Overview

In Jesus, Gnosis and Dogma Roukema investigates and assesses the various views of Jesus in early Christianity, basing his approach on a distinction between historical and theological statements about Jesus. Historical statements can be arrived at through a critical study of the earliest records, although Roukema recognizes that scholars differ widely here. Theological statements about Jesus are to do with what has been and is believed about him. Roukema demonstrates that Gnostic traditions about Jesus mostly derive from the earlier traditions preserved in the New Testament writings and do not give a more accurate view of the historical Jesus. He shows that the view of Jesus as the divine Lord (Yahweh) and Son of God is inspired by an early Jewish pattern that was exploited by the very first Christians. In spite of some later dogmatic precisions, there is more continuity between the New Testament picture of Jesus and the Nicene creed than between the historical Jesus and the Jesus of early Gnosticism. Even the essence of the Trinitarian dogma appears to have Jewish roots.

Full Product Details

Author:   Riemer Roukema ,  Saskia Deventer-Metz
Publisher:   Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Imprint:   T.& T.Clark Ltd
Dimensions:   Width: 15.60cm , Height: 1.80cm , Length: 23.40cm
Weight:   0.400kg
ISBN:  

9780567466426

ISBN 10:   0567466426
Pages:   256
Publication Date:   18 February 2010
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Undergraduate ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.
Language:   English

Table of Contents

1. Introduction Jesus as a source of inspiration Jesus considered historically and theologically Who is Jesus? Reactions by Peter, Matthew, and Thomas Plan of this book 2. Jesus' origin and identity Paul's epistles The Gospel of Mark The Gospel of Matthew The Gospel of Luke The Gospel of John Evaluation of the New Testament data The Gospel of Thomas Cerinthus and the Ophites The Gospel of Judas Theodotus The Tripartite Tractate Comparison between the New Testament and other writings 3. Jesus' teachings The Gospel of Mark The Gospel of Matthew The Gospel of Luke The Gospel of John Evaluation of the New Testament data The Gospel of Thomas The Gospel of Judas The Gospel of Mary The Tripartite Tractate Other teachings of Jesus after his death and resurrection Comparison between the New Testament and other writings 4. Jesus' death, resurrection, and exaltation Paul's epistles The Gospel of Mark The Gospel of Matthew The Gospel of Luke The Gospel of John Evaluation of the New Testament data The Gospel of Thomas Cerinthus and the Ophites The Gospel of Judas Theodotus The Tripartite Tractate A tradition about Simon of Cyrene Comparison between the New Testament and other writings 5. Preliminary conclusions and new questions Preliminary conclusions New questions 6. Jewish Christianity Patristic testimonies about Jewish Christians The Pseudo-Clementine writings An ancient Christian tradition? Conclusion 7. Did Jesus have secret teachings? Jesus' unwritten teachings in the ‘catholic' Church Private teachings in the synoptic Gospels Private teachings in the Gospel of John Still secret teachings? Conclusion 8. Does Jesus as LORD and Son of God fit in with early Judaism? The Old Testament Philo of Alexandria Other early Jewish writings Conclusion 9. Jesus and the Trinitarian dogma God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit in the New Testament The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit in Gnostic writings Some Church Fathers of the second century Adoptianism Modalism T ertullian of Carthage Origen of Alexandria Arius The council of Nicea Conclusion 10. Conclusions and evaluation Bibliography Indices: Bible, some other early Christian writings, names and themes

Reviews

'The author is very well acqainted with gnostic literature, and manages to present a complex matter in a comprehensible way and at the same time to make his point: orthodox Christianity has a solid historical basis, and the gnostic variant is secondary.' - Gie Vleugels, Evangelical Theological Faculty, Louvain, Belgium 'This book covers both the New Testament and early Church history. The author appears to be an expert in both disciplines. This implies that the reader can trust to be expertly introduced into ancient gnostic texts like the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Judas, the Gospel of Mary, Theodotus, Cerinthus, the Ophites and the Tripartite Tractate... I am convinced that this is a solid book for someone who wants to form a well founded opinion about Jesus.' - Huub van de Sandt, Faculty of Humanities, University of Tilburg, The Netherlands

Author Information

Riemer Roukema is Professor of New Testament at the Protestant Theological University, Kampen, The Netherlands.

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