Where did Christianity come from? / Justin Taylor.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Taylor, Justin, 1943-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Church history--Primitive and early church, ca. 30-600.

Church history.

Church history--Primitive and early church.

Christianity--Origin.

Christianity.

Physical Description:

xv, 189 pages ; 21 cm

Place of Publication:

Collegeville, Minn. : Liturgical Press, [2001]

Summary:

Where Did Christianity Come From? surveys the first 150 years of Christianity. It looks for the environment in which Christianity began and traces the process by which Christianity emerged from it. The search follows clues given by familiar rites and institutions, especially by the central Christian sacraments of baptism and the Eucharist. The formation of Christianity involved both continuity and discontinuity with the original environment, symbolized by the death and resurrection of Jesus. This approach conveys new insights into the study of Christian origins. Where Does Christianity Come From? restates the central argument of Taylor's earlier work The Origins of Christianity: An Exploration; reorganizes it, adds new material (including an Appendix), and presents it here in a teachable text for classroom use.

Contents:

Chapter 1 Starting Points 13

1. The New Testament 14

a. New Testament and Kerygma 14

b. The Acts of the Apostles 17

2. Qumran Documents and Rabbinic Texts 19

a. The Qumran Documents 19

b. The Rabbinic Texts 20

3. Philo and Josephus 21

a. Philo of Alexandria 21

b. Flavius Josephus 22

II. Two Intriguing Episodes 26

1. Peter and Cornelius (Acts 10:1-48) 26

2. The Night at Troas (Acts 20:7-12) 29

Chapter 2 Baptism and Eucharist 34

I. Baptism 35

1. John's Baptism 36

2. John, Jesus, and Their Disciples 40

3. The Baptism of Jesus and Christian Baptism 41

II. The Last Supper 44

1. The Problem of Chronology 44

2. Last Supper and Passover 46

3. Looking for a Meaning 48

Chapter 3 Jewish Galilee 57

I. Galilee Until Herod 59

1. After the Exile 59

2. Around Herod the Great 61

II. Hillel and Galilee 64

1. A Distant Enthronement 64

2. An Essential Question About Passover 67

III. The Galilee That Jesus Knew 70

IV. Before and After the Downfall of Jerusalem 74

1. Josephus and Galilee 74

2. The Academy of Yavneh 75

3. Migration into Galilee after 135 78

V. From Fraternities to Schools 80

1. The Ideal of the Fraternity (habura) 80

2. Proselyte Baptism 82

Chapter 4 The Gentile Mission 87

I. Jews and Gentiles 87

1. Jewish Proselytism? 87

2. Reformers and Rebels 90

a. Pharisee Reformers 90

b. Militant Activists 91

3. Christiani at Rome, Alexandria, Antioch 93

II. Ephesus and Corinth 101

1. Apollos and Correct Teaching 102

2. Paul, from Corinth to Ephesus 106

3. The Disciples at Ephesus 108

III. The Beginnings of the Mission 111

1. The Road to Damascus 112

2. Events in Jerusalem 114

3. Ascension and Pentecost 116

Chapter 5 James, Paul, and Peter 118

I. James at Jerusalem 119

1. The Jerusalem Decrees (Acts 15) 119

2. Precepts for the Children of Noah 121

II. The Heritage of James 124

1. The Jewish Bishops of Jerusalem 124

2. The Nazoreans 125

3. James's Eclipse and Return to Favor 128

III. Tannaites and Nazoreans 129

1. Traces of Polemics 130

2. The Danger of Christianity 131

IV. The Formation of the New Testament 133

1. The Nazoreans and the Gospels 135

2. Luke-Acts 137

3. Toward a Canon 138

4. Final Remarks 140

Chapter 6 The Covenant 141

I. Passover 142

1. The Paschal Lamb 142

2. Passover and Easter 143

II. Pentecost and the Covenant 145

III. Admission and Exclusion 148

1. Initiation in the Name of the Trinity 149

2. Table Fellowship and Penalties 151

IV. Why Christiani? 152

1. Christians, Anointings 153

2. The Sign of the Cross 157

Chapter 7 And Jesus? 162

1. "A prophet powerful in words and in deeds" 163

2. "We were hoping..." 165

3. "Our leaders gave him up" 166

4. "... who said that he is living" 167

Appendix The "Slavonic" Josephus 174.

Notes:

"A Michael Glazier book."

Includes bibliographical references (pages 172-173) and indexes.

ISBN:

081465102X

OCLC:

44669483