 1985. http://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb361469600.
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Graham, Sarah Jane. "Classical elements in early Christian depictions of the afterlife." Thesis, University of Glasgow, 2018. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/30739/.
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This thesis is entitled ‘Classical Elements in Early Christian Depictions of the Afterlife’. Taking an approach influenced by Reception studies, it explores some key moments where Christians engage in a dialogue with their pagan predecessors. The focus is primarily on Latin literature, although a limited selection of art and Greek literature has been included where particularly revealing. The aim of this work is to use a series of case studies in order to demonstrate the cross-pollination of ideas and to show that in late antiquity, Christian authors in the Latin West were reacting to their pagan antecedents in a variety of different ways. Through close readings of several key texts this thesis will examine moments of cultural interchange and allow us to think about some specific and illuminating examples of a complex and nuanced relationship. In the first few centuries AD Christian ideas about what happens when we die were still fluid, so the afterlife provides a particularly fruitful basis for exploring wider questions about the relationship between paganism and Christianity.
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Petropoulou, Maria-Zoe. "Animal sacrifice in Greek religion, Judaism and early Christianity in the period 100BC-AD200." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2004. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.408197.
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Owen, P. L. "Jewish eschatology as a matrix for understanding the death of Jesus in early Christianity." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 2000. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.660259.
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This doctoral thesis is an exploration into the influence of Jewish eschatological thought upon the way the death of Jesus came to be understood in earliest Christianity. It is essentially a tradition-historical sketch which begins with Paul on one end, and works back to the lifetime of the historical Jesus. My question is, Did Jewish eschatological expectation provide the fundamental interpretive grid for the theological explanation of Jesus' death in the period 30-60 CE? My thesis enters into this question by first engaging the academic debate over the nature of Jewish apocalyptic eschatology. I then engage in an exploration of the influence of Jewish eschatology in early Christian literature. My objects of focus are laid out in the following order: pre-Pauline materials contained in Paul's writings; primitive traditions found in the early chapters of Acts; the synoptic Sayings Source (Q); and dominical material in the Jesus tradition. My primary contention is that Paul's theological-apocalyptic understanding of Jesus' death as a definitive saving event was passed on to him from the earliest Christian community in Jerusalem, and ultimately goes back to Jesus' own expectations of martyrdom and vindication as the fulfilment of God's eschatological plan.
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Carveley, Kenneth Cyril. "Ecclesiological Docetism : in early and medieval dissent and heresy in eastern and western Christianity." Thesis, University of Leeds, 1990. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/624/.
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In the context of the continuity of Christology into ecclesiology, this thesis investigates the implications of a Docetic Christology and its consequences in the life of the church. Against the background of the development of orthodoxy and heresy in earliest Christianity it indicates a docetic Christological/ecclesiological parallel found in the Gnostic dualist tradition, countered by the catholic one of a growing orthodoxy, and the continuing influences and implications in Alexandrian theology. It notes in this setting the implicit docetic tendency in 'heretical' thought to undermine salvation history (t'eilsgeschichte), as well as the element of timeliness which could separate orthodoxy from heresy. It proceeds by looking at the exegesis of the New Testament and the Fathers of the church which indicates a Christological/ecclesiological continuity. From this context it examines the understanding of Christ as tradition and Christ as corporate which continues into the Middle Ages. It illustrates further, how concepts such as martyrdom and suffering bear an implicit relationship to Christology and ecclesiology. In considering the views of medieval movements in the context of more orthodox understandings of their age, it explores the continuity of themes found in them from early heresy, particularly dualism and its effects. It notes in particular the role of Platonism in theological interpretation, and considers the place of the establishment of the church in the legitimising of a Christological/ ecclesiological view. These themes and concepts combine to demonstrate the implications of dokesis within an alternative understanding of the church, with the rejection of an incarnational theology, and the development of new criteria for Christian life. In this respect it questions how the immediacy of mystical and spiritual experience relates to ecclesiology. Taking into account the appeal to primitivism as a motive for reform which undermined the medieval synthesis and its doctrine of society, it reviews the late medieval concept of the invisible church, which prepared the way for the Reformation. In this setting it examines the recurring themes which appear, and concludes by outlining the implications of ecclesiological docesis for the church of today.
