Primitive Christianity Research Articles

REVIEWS

Journal Article REVIEWS Get access The Primitive Christian Calendar: a study in the making of the Marcan Gospel. By PHILIP CARRINGTON, Archbishop of Quebec. Vol. I, Introduction and Text. Cambridge University Press, 1952. 305. T. W. MANSON T. W. MANSON Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Journal of Theological Studies, Volume IV, Issue 1, April 1953, Pages 77–80, https://doi.org/10.1093/jts/IV.1.77 Published: 01 April 1953

The Eschatology of Tertullian

One of the most important results of the New Testament study that has gone on during the past generation is its realization that the theology of the New Testament is unintelligible outside the context of its eschatological message. The precise meaning of that message is still the subject of much investigation and controversy, but its importance has become a matter of general agreement among New Testament students. Much less general is the realization of the implications of this insight for other areas of theological concern. Rudolf Bultmann's recent essay on mythology and the New Testament has served to raise again the question of the relevance of New Testament eschatology for systematic theology. That question has far-reaching implications for the study of the history of theology as well, implications with which historical theology has not yet come to terms. The relation between primitive Christian eschatology and the development of ancient Christian theology is a problem deserving of more study than the standard interpretations of the history of dogma have given it, for it can help iiluminate the origins of such dogmas as the Trinity and ancient Christology. Among the historians of dogma, only Martin Werner has taken up the problem in great detail, and his discussion of it has not yet issued in any new historico-theological synthesis.

Christ and Time: The Primitive Christian Conception of Time and History.

Christ and Time: The Primitive Christian Conception of Time and History.

Saint Stephen and the Jerusalem Temple

It has often been noted that St. Stephen stands, at first sight, as an isolated figure in the history of the early Church. His theological thought, as expressed in his speech (Acts vii), is very personal and, if compared with other forms of primitive Christian thought, almost completely aberrant. Its main characteristic is a strongly antiritualistic trend, and a fierce hostility towards the Temple, which he obviously considers almost as a place of idolatry. The building up of the Temple by Solomon seems in his eyes to stand on the same plane as the making of the Golden Calf. It is the last of those many and grievous sins and apostasies which mark the whole course of Israelite history. He thus clearly demonstrates that the accusations produced against him by so-called ‘false witnesses’, and which motivated his trial, were perfectly well founded: lie had indeed spoken ‘blasphemous words against this holy place’ and, ipso facto, against at least part of the Law.

Christ and Time: The Primitive Christian Conception of Time and History

Book Review| March 01 1951 Christ and Time: The Primitive Christian Conception of Time and History Christ and Time: The Primitive Christian Conception of Time and History, Oscar Cullmann and Floyd V. Filson. Paul S. Minear Paul S. Minear Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Journal of Biblical Literature (1951) 70 (1): 51–53. https://doi.org/10.2307/3262044 Cite Icon Cite Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Permissions Search Site Citation Paul S. Minear; Christ and Time: The Primitive Christian Conception of Time and History. Journal of Biblical Literature 1 March 1951; 70 (1): 51–53. doi: https://doi.org/10.2307/3262044 Download citation file: Zotero Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All Scholarly Publishing CollectiveSBL PressJournal of Biblical Literature Search Advanced Search The text of this article is only available as a PDF. Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

Primitive Christianity

Primitive Christianity

New Testament Theology in the Last Decade

HE last decade has witnessed important publications and vigorous discussion in the field of biblical theology. Interest in this subject had never disappeared, but for nearly fifty years there had been spirited opposition to the claim that biblical theology is the capstone of biblical study. The two works that crystallized this opposition in the New Testament field were H. J. Holtzmann's Lehrbuch der Neutestamentlichen Theologie,' which set the standard of severely scientific attitude, and W. Wrede's incisive monograph, Ueber Aufgabe und Methode der sogennanten Neutestamentlichen Theologie,2 which denied that the field of study was to be called theology or limited to the New Testament. H. Weinel's Biblische Theologie des Neuen Testaments3 carried forward Wrede's contention that New Testament theology must give way to the history of the religion and working convictions of primitive Christianity. An American classic in this field, E. W. Parsons' volume on The Religion of the New Testament,4 continued the aversion to the word, theology. However, Parsons' work, marred by a glaring failure to discuss Ephesians at all, falls short of Wrede's program. It discusses, with liberal presuppositions, the religion reflected in the New Testament documents; Wrede had contended that the focus should be not on documents but on the faith and convictions of the worshiping and working Church. Yet forces were at work in the thirties that were to lead to a new interest in New Testament theology as part of the total field of biblical theology: 1. Many students found much truth in Karl Barth's insistence, in the preface of the second edition of his commentary, Der Rimerbrief, that the critical scholarship of recent decades had not done full justice to the religious content and significance of the biblical documents. 2. Form Criticism taught students to see that the worshipping, growing, missionary church was the living stream in which the individual documents must be placed. 3. C. H. Dodd, in one of the most important books of the past generation, The Apostolic Preaching and Its Developments, demonstrated that there is a common message, a common conviction, concerning the Christ-centered working of God in history; and he made it clear that this common conviction appears in Acts, in the Gospels, and in the Epistles. 4. Dodd and many others also pointed out that history inevitably involves an element of interpretation. Such scholars began to make clear the serious limitations if not distortions that result from a historical method that im-

