Theology: Historical Theology: Historical Jesus

The story of Christian thought is essential to understanding Christian faith today and the last two millennia of world history. This fresh and lively introduction explores the central ideas, persons, events, and movements that gave rise to Christian thought, from early beginnings to its present forms. By highlighting the important but often neglected role of women and the influence of non-Christian ideas and movements, this book provides a broader context for understanding the history of Christian ideas and their role in shaping our world. This work chronicles the impressive developments of Christian thinking which arose from these contexts and have transcended the ages. Christian Thought: provides an overview of the context of Christianity's origin, including discussion of the influence of Hebrews, Greeks, and Romans in the ancient world and the founding figures of Jesus and Paul explores the major events and figures of the history of Christian thought, while drawing attention to significant voices which have often been suppressed analyses the impact on Christian thought of widely discussed events such as The Great Schism, the Scientific Revolution, and Modernism surveys contemporary trends such as fundamentalism, feminism, and postmodernism. Complete with illustrations, timelines and maps, this is an ideal resource for anyone wanting to learn more about the development of Christian thought and its influence over the centuries.

Was there a person by the name of Jesus who lived in Palestine in the first century A.D.? Do the gospels and the letters of the New Testament really attest to the actual existence of a Messiah, or were these documents written by clever propagandists for the faith rather than by objective historians? These and other intriguing questions are explored in Jesus in History and Myth, which emerged from a powerful symposium held in 1985 under the auspices of the Biblical Criticism Research Project of the Committee for the Scientific Examination of Religion (CSER). The Project team, incorporating the work of biblical scholars, historians, archaeologists, and experts in the cognate fields of religious studies, is designed to make available to a wider public the results of the very best biblical criticism and religious studies scholarship. At this critical time, when the study of religion as an academic discipline is threatened by the twin dangers of parochialism and trendiness, the need for a serious and dispassionate review of religious truth-claims, scriptural traditions, and supernatural value systems is greater than ever before. Jesus in History and Myth combines the works of a distinguished list of researchers: John M. Allegro, Robert S. Alley, John Dart, Antony Flew, David Noel Freedman, Tikva Frymer-Kensky, Robert M. Grant, Rowan A. Greer, Van A. Harvey, Randel Helms, John Hick, R. Joseph Hoffmann, Gerald A. Larue, George E. Mendenhall, Ellis Rivkin, Morton Smith, and G.A. Wells. Their views are daring, thought-provoking, and always on the cutting edge of critical investigation of the Bible and religion.