Overview
This study investigates why 'faith' (pistis/fides) was so important to early Christians that the concept and praxis dominated the writings of the New Testament. It argues that such a study must be interdisciplinary, locating emerging Christianities in the social practices and mentalites of contemporary Judaism and the early Roman empire. This can, therefore, equally be read as a study of the operation of pistis/fides in the world of the early Roman principate, taking one small but relatively well-attested cult as a case study in how micro-societies within that world could treat it distinctively. Drawing on recent work in sociology and economics, the book traces the varying shapes taken by pistis/fides in Greek and Roman human and divine-human relationships: whom or what is represented as easy or difficult to trust or believe in; where pistis/fides is 'deferred' and 'reified' in practices such as oaths and proofs; how pistis/fides is related to fear, doubt and scepticism; and which foundations of pistis/fides are treated as more or less secure. The book then traces the evolution of representations of human and divine-human pistis in the Septuagint, before turning to pistis/pisteuein in New Testament writings and their role in the development of early Christologies (incorporating a new interpretation of pistis Christou) and ecclesiologies. It argues for the integration of the study of pistis/pisteuein with that of New Testament ethics. It explores the interiority of Graeco-Roman and early Christian pistis/fides. Finally, it discusses eschatological pistis and the shape of the divine-human community in the eschatological kingdom.
Full Product Details
Author: Teresa Morgan (Professor of Graeco-Roman History, Nancy Bissell Turpin Fellow and Tutor in Ancient History, University of Oxford)
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Dimensions:
Width: 16.30cm
, Height: 4.10cm
, Length: 24.00cm
Weight: 1.102kg
ISBN: 9780198724148
ISBN 10: 0198724144
Pages: 640
Publication Date: 28 May 2015
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Tertiary & Higher Education
,
Professional & Vocational
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Manufactured on demand
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.
Reviews
[I]t is to be hoped that its conclusions cascade through the layers of modern Christianity to refresh more than just the thirst of professional scholars. Cally Hammond, Church Times What Teresa Morgan has done here is to offer a hard-won glimpse of the early Christian picture in its original colours Kate Cooper The Times Literary Supplement this is an excellent work. It is well written, thoroughly researched, cogently argued, and will no doubt be of great use, not only for scholars interested in pistis/fides, but also for those who desire a model of doing sociological research in antiquity. Sean A. Adams, Journal for the Study of the New Testament
What Teresa Morgan has done here is to offer a hard-won glimpse of the early Christian picture in its original colours Kate Cooper The Times Literary Supplement
Author Information
Teresa Morgan is Professor of Graeco-Roman History in the Faculty of Classics, Oxford University, and Nancy Bissell Turpin Fellow and Tutor in Ancient History at Oriel College. She is a historian of Graeco-Roman and early Christian culture and mentalite; previous books include Literate Education in the Hellenistic and Roman Worlds (1998), and Popular Morality in the Early Roman Empire (2007). She is a self-supporting priest in the Parish of Littlemore, Oxford.