The Family of Jesus (Yehsu Chia-t'ing)

Information concerning the small christian sects and independent churches in China is very scant. a contribution to our knowledge of one of these groups is most welcome, especially when that group is one which practices communal life based upon the example of the primitive christian community in Jerusalem. It will be very important to observe the fate of a christian communist group under a Marxian communistic regime. It is reported that S. P. Wang has published a book on the group in China, but a copy is not available in the united states. The Rev. Theodore F. Romig is a missionary of wide experience in China and the son of missionary experience. He is professor-elect of Missions at the Mccormick Theological seminary, Chicago, but during the present year is on loan by the Board of Foreign Missions of the presbyterian church in the U.S.A. to the international Missionary council and the Research committee of the Foreign Missions Conference of North America for executive service in the Study of the Missionary Obligation of the Church.–Editor.

Christ and Time: The Primitive Christian Conception of Time and History. Oscar Cullmann , Floyd V. Filson

Previous articleNext article No AccessCritical ReviewsChrist and Time: The Primitive Christian Conception of Time and History. Oscar Cullmann , Floyd V. Filson Amos N. WilderAmos N. Wilder Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The Journal of Religion Volume 30, Number 4Oct., 1950 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/484030 Views: 56Total views on this site PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Problemas do Catolicismo Contemporâneo by Mesquita Pimentel (review)

322BOOK REVIEWS different Christian and other Communities in the various Shrines and having ascertained the facts, let justice be done. Then this new "Status Quo"- can be enforced and the Holy Places which witnessed the earthly sojourn of the Prince of Peace amongst us will be once more the abodes of fraternal peace and charity among those who reverence His sacred memory. KEVIN O'SULLIVAN, O.F.M. Christ the King Seminary, St. Bonaventure, N. Y. Problemas do Catolicismo Contemporáneo. By Mesquita Pimentel. Rio de Janeiro: Editora Vozes, 1948. Pp. 333. This volume unites several essays published by the author since 1943 in the periodical Vozes de Petropolis. Animated by the fervent desire to see the basic tenets of the Faith untouched and fully recognized, as well as made the principles of attitude and action, Mr. Pimentel sometimes becomes rather agressive and, perhaps, even a little unjust, his emphasis on charity notwithstanding. It is, of course, everyone's right to judge accordingto his lights, and his duty to speak according to his conscience; but it would seem that before condemning altogether men who, after all, have been admired by people not less anxious to preserve the true spirit of Catholicism, some consideration might be given for the reasons why these others failed to see all the dangerous errors the author discovers in the "four evangelists of a new Christianity" who are false prophets: Maritain, Bloy, Peguy, and Bernanos. His standpoint had been attacked, and in one article he answers his critic. The titles: The Catholic in today 's world, Confusionism, Collaborating with evil (already reporting in a not wholly unfavorable manner on books not strictly Catholic is such a collaboration), Catholic mentality, Literature and Catholicism, False prophets, The centennary of L. Bloy, The four evangelists, Catholicism and politics, Catholic conformism (highly critical of the ideas, e.g. of W. Parsons), Morals and art, Ethics and Aesthetics, Union in truth and charity. These essays are interesting, more perhaps as the testimony of a sincere if rather extremistic mind, than because of their philosophical content. To judge the attitude of the author one would have to take BOOK REVIEWS323 account of the particular situation in Brazil and the repercussions the "false prophets" may have caused there. It may be that Mr. Pimentel views his problems too much from the angle of local events. RUDOLF ALLERS Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. The Didache, The Epistle of Barnabas, The Epistles and the Martyrdom of St. Polycarp, The Fragments of Papias, The Epistle to Diognetus. Translated and Annotated by Rev. James A. Kleist, S.J. No. 6 of Ancient Christian Writers. Westminister, Md.: Newman Bookshop, 1948. Pp. 235. $2.75. Father James Kleist makes another valuable contribution to the study of the Ancient Christian Writers in this the sixth number of the series. This volume should prove as popular as his first (The Epistles of St. Clement of Rome and St. Ignatius of Antioch). Here we have some of the most ancient Christian documents bearing witness to the life and discipline of the Church in the first and second centuries. The first work,. TAe Didache or The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, according to its longer title, is usually considered as the oldest Christian non-canonical piece of literature. The original author is unknown. The date of its composition is placed towards the end of the first century. This work is valued so highly because it gives us a glimpse of the primitive Christian community. It sketches the primitive instruction for converts, offers a brief description of the liturgy of the time, outlines the early Church organization together with some disciplinary regulations, and concludes with a final instruction on the Parousia. The Didache has been described by various authors as the oldest ritual-ordo of Christianity . Perhaps it would be more exact to describe it as a summary of moral, individual and social obligations of the early Christians. It could have served as a "Vade Mecum" for the faithful and as an ordo for the Church officials. The Epistle of Barnabas is a letter of instructions intended for recent converts from paganism. The purpose of the instructions was to shield the neo-converts from...

