From Early Christianity to the Crisis of the Subject

From Early Christianity to the Crisis of the Subject
Author: Pal Dragos
Publisher: Wachstumstrend F.
Total Pages: 111
Release: 2009
Genre:
ISBN: 3837037541

Early Christianity required a particular type of Subject-formation of its believers. Church organizations' expectant stance in relation to their believers has essentially not shifted over time. Yet the reproduction of Subject-formation in our time is becoming more and more difficult, given that tendencies of hardening and dissolution are leading towards the decomposition of the Subject. This development must also be understood in the context of a massive decline in the number of churchgoers. The author argues that a critical theology and up-to-date religious studies must become conscious of the role of the Subject in the history of Christianity, if it is adequately to confront its current crisis. The latent dualisms in the classic model of Subject-formation - which can be traced back to the influence of the Jewish faith - should be overcome through a renewed emphasis on charity. The churches must rethink their role as the 'manager of sins' and reconsider their focus on the performance of punishment. The dialectical conciliation of Unity and Difference - in the sense of a Christian anthropology - is the goal of the coming Christian community. www.w-publishing.com

Christianity and the Crisis of Cultures

Christianity and the Crisis of Cultures
Author: Joseph Ratzinger
Publisher: Ignatius Press
Total Pages: 132
Release: 2009-09-03
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 168149096X

Foreword by Marcello Pera Written by Joseph Ratzinger shortly before he became Pope Benedict XVI, Christianity and the Crisis of Cultures looks at the growing conflict of cultures evident in the Western world. The West faces a deadly contradiction of its own making, he contends. Terrorism is on the rise. Technological advances of the West, employed by people who have cut themselves off from the moral wisdom of the past, threaten to abolish man (as C.S. Lewis put it)whether through genetic manipulation or physical annihilation. In short, the West is at war-with itself. Its scientific outlook has brought material progress. The Enlightenment's appeal to reason has achieved a measure of freedom. But contrary to what many people suppose, both of these accomplishments depend on Judeo-Christian foundations, including the moral worldview that created Western culture. More than anything else, argues Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI, the important contributions of the West are threatened today by an exaggerated scientific outlook and by moral relativism-what Benedict XVI calls "the dictatorship of relativism"-in the name of freedom. Christianity and the Crisis of Cultures is no mere tirade against the moral decline of the West. Razinger challenges the West to return to its roots by finding a place for God in modern culture. He argues that both Christian culture and the Enlightenment formed the West, and that both hold the keys to human life and freedom as well as to domination and destruction. Ratzinger challenges non-believer and believer alike. "Both parties," he writes, "must reflect on their own selves and be ready to accept correction." He challenges secularized, unbelieving people to open themselves to God as the ground of true rationality and freedom. He calls on believers to "make God credible in this world by means of the enlightened faith they live." Topics include: Reflections on the Cultures in Conflict Today The Significance and Limits of Today's Rationalistic Culture The Permanent Significance of the Christian Faith Why We Must Not Give Up the Fight The Law of the Jungle, the Rule of Law We Must Use Our Eyes! Faith and Everyday Life Can Agnosticism Be a Solution? The Natural Knowledge of God "Supernatural" Faith and Its Origins

Assembling Early Christianity

Assembling Early Christianity
Author: Cavan W. Concannon
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 279
Release: 2017-09-07
Genre: History
ISBN: 1107194296

The story of a forgotten early Christian bishop and his emergent network of churches along ancient Mediterranean trade routes.

A Time of Sifting

A Time of Sifting
Author: Paul Peucker
Publisher: Penn State Press
Total Pages: 258
Release: 2015-06-19
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0271070714

At the end of the 1740s, the Moravians, a young and rapidly expanding radical-Pietist movement, experienced a crisis soon labeled the Sifting Time. As Moravian leaders attempted to lead the church away from the abuses of the crisis, they also tried to erase the memory of this controversial and embarrassing period. Archival records were systematically destroyed, and official histories of the church only dealt with this period in general terms. It is not surprising that the Sifting Time became both a taboo and an enigma in Moravian historiography. In A Time of Sifting, Paul Peucker provides the first book-length, in-depth look at the Sifting Time and argues that it did not consist of an extreme form of blood-and-wounds devotion, as is often assumed. Rather, the Sifting Time occurred when Moravians began to believe that the union with Christ could be experienced not only during marital intercourse but during extramarital sex as well. Peucker shows how these events were the logical consequence of Moravian teachings from previous years. As the nature of the crisis became evident, church leaders urged the members to revert to their earlier devotion of the blood and wounds of Christ. By returning to this earlier phase, the Moravians lost their dynamic character and became more conservative. It was at this moment that the radical-Pietist Moravians of the first half of the eighteenth century reinvented themselves as a noncontroversial evangelical denomination.