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Blue, Bradley B. "In public and in private : the role of the house church in early Christianity." Thesis, University of Aberdeen, 1989. http://digitool.abdn.ac.uk:80/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=128426.
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In a brief article published in 1939, Floyd Filson suggested that our understanding of early Christianity would be enriched if we considered the physical conditions of the early church, i.e., the house churches. In many respects, this thesis is a response to Filson's summons. The recent interest in the 'social world of early Christianity' and the non-literary evidence unearthed in this century have made this study possible (Chapters 1 and 2). The evidence confirms that the building program endorsed by Constantine is a watershed in early Christian architecture. Until the founding of the Lateran basilica (c.314 AD) the Christians primarily met in houses (converted or otherwise). Prior to the Peace of the Church there were three major stages of development: 1. the 'house church' proper (c.50-150), i.e., a domestic residence which continued to function as such while it also served to accommodate a Christian gathering. 2. The domus ecclesiae (c.150-250), i.e., renovated residences. 3. The aula ecclesiae (c.250-313), i.e., large halls used by the community. The early period of the 'house church' has been the primary focus of our study; although we have provided evidence for all three stages (Chapter 2). The 'house' provided the early believers with a gathering place that was immediately available, distinct from other venues (e.g., the Temple and synagogue), and which had the necessary appurtenances. In particular, the Christians needed a venue which could accommodate a meal (including the Eucharist). In this respect, the 'house' was a natural choice (Chapter 3). The fact that the meal was an important feature in the house gatherings can be seen most acutely when the Jewish/Gentile milieu is considered. The Jewish regulations concerning commensality (Chapter 4) and the fact that synagogues included culinary appurtenances (Chapter 5) attest to the importance of proper food (and preparation) and acceptable table companions. The meals in the house church forced the early Christians (Jew and Gentile) to determine the relevance of the regulations and ritual laws of purity and, above all, to demonstrate the reconciliatory message of the Gospel - at the table. The house was also significant for the expansion of Christianity. According to Luke, the conversion of a house owner resulted in the physical establishment of the church in a given locale (Chapter 3).
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Powell, R. J. "The kingdom's deluge an overview of the development of baptismal rites in early Christianity /." Theological Research Exchange Network (TREN), 2007. http://www.tren.com/search.cfm?p062-0315.
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Fraser, Michael Alexander. "The feast of the Encaenia in the fourth century and in the ancient liturgical sources of Jerusalem." Thesis, Durham University, 1995. http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/5431/.
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The central concept in this thesis is the Encaenia, particularly the Jerusalem Encaenia of the Martyrium Basilica and the anniversary feast of the same name, but also other, lesser known, inaugurations of churches which occurred in the fourth century. The thesis commences with a review of the recent scholarship on early Christian buildings, the Holy Land, and the Jerusalem Encaenia feast. Chapter two discusses the appearance of "εγκαίυια" in the Septuagint and early Christian literature before considering the first documented occasion of an encaenia feast, the inauguration of the basilica in Tyre. Chapter three is a detailed study of Constantine’s 'New Jerusalem' from the finding of the Cross to the inauguration of the Martyrium basilica in 335. A distinction is drawn between the work of Constantine and the interpretation of Eusebius. The subsequent chapter draws attention to the growth and uniform pattern of imperial involvement in the inauguration of churches under Constantius, paying particular attention to the alleged Encaenia of an Alexandrian basilica by Athanasius without imperial consent. The study of the Jerusalem Encaenia, the anniversary of the Martyrium inauguration, commences in chapter five with an analysis of the feast m the Journal of Egeria and the brief account recorded by Sozomen. Both writers portray the Encaenia as a pilgrim feast. Chapter six examines the liturgical content of the feast reconstructed from the earliest Jerusalem lectionaries and calendar. The theology of the feast is discerned from the biblical texts prescribed for the liturgy. Many of the observations made in previous chapters are drawn together in chapter eight which proposes the Encaenia as a Christian interpretation of the Jewish feast of Tabernacles. The conclusion to the thesis discusses the prominence of the Jerusalem Encaenia in the liturgical calendar, and locates the rite and feast of the Encaenia within the wider context of the dedication of churches in the east and western liturgy. Further avenues of research are outlined regarding the rites and surviving homilies for the dedication of a church.