Primitive Christian Preaching and the Epistle to the Hebrews

Primitive Christian Preaching and the Epistle to the Hebrews

Eastern and Western Liturgies: The Primitive Basis of Their Later Differences

The Differences between the developed liturgies of East and West appear at first sight to be matters of purely ecclesiological interest, but more closely examined they are found to shed light on primitive Christian practice and on the growth of the text of the New Testament.

Reviews of Book: Some Hellenistic Elements in Primitive Christianity

Reviews of Book: Some Hellenistic Elements in Primitive Christianity

Some Hellenistic Elements in Primitive Christianity. Wilfred L. Knox

Previous articleNext article No AccessBook ReviewsSome Hellenistic Elements in Primitive Christianity. Wilfred L. Knox Arthur Darby NockArthur Darby Nock Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Classical Philology Volume 43, Number 2Apr., 1948 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/363092 Views: 3Total views on this site PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Man and Superman, A Step in Shavian Disillusionment

cOCIALISM is of course the underlying subject of all of Shaw's d plays, and since it early proved a very unpopular subject, he abandoned it as an explicit theme after Mrs. Warren's Profession and did not return to it until Man and Superman. But whereas Aidrs. Warren is a savage indictment of capitalism, Man and Superman is a complex satire of socialism itself. Obviously, these two plays mark successive stages in a process of disillusionment. The tides of hope and despair are not easily traced in a thinker so little inclined to consistency or frankness with himself. Shaw seldom admits a disappointment-perhaps not even to himself-without being ready to proclaim a new hope. Consequently, the same drama may contain in a sense both pessimism and optimism, revealing the new faith with the ghost of the old faith in its arms. Or again, Shaw may simply hold an unsatisfactory doctrine in abeyance-and take up a new set of problems. The outward causes of his disillusionment are political events. The inward cause is what might be called his millennial temperament. Like the primitive Christians, he looked for a miraculous deliverance within his own lifetime, and this expectation was greatly intensified by his having come to political manhood in the ardent eighties. But like his Victorian predecessors, Shaw was also a practical reformer, with a keen sense of outward reality. Consequently, he was trapped between his vision and the facts. As he grew older, he hoped more and more desperately for less and less. He invented more and more ingenious reasons for optimism, more and more violent cures for a chronic ailment. The first stage of his disillusionment appears in Mrs. Warren (1894), which is bitter satire followed by a change of subject. The second stage appears in Man and Superman (1903), which-somewhat inconsistently-exposes the futilities of parlor Fabianism, suggests the possibilities of working-

Les Cheveux Défaits Des Femmes Baptisées

The Hippolyte manual containing a lot of detailed information, it is of great value for the examination of the development of the liturgy of the early Christians. This value consists of the abundance of facts of Christian antiquity is increased by the fact that he comes from Rome. Given the importance of this apostolic tradition as well as imperfect knowledge of the nature and development of Christian life in the first centuries, the need arises for a careful examination of the data from this ecclesiastical order. In her introduction to the rite of baptism Hippolyte mentions the order in which the new members of the church to be baptized. After removing their clothes, it's the first round of small children, then adult men and eventually women. The author ends the chapter by discussion of a passage in the primitive Christian literature, which refers to women, who have the flowing hair.Keywords: Hippolyte; baptism; women; hair; Christian literature; Christian antiquity

