In this major theoretical and methodological statement on the history of religions, Jonathan Z. Smith shows how convert apologetic agendas can dictate the course of comparative religious studies. As his example, Smith reviews four centuries of scholarship comparing early Christi…
How did Christianity compare and compete with the cults of the pagan gods in the Roman Empire? This work places Christians and pagans side by side in the context of civil life and contrasts their religious experiences, visions, cults and oracles.
As indicated by the title, this volume focuses on an area of conflict that became decisive for the development of Christianity, i.e. which group of texts should be regarded as normative for the preaching of the Christian faith, and how these texts should be interpreted. Several …
"This study investigates why "faith" (pistis/fides) was so important to early Christians that the concept and praxis dominated the writings of the New Testament. It argues that such a study must be interdisciplinary, locating emerging Christianities in the social practices and m…
"This study investigates why "faith" (pistis/fides) was so important to early Christians that the concept and praxis dominated the writings of the New Testament. It argues that such a study must be interdisciplinary, locating emerging Christianities in the social practices and m…
This work begins with the question why 'faith' (pistis/fides) was so important to early Christians that it dominated their earliest writings. It argues that the study of emerging Christian pistis/fides must be interdisciplinary, located in the social practices and mentalites of …