Confining himself to a Western framework prevents Pelikan from delivering any genuinely worthwhile analysis of the role of Jesus through the centuries. Instead, the book Jesus Through the Centuries becomes merely informative. In many ways the book tells readers what they already know but fills in some of the details. A scholastic work that is well-documented, Pelikan's work earns an encyclopedic role. Jesus through the Centuries is a scholastic work with well-documented source material. It will not, however, change a reader's perspective or point-of-view because it is not an effective critique on the meaning behind Jesus' role through the centuries. The subtitle of Jesus through the Centuries summarizes Pelikan's purpose: to explore Jesus' "place in the history of culture." Organized chronologically from the New Testament...
For example, the author emphasizes the political and economic impact of Jesus through the centuries while in others he more squarely examines the way Christian mysticism has influenced Western culture and history. Pelikan also addresses Western social norms and ideals that have been influenced by Jesus and Christianity. Although he does not offer pointed social criticism or a critique of Christianity, the author does invite readers to use his book as a starting point or as a reference for such an undertaking.
Jesus Gerd Theissen and Annette Merz bridge a gap between trade book and scholarly discourse with their 642-page tome The Historical Jesus: A Comprehensive Guide. This joint effort by Theissen and Merz explores the subject matter of the historical Jesus in light of primary sources, especially relying on the Gospels, both canonical and apocryphal. The book is divided into four main sections, in addition to a meaty Introduction, a "Retrospect"
Christian Worship The History and Development of Contemporary Worship Biblical Foundations of Christian Worship The New Testament is, in many ways, the ultimate expression of Christian worship because the Gospels detail the life and teachings of Jesus Christ within the context and community of individuals who believed in Christ even in the midst of persecution. However, to understand the biblical foundations of Christian worship, it is important to first examine the Old Testament.
However, certain elements of traditional Christian theology are centered on Mary, and the degree of emphasis that those elements receive can be very telling about Mary's actual role in the religion. For example, the connection between female chastity and religious observance seems to have been established by God's choice of a Virgin to carry his son. God did not have to choose a virgin to bear his child, but
The popularization of the idea, though was somewhat linguistic in that when speaking of God and the Holy Spirit, different words were used that could mean "person," "nature," "essence," or "substance," -- words that were part of a longer, and far older tradition, but not adopted by the new Church . Later, to echo this interpretation, the French Dominican Yves Conger, wrote that the Spirit of God was equal to
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