Book Review: Some Hellenistic Elements in Primitive Christianity

Book Review: Some Hellenistic Elements in Primitive Christianity

Some Hellenistic Elements in Primitive Christianity. Wilfred L. Knox

<i>Some Hellenistic Elements in Primitive Christianity</i>. Wilfred L. Knox

The Condition of Man by Lewis Mumford

BOOK REVIEW The Condition of Man. By LEWIS MuMFORD. New York: Harcourt, Brace & Co., 1944. Pp. 467. $5.00. The experience of reading The Condition of Man is comparable to several days of conversation with an intriguing and forceful personality, one who startles by his epigrams and insights, one who ofttimes provokes by· his personalizations and generalizations, yet one withal whose underlying conviction is caught and shared because, and sometimes in spite of, the evidence that is presented. In this work, Lewis Mumford, Professor of Humanities at Stanford University, has sketched for himself a huge task: "to deal at length with the tangled elements of Western man's spiritual history. . . . The time has come for a new drama to be conceived and enacted. Each of us has his part to play in that renewal. And first of all, we must understand the formative forces that are still at work in our civilization: by such fuller and deeper knowledge of our own living past, we will refashion the actors themselves and give them new parts to perform. . . . We must recapture once more our sense of what it is to be a man ... " (p. 14) ." The Condition ofMan is the third volume in the series that opened with Technics and Civilization, a history of the machine and a critical study of its effects upon civilization; the second volume, The Culture of Cities, is a penetrating analysis of the new role of cities and regions in our modern civilization. In order of importance, the author ranks this volume first, since it deals with the purposes and ends of human development. Because it treats of human purposes and ends in an age when finality in human affairs is either denied or seriously controverted, the book is bound to arouse comment along the whole critical continuum from lusty condemnation to enthusiastic approbation. Approaching history as " a reservoir of human creativeness," the author opens his study with the Greek and Roman civilizations, for if we would understand our present selves, " we must understand the central core which formed the primitive Christian " (p. 17) . While the Greeks sought to achieve an organic society, they failed because they did not in their parochialism embrace all humanity, a failure to be concerned with the whole life of man and with every member of human society. Rome, seeking a greater universality failed because it lacked the inner logic to fulfill the powers of ubiquitous Roman law, Roman administration, Roman sani544 ~OOK REVIEW 545 tation, Roman engineering; " as life became mechanically disciplined it became spiritually incoherent " (p. 39) . In Chapter II on " The Primacy of the Person,'; Mr. Mumford introduces Jesus of Nazareth with the assumption that "much of his actual doctrine, perhaps part of the kernel, was misunderstood or rejected by his more simple-minded recorders" (p. 5~). The interest of Jesus was in "the redemption of man's very humanity, in the perpetual renewal andrededication of the living to the task of self-development: he sought to bring the inner and the outer aspects of the personality into organic balance by throwing off compulsions, constraints, automatisms " (p. 54) . Looking at Christ as the mystic llJld the psychologist, and mayhaps the psychoanalyst, the author considers him as one of the great prophets of emergent evolution, contributing to the gradual building up of personality and its extension in theory to every member of the community. "What was lacking in his creed was what was lacking ·in his native environment, the back countries, far from the big cities with their art' and learning " {p. 60). Mumford likens the Christian Church to the tomb in which Christ was interred. Doctrinal Christianity, from Paul to Augustine, was " essentially the product of an informal revolutionary committee of correspondence " (p. 65) , gathering, in the unverified opinion of the author, many things besides the sayings and deeds of Jesus, thus to build up what is known as Christian theology. Taking the Church as an example, Mr. Mumford describes the transition from personality to community which is essential to his main thesis. To him, only at the moment of formulation is an idea its very self; to survive, the idea must adapt itself to an impure medium, the mediun...

Liturgy-Making Factors in Primitive Christianity

Previous articleNext article No AccessLiturgy-Making Factors in Primitive ChristianityAllen CabanissAllen Cabaniss Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The Journal of Religion Volume 23, Number 1Jan., 1943 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/482961 Views: 8Total views on this site PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.