Sin : the early history of an idea / Paula Fredriksen.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Fredriksen, Paula.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Sin--Christianity--History of doctrines--Early church, ca. 30-600.

Sin.

Theology--History.

Theology.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (220 p.)

Edition:

Course Book

Place of Publication:

Princeton, NJ : Princeton University Press, 2012.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Ancient Christians invoked sin to account for an astonishing range of things, from the death of God's son to the politics of the Roman Empire that worshipped him. In this book, award-winning historian of religion Paula Fredriksen tells the surprising story of early Christian concepts of sin, exploring the ways that sin came to shape ideas about God no less than about humanity. Long before Christianity, of course, cultures had articulated the idea that human wrongdoing violated relations with the divine. But Sin tells how, in the fevered atmosphere of the four centuries between Jesus and Augustine, singular new Christian ideas about sin emerged in rapid and vigorous variety, including the momentous shift from the belief that sin is something one does to something that one is born into. As the original defining circumstances of their movement quickly collapsed, early Christians were left to debate the causes, manifestations, and remedies of sin. This is a powerful and original account of the early history of an idea that has centrally shaped Christianity and left a deep impression on the secular world as well.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Prologue

Chapter 1. God, Blood, and the Temple: Jesus and Paul on Sin

Chapter 2. Flesh and the Devil: Sin in the Second Century

Chapter 3. A Rivalry of Genius: Sin and Its Consequences in Origen and Augustine

Epilogue

Timeline

Acknowledgments

Notes

Glossary

Works Cited

Index Locorum

General Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9786613589248

9781280494017

1280494018

9781400841592

1400841593

OCLC:

794004267