The Angel and the Sweat Like “Drops of Blood” (Lk 22:43–44): 69 and f13

2005 ◽  
Vol 98 (4) ◽  
pp. 419-440 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire Clivaz
Keyword(s):  
Early Christianity ◽  
Early Church ◽  
Critical Problem ◽  
Jesus Prayer ◽  
External Evidence ◽  
Complex Question

Eldon J. Epp recently asserted that “the greater the ambiguity in the variant readings in a given variation unit, the more clearly we are able to grasp the concerns of the early church.” I agree with this principle and submit that the famous text-critical problem regarding the authenticity of Luke 22:43–44—the agony of Jesus on the Mount of Olives, which mentions the angel and the sweat “like drops of blood”—has not yet yielded its store of information about early Christianity, particularly in Alex-andria. This article has the modest purpose of presenting two technical notes on the complex question of the external evidence (from the manuscripts) bearing on Luke 22:43–44. These findings provide some of the groundwork for a reappraisal of the Lukan account of Jesus' prayer on the Mount of Olives. This article has the modest purpose of presenting two technical notes on the complex question of the external evidence in the manuscripts bearing on Luke 22:43–44.

Book Review: Decoding Early Christianity: Truth and legend in the Early Church

Theology ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 112 (866) ◽  
pp. 136-137
Author(s):  
David Hutchinson Edgar
Keyword(s):  
Early Christianity ◽  
Early Church

scholarly journals An inquiry into socio-historical factors contributing to poverty within the Early Church in Palestine

2015 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederick Kakwata
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Early Christianity ◽  
Early Church ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Historical Factors ◽  
State Of Affairs ◽  
Causes Of Poverty

This article seeks to investigate the root causes of poverty in the early Christian community.The view that is put forward and argued in this article is that poverty was widespread in early Christianity with particular reference to the converted Jews in Palestine. This was the result of socio-historical factors, namely the Israelites’ contact with Canaanites during the conquest,and the implementation of the secular leadership paradigm derived from those paga n nations around Israel, which led to their subjugation under the oppressive and exploitative and economic structures of the Roman Empire. For that reason many believers, newly converted Jews, at that time were destitute and impoverished as they belonged to the lower classes in society. In spite of this state of affairs, the early Christians in Jerusalem seemed to have faced the challenges of poverty with a measure of success as can be attested by the statement ‘for there was no needy person amongst them …’ (Ac 4:34).’n Ondersoek na sosio-historiese faktore wat tot armoede binne die vroeë Christelikekerk in Palestina bygedra het. Die doel van hierdie artikel is om die grondoorsake van armoede in die vroeë Christelike gemeenskap te ondersoek met spesifieke verwysing na die bekeerde Jode in Palestina. Die standpunt wat in hierdie artikel gestel en beredeneer word, is dat armoede algemeen in die vroeë Christendom voorgekom het. Dit was as gevolg van verskeie sosio-historiese faktore, waaronder die Israeliete se kontak met die Kanaäniete ná die inname, asook die instelling van die sekulêre paradigma oor leierskap wat Israel aan die naburige heidennasies ontleen het en wat op hulle verknegting onder die Romeinse Ryk se onderdrukkende en uitbuitende strukture uitgeloop het. ’n Groot aantal gelowiges, bekeerde Jode, was in daardie tyd behoeftig en armoedig omdat hulle deel van die laer klasse in die samelewing was. Tog, ten spyte van hierdie omstandighede, het die vroeë Christene in Jerusalem klaarblyklik die uitdaging van armoede met ’n mate van sukses gehanteer, soos die stelling getuig: ‘Nie een van hulle het gebrek gely nie …’ (Hand 4:34).

scholarly journals Does John 17:11b, 21−23 refer to church unity?