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Kabala, James Stanley. "A Christian nation? : church-state relations in the early American republic, 1787--1846." View abstract/electronic edition; access limited to Brown University users, 2008. http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:3318336.
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Miller, Troy Anthony. "Emergence of the concept of heresy in early Christianity : the context of internal social conflict in first-century Christianity and late second Temple sectarianism." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 2002. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/10603.
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The present thesis endeavors to identify the context out of which the conceptual category of heresy initially emerged within early Christianity. As such, it will not focus on any single heresy or heresiological issue, but rather on the emergence of the notion of heresy itself. The context proposed from which the Christian idea of heresy first emerged is not the institutionalization of orthodoxy within the second-century church, but rather, the dynamics of internal social conflict, which is visible in situations of internal deviance within first century Christianity and in at least one strand of the sectarianism of Second Temple Judaism. In Part I, which is a single chapter (two), I appeal to the social sciences to help articulate a social understanding of the concept of heresy, not in an effort to replace the ecclesiastical understanding, which holds heresy to be a belief or teaching that stands in opposition to or deviates from an orthodox norm/doctrine and which dominates scholarly perception on the topic, but as a complement to it. The aim of the chapter is to identify a set of characteristics that mark heresy as a unique social phenomenon. In Part II, I turn to Galatians (chapter three) and parts of Revelation 2-3 (chapter four), as test cases for the viability of locating the phenomenological characteristics noted in chapter two within these two first-century contexts of internal social conflict. After surveying the settings of conflict and the given author's responses to them, I conclude that though heresy (in the ecclesiastical sense) is not demarcated in these contexts, they are a likely context out of which the early Christian conceptual category of heresy initially emerged. Part Ill reflects an effort to see whether there may be earlier settings of internal social conflict that are analogous to these first-century contexts. Based on the argument that the exclusiveness inherent to these first-century situations of internal conflict, as well as the notion of heresy, requires a monotheistic religious framework, I turn solely to Second Temple Judaism. Relying upon a phenomenological characterization of religious sects, I (in chapter five) highlight the emerging sectarian markings evident in groups around the beginning of the second Jewish commonwealth. Chapter six, then, reflects an attempt to gauge the extremes of sectarian commitments and expression in late Second Temple Judaism by noting the sectarian features of groups behind the Habakkuk Pesher and the Psalms of Solomon. Ultimately, I conclude that these two settings of sectarian conflict bear a phenomenological resemblance to the first-century Christian situations of internal social conflict previously surveyed. Part IV, which is a single chapter (seven), reflects an effort to track when and how the early Christian notion of heresy emerged from these settings of internal social conflict, primarily through a study of the New Testament evidence of [Greek characters];. As the term moves from possessing a neutral to a pejorative to a defamatory meaning, I appeal to linguistic theory, namely semantics and sociolinguistics, in an effort to (1) characterize the type of shift in meaning that occurred in [Greek characters]; and (2) begin to locate any forces or factors that may have been influential in this linguistic transformation. Ultimately, I combine this analysis of [Greek characters]; with the previous work on the dynamic of internal social conflict in the first century and the late Second Temple period to construct a diachronic presentation of how the concept of heresy initially came into early Christian thought and writing. Chapter eight brings the thesis to a close by briefly revisiting the main conclusions of the study and identifying the primary contributions that it makes to various areas of Christian Origins research.
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Parfitt, John Wesley. "Copec : an interdenominational movement of Christian social thought and action in early twentieth century Britain." Thesis, Coventry University, 2000. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.323643.
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Evans, Roger Steven. "Soteriologies of Early Christianity Within The Intellectual Context of The Early Roman Empire: Barnabas and Clement of Rome as Case Studies /." The Ohio State University, 1996. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1487931993468974.
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Kim, Kyu Seop. "The firstborn son in ancient Judaism and early Christianity : a study of primogeniture and Christology." Thesis, University of Aberdeen, 2015. http://digitool.abdn.ac.uk:80/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=228200.
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Peri, Oded. "Christianity under Islam in Jerusalem : the question of the holy sites in early Ottoman times /." Leiden : Brill, 2001. http://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb38877201w.
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Baxter, Katherine Isobel. "Early twentieth century modernism and the absence of God." Thesis, University of Glasgow, 2003. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/6334/.
