Christian Identity in the Jewish and Graeco-Roman World
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Christian Identity in the Jewish and Graeco-Roman World
Author: Judith M. Lieu Retail Price: $129.95 Our Price: $89.99
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'I am a Christian': what did this confession by the early Christian martyrs mean? How was early Christian identity constructed? Using insights from contemporary discussions of how identity is formed, this innovative study explores how early 'Christian' literature creates a sense of what it is that defines 'a Christian'. Drawing attention to the centrality of texts in shaping early Christianity, it discovers both continuities and discontinuities with the ways in which Jewish and Craeco-Roman identities were also being constructed through their texts, and ask how we might move from those texts to the individuals and communities who preserved them. This book challenges traditional emphases on the development of institutions, whether structures or credal and ethical formulations, showing how they fail to recognize the rhetorical function of the texts, and assume too quickly that these reflect the actual practice and experience of individuals and communities. Confirming recent recognition of the diversity of early Christianity, this book goes on to explore whether it is possible to speak of a distinctive Christian identity both across the range of early texts and as a pressing historical and theological question in the contemporary world.