2011 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gert J. Malan
Keyword(s):  
Early Christianity ◽  
Separate Entity ◽  
John The Baptist ◽  
Jesus Prayer ◽  
Church Unity ◽  
Johannine Community ◽  
The Church

In ecumenical circles, John 17:11b, 21–23 has been understood as Jesus’ prayer for church unity, be it confessional or structural. This article questioned such readings and conclusions from historical, literary and sosio-cultural viewpoints. The Fourth Gospel’s language is identified as ’antilanguage’ typical of an ’antisociety’, like that of the Hermetic, Mandean and Qumran sects. Such a society is a separate entity within society at large, but opposes it. Read as a text of an antisociety, John 17:11b, 21–23 legitimises the unity of the separatist Johannine community, which could have comprised several such communities. This community opposed the Judean religion, Gnosticism, the followers of John the Baptist and three major groups in early Christianity. As text from the canon, this Johannine text legitimates tolerance of diversity rather than the confessional or structural unity of the church.

Early Christianity and the Dead Sea Scrolls

1994 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 82-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. J. Geller
Keyword(s):  
Early Christianity ◽  
Dead Sea Scrolls ◽  
Dead Sea ◽  
Early Church ◽  
Legal Practice ◽  
Marriage Contracts ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Legal Innovation ◽  
The Dead ◽  
Sectarian Group

One of the fundamental innovations of the early Church was the abolition of an ancient, venerable institution—divorce, the practice of which was as widespread as marriage itself. The explicit ban on divorce found in the Gospels ran counter to legal systems of the known world, with one notable exception: among the sectarian group whose rules are enshrined in the Dead Sea Scrolls, a stance against divorce can be verified, implying that a legal innovation of early Christianity can be tracked back to its origins in Sectarian Judaism.By the time Christianity was emerging, marriage and divorce had already co-existed for a long time; in Mesopotamia marriage contracts had for two millennia been anticipating the possibility of divorce, with litigation governing the dissolution of marriage and division of properties. The best evidence, however, for the precursors to late Hellenistic (i.e. pagan, Jewish, and Christian) legal practice derives from a group of Neo-Babylonian marriage contracts dating from the seventh to third centuries B.C.

Onesimus A case study of slave conversion in early Christianity

1996 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 259-281 ◽  
Author(s):  
N.H. Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Religious Conversion ◽  
Early Christianity ◽  
Early Church ◽  
Religious Practices ◽  
Historical Reconstruction ◽  
Christian Church ◽  
Christian Community ◽  
The World

AbstractScholarly interest in Onesimus has tended to focus on the history behind the letter to Philemon, the nature of Paul's request to Philemon, and the degree to which Philemon acceded to it. This study seeks to address these and other questions against the background of slavery and the religious practices of domestic slaves in the world of early Christianity. The case af Onesimus can illuminate the place of slaves in the early Church, and thereby broaden our understanding of religious conversion in early Christianity. The historical reconstruction offered here is that Onesimus sought the mediation of Paul in his dispute with Philemon. Paul seeks Onesimus's restoration to Philemon's household, and to the Christian community which gathered there. In leaving Philemon's house Onesimus had abandoned also the Christian church to which he had previously belonged, and Paul sought his reinstatement to both household and church. The study concludes with an application of Snow and Machelek's typology of the religious convert to Onesimus, as reflected in Paul's ideology as given expression in Philemon.

The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Archaeology

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
State Of The Art ◽  
Early Christianity ◽  
Early Church ◽  
Regional Studies ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Christian Communities ◽  
Christian Churches ◽  
Archaeological Methods ◽  
Archaeological Method ◽  
Ancient Geography

The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Archaeology brings together significant work by leading scholars of the archaeology of early Christianity in the Mediterranean and surrounding regions. The thirty-four contributions to this volume ground the history, culture, and society of the first seven centuries of Christianity in archaeological method, theory, and research. Collectively the essays emphasize the link between fieldwork, archaeological methods, and regional and national traditions in constructing our knowledge of the early church, Christian communities, and the context of the ancient Mediterranean. An introductory essay provides historical and chronological perspectives on the archaeology of the early Christian world. This is followed by two chapters on the archaeology of the earliest Christ followers, and a series of topical treatments that focus on significant types of objects common to Christian contexts, such as ceramics, lamps, and icons,and monuments and contexts ranging from Christian churches to martyria, catacombs, and baths. Finally, the volume locates the archaeology of the early Christian world in a series of regional studies stretching from Britain to Persia. These regional studies situate the archaeology of early Christianity in historical contexts shaped by ancient geography and modern national archaeological traditions. The thorough, carefully researched, and fully referenced essays offer the most intensive, state-of-the-art treatment of recent research into the archaeology of early Christianity currently available.