Christianity in Crisis

Christianity in Crisis
Author: Hank Hanegraaff
Publisher: HarperChristian + ORM
Total Pages: 449
Release: 2012-06-18
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1418576077

Nearly two decades ago Hank Hanegraaff’s award-winning Christianity in Crisis alerted the world to the dangers of a cultic movement within Christianity that threatened to undermine the very foundation of biblical faith. But in the 21st century, there are new dangers—new teachers who threaten to do more damage than the last. These are not obscure teachers that Hanegraaff unmasks. We know their names. We have seen their faces, sat in their churches, and heard them shamelessly preach and promote the false pretexts of a give-to-get gospel. They are virtual rock stars who command the attention of presidential candidates and media moguls. Through make-believe miracles, urban legends, counterfeit Christs, and twisted theological reasoning, they peddle an occult brand of metaphysics that continues to shipwreck the faith of millions around the globe: “God cannot do anything in this earthly realm unless we give Him permission.” “Keep saying it—‘I have equality with God’—talk yourself into it.” “Being poor is a sin.” “The Jews were not rejecting Jesus as Messiah; it was Jesus who was refusing to be the Messiah to the Jews!” “You create your own world the same way God creates His. He speaks, and things happen; you speak, and they happen.” Christianity in Crisis: 21st Century exposes darkness to light, pointing us back to a Christianity centered in Christ. From the Preface: “Having lost the ability to think biblically, postmodern Christians are being transformed from cultural change agents and initiators into cultural conformists and imitators. Pop culture beckons, and postmodern Christians have taken the bait. As a result, the biblical model of faith has given way to an increasingly bizarre array of fads and formulas.”

Critical Theory and Early Christianity

Critical Theory and Early Christianity
Author: Matthew G. Whitlock
Publisher: Studies in Ancient Religion and Culture
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2022
Genre: Christian literature, Early
ISBN: 9781781794135

Applies social theory to the study of early christian texts

Peter Sloterdijk's Religious Feints from the Viewpoint of Early Christianity

Peter Sloterdijk's Religious Feints from the Viewpoint of Early Christianity
Author: Pavel Vitalis
Publisher: Wachstumstrend F.
Total Pages: 62
Release: 2010
Genre:
ISBN: 3839128668

A contemporary critical theology has a double task: On one hand it should try to formulate the experience of faith in an appropriate language; on the other hand it must deal with the ideological misunderstandings of other disciplines concerning questions of faith. Pavel Vitalis takes up the challenge of mastering this double task. He uses Early Christianity as a source, which the West is gradually loosing. He makes the attempt at dealing with an essay written by the well-known television philosopher Peter Sloterdijk about the monotheistic religions. His central thesis is that Sloterdijk's unsuccessful and false assertions lead to a defamation of the Christian religion and seem like an intellectual caricature. Vitalis reasons that this is caused by the increasing intellectualism of the West. In addition to this argument, the book also offers an insight into the intellectual repertory of Early Christianity in an understandable language. www.w-publishing.com

In Search of Ancient Roots

In Search of Ancient Roots
Author: Kenneth J. Stewart
Publisher: Inter-Varsity Press
Total Pages: 325
Release: 2017-11-16
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1783596082

Some evangelical churches appear to be uninterested in their historical roots, and so can be liturgically and doctrinally unstable. Perceiving this disconnection between their Protestant faith and ancient Christianity, a number of evangelicals have abandoned Protestantism for traditions that seem to be clearly rooted in the early church. Ken Stewart argues that the evangelical tradition’s track record of interaction with Christian antiquity is far healthier than is often assumed. He surveys five centuries of Protestant engagement with the ancient church, showing that Christians belonging to the evangelical churches of the Reformation consistently see their faith as connected to early Christianity. Stewart explores areas of positive engagement, including the Lord’s Supper and biblical interpretation, as well as areas that raise concerns, such as monasticism. In Search of Ancient Roots shows that Christian antiquity is the heritage of all orthodox Christians, and that evangelicals have the resources in their history to claim their place at the ecumenical table. ‘A must-read for every person struggling with the question, “What does evangelicalism have to do with history?”’ Leonardo De Chirico, Director of Reformanda Initiative