The Religion of the Earliest Churches: Creating a Symbolic World

by Gerd Theißen

In these distinguished Oxford lectures, Theissen picks up where he left off in The Historical Jesus (1998). Employing the notion of religion as a "cultural sign language which promises a gain in life by corresponding to an ultimate reality," he plots the emergence of Christianity as a religion, with elements of myth, ritual, ethics, and an emergent symbolic system. He expands upon the historical, social, and theological analysis of his earlier works to cover such issues as the relationship of Jesus to the earliest churches, power, possessions, interpretations of Jesus' death, and the separation of the church and synagogue. Theissen's most complete and systematic treatment of early Christianity to date Traces the gradual emergence of the most important beliefs about Jesus Encompasses beliefs, ethics, ritual, and the origin of the New Testament canon in one synthesis

Genres: Theology

416 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1999

About the author

Gerd Theißen (or Theissen; born 24 April 1943) is a German Protestant theologian and New Testament scholar. He is Professor of New Testament Theology at the University of Heidelberg.