Commentary on Morgan-Miller's “An Exploratory Study of Different Types of Violence Presented in Early Christian and Islamic Historical Documents”

2002 ◽  
Vol 91 (2) ◽  
pp. 571-574 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walter R. Schumm

Oversights are observed in Morgan-Miller's previous 2002 report on themes of violence in the New Testament and the Qur'an. While both the New Testament and the Qur'an seem to suggest some type of moral transformation in the life of Jesus, it is not clear to what extent such a transformation remains normative in the lives of ordinary believers or even continues to be expected. However, Jesus seemed to expect that his followers would forsake violence against their enemies, a lesson that seems in short supply throughout the contemporary world.

2002 ◽  
Vol 91 (2) ◽  
pp. 520-524 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. W. Morgan-Miller

Source documents for Islam and Christianity were analyzed for violent themes. The two religions both condemned criminal violence, and neither supported random violence. Nonviolence was more common in the Christian sources while active violence was much more common in the Islamic documents. Although violence themes are a very small proportion of the content of the documents of either religion, those who seek to justify active violence against perceived enemies may find more support for their actions in early Islamic sources than in early Christian sources. Results are interpreted from a perspective of symbolic interaction.


2015 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 349-376
Author(s):  
Mike Duncan

Current histories of rhetoric neglect the early Christian period (ca. 30–430 CE) in several crucial ways–Augustine is overemphasized and made to serve as a summary of Christian thought rather than an endpoint, the texts of church fathers before 300 CE are neglected or lumped together, and the texts of the New Testament are left unexamined. An alternative outline of early Christian rhetoric is offered, explored through the angles of political self-invention, doctrinal ghostwriting, apologetics, and fractured sermonization. Early Christianity was not a monolithic religion that eventually made peace with classical rhetoric, but as a rhetorical force in its own right, and comprised of more factions early on than just the apostolic church.


Numen ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 56 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 282-297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dimitris Kyrtatas

The paper re-examines the evidence concerning the early Christian conceptions of punishment of sinners in the afterlife. It commences with the New Testament and the ideas attributed to Jesus and moves on to the apocryphal Apocalypse of Peter , composed about a generation later, which enjoyed great popularity among several early Christian circles and was seriously considered for inclusion in the New Testament canon. It is claimed that as it now reads, Apoc. Pet. advances ideas about hell that sharply contrast those presented in the New Testament. To solve this riddle, it is proposed that the Apoc. Pet. , as it has been preserved, was reorganized at a much later stage to meet the needs of the developing Church. Its original meaning was consequently twisted almost beyond recognition. In its earliest layers, the apocryphal document appears to have been mostly concerned, just like the New Testament, with salvation rather than everlasting chastisement.


2015 ◽  
Vol 57 (3) ◽  
pp. 227-250
Author(s):  
Bärbel Bosenius

During the last 40 years New Testament scholarship did not apply the term “apostolic letter” consistently. All early Christian letters and only the New Testament or Pauline respectively Deutero-Pauline letters were called “apostolic letters” by New Testament scholars. Since the term from the sources ἀπόστολος in the undisputed Pauline letters refers to Paul’s function as founder of early Christian communities but not to his function as their leader, New Testament scholars should avoid the misleading term “apostolic letter.” Within the corpus of New Testament letters one should rather differentiate between “kerygmatic letters,” “pseudepigraphic Pauline letters” and “early Christian Diaspora letters.”


2016 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-124
Author(s):  
Jonathan Cahana

The recently discoveredGospel of Judashas created much controversy among scholars. While it is clear that Judas is liable for Jesus' crucifixion in this text, it is much debated whether his actions should be understood positively or negatively. This article suggests that focusing on how theGospel of Judasevaluates the salvific meaning of Jesus' crucifixion alongside the New Testament gospels and other early Christian writings may provide a key for solving this problem. In this way, theGospel of Judascan be seen as a rare attempt to unravel what Irenaeus aptly termed ‘the mystery of the betrayal’.


Zograf ◽  
2017 ◽  
pp. 1-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma Maayan-Fanar

The Transfiguration constitutes one of the most important events in the New Testament. Yet, only few pre-iconoclastic examples of the Transfiguration scene have survived: S. Apollinaire in Classe, Ravenna, St. Catherine Monastery, Sinai and Porec in Istria, each has its unique iconography. Therefore, scholars have concluded that the Transfiguration scene became widespread only after the iconoclastic controversy. We aim to show, that Transfiguration scene in Shivta, an early Byzantine settlement in the Negev desert, allows a glimpse into the early Christian iconography of the well-known scene, providing a missing link to its development in the post-iconoclastic period.


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