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At the beginning of the twentieth century we find novelists using their medium to express doubt in both the Judeo-Christian narrative as archetype and the possibility of purposive narrative in their own work. Often these writers took well-recognized paradigms of purposive narratives, such as 'the quest', or 'historical narrative' and adapted them to show them failing to reach their purposed denouement. The work of these novelists was paralleled by that of contemporary poets. Although the poets' concerns were less immediately affected by the specific challenges to Judeo-Christian narratives, their concern for the efficacy of language was motivated by a similar sense that language no longer possessed the edenic quality of reaching the thing it aimed at. Furthermore the frameworks of art themselves (perspective, rhyme, formal representation, and so on) were found to be unstable. Literary responses to the failure of language and narrative were varied. In a radically simplified form they may be located on a continuum between two points: at one end a desire to fill the void left by an absent God; at the other a fascination with the possibilities of the void. My thesis situates the work of Conrad in particular, as well as Forster, Eliot, Woolf, Imagism and Dada, on this continuum, during the period of, roughly, 1899-1925. The works of these individuals and groups are considered individually and comparatively through detailed readings of texts and images. Through such consideration it becomes apparent that the fascination of the void, which attracted all these writers to varying extents, also brought them to realize new aesthetic possibilities that seemed to fill the void. In particular, the modernist texts under consideration developed an aesthetic of aperture, that is to say an aesthetic of the momentary, more specifically, the moment prior to comprehension, the moment of experience. In fiction this aesthetic grew out of a deconstruction of purposive narrative in favour of imagistic presentation; in poetry and the visual arts the poem or picture abstracted its object from reality and yet equivalenced reality by presenting an inherent internal logic. That logic apparent in the poem or picture was often placed beyond the grasp of the reader or viewers' understanding, representing the sense that the logical operations of the world or the divine machinations of God, were either beyond comprehension,if not non-existent altogether. This aesthetic of aperture is once again illustrated through detailed examination of particular texts and images. In the works considered this reinstatement of the possibility of purposive narrative and language through an aesthetic of aperture is figured mystically, presented in negative-theological terms of absence, silence and the unknowable. The mysticism identified appears at odds with the predominantly practical theological debates in Europe at the time and yet finds philosophical parallels in Wittgenstein's Tractatus. The thesis concludes that the return, in modernist works, of attempts to fill the void is the result not only of aesthetic, but also of social and personal (in particular the repercussions of world war), desires for at least the possibility of purposive narrative and language.
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Kenny, Christopher Joseph. "Theology and natural philosophy in late seventeenth and early eighteenth-century Britain." Thesis, University of Leeds, 1996. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/434/.
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A number of historians of science have claimed that the early Boyle Sermons provided a platform for the promotion of a moderate-Anglican social and political ideology underpinned by Newtonian natural philosophy. However, by examining in detail the texts of Richard Bentley, John Harris and Samuel Clarke, this thesis argues that their Sermons should not be characterised as 'Newtonian'. These texts were highly complex literary productions constructed with the intention of achieving victory over the enemies of Christianity. An examination of their rhetorical strategies focuses attention on the use to which various cognitive materials - including natural philosophy - were put. Thus the presence of Newtonian concepts in the texts is explained by the aims and overall scholarly programmes of the Lecturers. It will also be argued that the term 'Boyle Lectureship' is problematic and that the main elements of the Lectureship - Robert Boyle's bequest, the Trustees, the Lecturers, and the Sermons - cannot be conflated into a single historical unit. Therefore, throughout this study, emphasis is placed on the contingent and singular behaviour of individuals located within an ecclesiastical and scholarly community, where career promotion and the notion of scholarly credit were important. The brief in Boyle's last will and testament stipulated that the Lecturers must defend Christianity using the scholarly tools to hand. In this thesis it will be shown that the personnel of the Lectureship conformed to Boyle's brief and that they utilised all available methods and materials in the pursuance of their legal and institutional responsibilities. This approach removes the analysis of the Lectureship from an overarching sociological perspective; instead the Sermons are interpreted as exemplary texts in the rhetorical prosecution of the enemies of Christianity. This study, therefore, acknowledges the complex nature of theological texts in early modern England.
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Fogarty, Margaret Elizabeth. "Egyptian Christianity : an historical examination of the belief systems prevalent in Alexandria c.100 B.C.E. - 400 C.E. and their role in the shaping of early Christianity." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/49941.
