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Saving paradise : how Christianity traded love of this world for crucifixion and empire / Rita Nakashima Brock, Rebecca Ann Parker.
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Brock, Rita Nakashima.
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Theology--History--Early church, ca. 30-600.
- Theology.
- Theology--History--Middle Ages, 600-1500.
- Paradise--Christianity--History of doctrines.
- Paradise.
- Nature--Religious aspects--Christianity.
- Nature.
- Creation.
- Physical Description:
- 1 online resource (574 p.)
- Place of Publication:
- Boston : Beacon Press, c2008.
- Language Note:
- English
- Summary:
- A fascinating theological study of how early Christianity's message of love and community has evolved into one of punishment and empire During their first millennium, Christians filled their sanctuaries with images of Christ as a living presence--as a shepherd, teacher, healer, or an enthroned god. He is serene and surrounded by lush scenes, depictions of this world as paradise. Yet once he appeared as crucified, dying was virtually all Jesus seemed able to do, and paradise disappeared from the earth. Saving Paradise turns a fascinating new lens on Christianity, from its first centuries to the present day, asking how its early vision of beauty evolved into a vision of torture, and what changes in society and theology marked that evolution. It also retrieves, for today, a life-affirming Christianity that the world sorely needs.
- Contents:
- Intro
- Saving Paradise
- Prologue
- Part One
- Chapter One: In the Beginning . . . Paradise on the Earth
- Chapter Two: In the Beginning . . . God So Generously Loved
- Chapter Three: So Great a Cloud
- Chapter Four: The Church as Paradise in This World
- Chapter Five: The Portal to Paradise
- Chapter Six: The Beautiful Feast of Life
- Chapter Seven: Gods Seeing God
- Chapter Eight: Hidden Treasures of Wisdom
- Part Two
- Chapter Nine: The Expulsion of Paradise
- Chapter Ten: Peace by the Blood of the Cross
- Chapter Eleven: Dying for Love
- Chapter Twelve: Escape Routes
- Chapter Thirteen: Weeping Encounters
- Chapter Fourteen: The Struggle for Paradise
- Epilogue
- Acknowledgments
- Notes
- Index.
- Notes:
- Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 425-515) and index.
- Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.
- ISBN:
- 0-8070-9763-2
- OCLC:
- 506071107
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