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The Dawn of Christianity
People and Gods in a Time of Magic and Miracles
Language:
English
Published/Copyright:
2017
About this book
Robert Knapp reveals why some ordinary people in Judea and in the Roman and Greek worlds embraced a new approach to the supernatural in their daily lives. In a time of prophets, miracles, and magic, Jesus convinced people to change their beliefs by showing his connection to god-like power and solidifying his credentials through the Resurrection.
Reviews
This is a sound synthesis of historical data that, in broad strokes, paints the picture of how the nascent Christian movement influenced many different peoples and laid the foundations for Christianity to thrive globally.
-- Publishers Weekly
-- Publishers Weekly
Following his highly acclaimed Invisible Romans, Robert Knapp returns to a topic that focuses once more on the lives of ordinary people in the Roman Empire. Based on extensive research using primary sources—inscriptions, papyri, and literary texts—The Dawn of Christianity makes vivid the relationship between humans and supernatural beings as experienced by polytheists and monotheists alike in the ancient Mediterranean world. Knapp offers a history that is often left murky by other modern authors who have written about the rise of the Jesus movement.
-- Susanna Elm, author of Sons of Hellenism, Fathers of the Church: Emperor Julian, Gregory of Nazianzus, and the Vision of Rome
-- Susanna Elm, author of Sons of Hellenism, Fathers of the Church: Emperor Julian, Gregory of Nazianzus, and the Vision of Rome
Knapp’s The Dawn of Christianity is easily the best account of the subject available that I have come across. Written by a superb historian in an accessible and lively style, it will attract general readers and specialists alike.
-- Ramsay MacMullen, author of Christianizing the Roman Empire: A.D. 100–400
-- Ramsay MacMullen, author of Christianizing the Roman Empire: A.D. 100–400
Knapp examines Christian sources to demonstrate the murky line between formal religious practice and the spiritual experience of ordinary people.
-- G. M. Smith Choice
-- G. M. Smith Choice
This work challenges long-held explanations that are based on the primacy of Christianity’s theological aspect. Without discounting its significance, however, Knapp offers a more nuanced interpretation of how the message of Christianity complemented the movement’s primary advantage: the ability to offer, by show of miraculous power, a credible and more effective path toward negotiating the supernatural contingencies of a challenging and uncertain world.
-- Agana-Nsiire Agana Religious Studies Review
-- Agana-Nsiire Agana Religious Studies Review
Topics
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Frontmatter
i -
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CONTENTS
v -
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MAPS
vii -
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PREFACE
xv -
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1. THE JOURNEY
1 -
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2. POLYTHEISTS, JEWS AND THE SUPERNATURAL
11 -
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3. ORDINARY JEWISH PEOPLE
26 -
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4. THE JUSTICE OF YAHWEH
41 -
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5. POLYTHEISTS IN THEIR WORLD
59 -
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6. PATHS TO CHANGE
88 -
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7. CHARISMATICS AND MESSIAHS
114 -
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8. CHRISTIANITY IN THE JEWISH AND POLYTHEISTIC WORLD
130 -
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9. HOSTILITY TO CHRISTIANITY
147 -
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10. CHRISTIANITY’S APPEAL: MAGICIANS, MIRACLES AND MARTYRS
178 -
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11. WHEN PROPHECY FAILS
208 -
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VALEDICTORY
236 -
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WHO’S WHO AND WHAT’S WHAT
238 -
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SOURCES
251 -
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FURTHER READING
257 -
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
264 -
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LIST OF FIGURES
265 -
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LIST OF PLATE ILLUSTRATIONS
267 -
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NOTES
270 -
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INDEX
289
Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
May 6, 2019
eBook ISBN:
9780674981591
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
Main content:
320