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Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2004.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis sets out to examine, as far as possible within the constraints of a limited study, the nature of the Christianity professed in the first centuries of the Common Era, by means of an historical examination of Egyptian Christianity. The thesis contends that the believers in Christ's teachings, in the first century, were predominantly Jewish, that "Christianity" did not exist as a developed separate religion until its first formal systematizations commenced in the second century, through the prolific writings of the Alexandrians, Clement and Origen. It is noted that the name "Christianity" itself was coined for the first time in the second century by Ignatius of Antioch; and that until the fourth century it is more accurate to speak of many Christianities in view of regional-cultural and interpretative differences where the religion took root. The study examines the main religions of the world in which the new religion began to establish itself, and against which it had to contend for its very survival. Many elements of these religions influenced the rituals and formulation of the new religion and are traced through ancient Egyptian religion, the Isis and Serapis cults, Judaism, Gnosticism and Hermeticism. Alexandria, as the intellectual matrix of the Graeco-Roman world, was the key centre in which the new religion was formally developed. The thesis argues, therefore, that despite the obscurity of earliest Christianity in view of the dearth of extant sources, the emergent religion was significantly Egyptian in formulation, legacy and influence in the world of Late Antiquity. It is argued, in conclusion, that the politics of the West in making Christianity the official religion of the empire, thus centring it henceforth in Rome, effectively effaced the Egyptian roots. In line with current major research into the earliest centuries of Christianity, the thesis contends that while Jerusalem was the spring of the new religion Alexandria, and Egypt as a whole, formed a vital tributary of the river of Christianity which was to flow through the whole world. It is argued that without the Egyptian branch, Christianity would have been a different phenomenon to what it later became. The legacy of Egyptian Christianity is not only of singular importance in the development of Christianity but, attracting as it does the continued interest of current researchers in the historical, papyrological and archaeological fields, it holds also considerable significance for the study of the history of religions in general, and Christianity in particular.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die proefskrif poog om, insover moontlik binne beperkte skopus, die aard van die vroeë Christendom gedurende die eerste eeue V.C. te ondersoek, deur middel van 'n historiese ondersoek van die Egiptiese Christendom. Die tesis voer aan dat die vroegste Christelike gelowiges in die eerste eeu N.C. grootendeels Joods was, en dat die Christendom as afsonderlike godsdiens nie ontstaan het nie voor die formele sistematiseringe wat deur die Aleksandryne Clemens en Origines aangebring is nie. Selfs die term Christendom is vir die eerste keer in die tweede eeu n.C. deur Ignatius van Antiochië versin; daar word verder opgemerk dat voor die vierde eeu dit meer akkuraat is om van veelvuldige Christelike groepe te praat. Die studie ondersoek die vernaamste godsdienste van die milieu waarin die nuwe godsdiens wortel geskied het, en waarteen dit om sy oorlewing moes stry. Baie invloede van die godsdienste is uitgeoefen op die rites en die daarstelling van die nuwe godsdiens, en kan herlei word na die antieke Egiptiese godsdiens, die kultusse van Isis en Serapis, Judaïsme, Gnostisisme en Hermetisme. Aleksandrië, die intellektuele matriks van die Grieks-Romeinse wêreld, was die hoof-sentrum waarin die nuwe godsdiens formeelontwikkel het. Die tesis toon daarom aan dat ten spyte van die onbekendheid van die vroegste Christendom, wat te wyte is aan die tekort aan bronne, die opkomende godsdiens in die Laat Antieke wêreld opvallend Egipties van aard was in formulering, invloed en erfenis. Ten slotte word daar aangevoer dat die politiek van die Weste wat die Christendom as amptelike godsdiens van die ryk gemaak het, en wat dit vervolgens dus in Rome laat konsentreer het, die Egiptiese oorspronge van die godsdiens feitlik uitgewis het. In samehang met kontemporêre belangrike navorsing op die gebied van die Christendom se vroegste eeue, argumenteer die tesis dat terwyl Jerusalem wel die bron van die nuwe godsdiens was, Aleksandrië, en Egipte as geheel, 'n deurslaggewende sytak was van die rivier van die Christendom wat uiteindelik deur die ganse wêreld sou vloei. Daar word aangetoon dat sonder die Egiptiese tak, die Christendom 'n heel ander verskynsel sou gewees het in vergelyking met sy latere formaat. Die erfenis van die Egiptiese Christendom is nie alleen van die grootste belang vir die ontwikkeling van die Christendom nie, maar 'n nalatenskap wat die voortgesette aandag van navorsers op historiese, papirologiese en argeologiese gebiede vra, en is daarom van groot belang vir die studie van die geskiedenis van godsdienste in die algemeen, en die Christendom in die besonder.