scholarly journals Die Johannesevangelie as herinnerings - boek

1999 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
W. C. Vergeer ◽  
F. J. Van Rensburg
Keyword(s):  
Early Church ◽  
Oral Culture ◽  
External Evidence ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
History Of ◽  
Specific Position ◽  
John's Gospel ◽  
The One ◽  
And Function ◽  
Intended Use

John 21:24-25 reads: “He is the disciple who spoke these things, the one who also wrote them down; and we know that what he said is true. Now, there are many other things that Jesus did. If they were all written down one by one, I suppose the whole world could not hold the books that would be written”. This autobiographical statement is the starting point of the research presented in this article. It is argued that this (hyperbolic) statement suggests the intended use of John's Gospel within an oral culture. Through the analysis of internal and external evidence (including pointers in the history of the early church) the function of John’s Gospel in an oral culture is defined as “a book of remembrance”. A theory is developed about the specific position and function of John’s Gospel as a book of remembrance - specifically concerning the aspects of "reminding" and "witnessing”.

Back to the Future: The Fathers Refounded and the Recovery of Early Christianity

2020 ◽  
Vol 89 (2) ◽  
pp. 399-403
Author(s):  
Robin Darling Young
Keyword(s):  
Early Christianity ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
Church History ◽  
Early Church ◽  
Second Vatican Council ◽  
American Universities ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Vatican Council ◽  
Historical Investigation ◽  
Apostolic Succession

The Fathers Refounded, Elizabeth Clark's magnificent sequel to Founding the Fathers, describes in abundant detail how the overlapping disciplines of early church history and patristics became established in several American universities. It examines the work of three historians of early Christianity and their accomplishments and difficulties—and along the way it reminds its readers more than once that historical investigation poses a danger to the security of religious dogmatists. Take, for instance, the work of George LaPiana: As an Italian exile and historical scholar whose investigations of early Christian associations in Rome undermined the accustomed Roman Catholic story of apostolic succession and episcopal authority, his work could be ignored during his lifetime by the triumphalist representatives of seemingly unquestioned dogma. An example is the work of LaPiana's American contemporary, Monsignor Joseph (“Butch”) Fenton, writing only a few years before the Second Vatican Council would vindicate the historical approach when it endorsed patristic theology as an inspiration for aggiornamento, the “updating” of Catholic thought.

Holiness and Sanctity in the Early Church

2011 ◽  
Vol 47 ◽  
pp. 1-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Louth
Keyword(s):  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Early Christianity ◽  
Early Period ◽  
The Other ◽  
Early Church ◽  
Western Society ◽  
The World ◽  
And Function ◽  
Holy Man ◽  
The Way

In 1971 Peter Brown published his justly famous article, ‘The Rise and Function of the Holy Man in Late Antiquity’. It is no exaggeration to say that this article — and the host of articles and books that succeeded it — have transformed the way we think about saints and their cult in late antiquity. This change is part of a wider transformation of the study of the world of early Christianity, a change that has much to do with the changing, not to say declining, place of Christianity in Western society. The very words Peter Brown used in the title of his article are emblematic of this changed perspective: holy, man, late antiquity. Others have noted the change of words from what one might have expected, or from what one would have expected a few decades, even years, earlier. Averil Cameron spoke of Peter Brown ‘rightly avoiding the term “saint”, for in this early period there were no formal processes of sanctification, and no official bestowal of sainthood’. Put like that, it seems obvious why Brown talked about the ‘holy man’. I want to suggest that the nature of the change involved is much less easy to track down, and furthermore that awareness of the specific suggestions implicit in Brown’s choice of words will enable us to contemplate the world of late antiquity from the perspective Brown was largely inaugurating, while not losing the other perspectives that were implicit in the language and concepts laid aside.

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