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Paulovkin, Jeremy S. "The Patristic Reception of the Speakers in John 3." FIU Digital Commons, 2015. http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/2325.
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The identification of the speakers in John 3:13-21 and 3:31-36 has remained a longstanding question in biblical studies, confirmed by the difference of opinion in commentaries and the lack of agreement over the placement of quotation marks in contemporary versions of the Bible. The scholarly debate has centered on whether these passages ought to be interpreted as continuations of the words of Jesus and the Baptist, or as authorial commentary appended to their respective discourses. The purpose of this study was to remedy this interpretive difficulty by approaching the question from a wholly different angle: that of tracing the reception history of John 3 in the patristic period (up to A.D. 450). By critically surveying how these earliest readers of John’s Gospel interpreted the speakers, this thesis provides a fresh basis for evaluating the divergent theories of modern commentators and for reconsidering the placement of quotation marks in Bible versions.
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Graham, E. Dorothy. "Chosen by God : the female itinerants of early primitive Methodism." Thesis, University of Birmingham, 1986. http://etheses.bham.ac.uk//id/eprint/4557/.
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Present day Methodists are often surprised to learn that ‘women in the Ministry’ is not a twentieth century phenomenon; that the Bible Christians and Primitive Methodists had the flexibility and foresight to make valuable use of female preaching talents. This research has concentrated on the women travelling preachers of Primitive Methodism, starting from the premise that there were doubtless far more than was immediately apparent; searching them out; looking at their life and work; their value and influence within the context of the movement itself and in relation to the strata of society to which it chiefly appealed. I have sought to weigh the contemporary arguments about the merits and demerits of female preaching; to look at the gradual decline and ultimate demise of the female itinerant; to see if an explanation for their disappearance could be found in the prevailing social conditions or if the answer lay within Primitive Methodism itself. As Primitive Methodism moved from enthusiastic evangelism towards consolidation so its emphasis shifted and its attitudes developed and changed. The female travelling preachers played a vital, though often little acknowledged, role in the Connexional evolution and it is this role which I have tried to explore and evaluate.
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Kang, Kyu Suk. "Three weeks early morning prayer training for growth in faith /." Free full text is available to ORU patrons only; click to view:, 2003. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/oru/fullcit?p3112964.
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Applied research project (D. Min.)--School of Theology and Missions, Oral Roberts University, 2003.Includes abstract and vita. Translated from Korean. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 191-195).
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Shirt, David John. "'Sing to the Lord with the harp' : attitudes to musical instruments in early Christianity, 680 A.D." Thesis, Durham University, 2015. http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/11249/.
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Arguments for the absence of instrumental music in early Christian worship are commonly founded on a corpus of texts which, in the main, describe the attitudes of their educated,elite authors towards worship within churches and other officially sanctioned venues of the Roman empire. This inevitably ignores much of the popular religious ritual associated with the non-elite Christian(ized) masses. Of equal significance, it ignores huge swathes of the population, beyond the Mediterranean world, who, in more remote locations such as Ireland and Ethiopia, embraced Christianity and expressed it in the context of their own cultures. However important the Roman empire was, the horizons on which any assessment of musical practice is focused, must extend beyond its geographical borders. This not only involves examining a diversity of geographical locations, but a diversity of definitions regarding concepts of Christian worship. It is not only the attitudes of the elite, well aware of the disciplines of their philosophical/theological heritage, but the attitudes of the uneducated masses, whose religious practices were not necessarily in conformity with the desires and demands of Church authority, which provide the groundwork upon which this dissertation is built.
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Smith, Terence V. "Petrine controversies in early christianity : attitudes towards Peter in Christian writings of the first two centuries /." Tübingen : J.C.B. Mohr, 1985. http://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb348822093.
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