A Sociological investigation into the life of the early Church by one of the twentieth-century's leading Biblical Scholars.

The First Followers of Jesus: A Sociological Analysis of the Earliest Christianity

Politics & Social Sciences

Theißen, Gerd

Sociology

Hymns Ancient & Modern Ltd

This book,' Dr Theissen remarks, 'means more to me than any other of my writings. The ideas in it go back to my student days, and my dissatisfaction then over the attitude of so many theologians. I kept on asking myself, how they could go on working, day after day, when they could not even give a convincing answer to the insinuation that God is an illusion. I resolved either to find an answer of my own or to give up theology altogether.' This is his answer. In a short and clearly reasoned study he considers the arguments most commonly produced against Christian belief from the outside, and explores how they can be answered. First he looks at the charge that Christianity is an ideology born out of social conflict and distorted personalities. Then he counters the criticism that religious belief has no grounding in everyday experience and reality. Finally, he argues against the view that the historical approach makes everything relative. There are good reasons, he concludes, for being a Christian. But this does not mean that Christianity can be defended in its traditional form. It will have to change if it is not going to lose all credibility in the modern world.

On Having a Critical Faith

Religion & Spirituality

Christian Books & Bibles

SCM Press

This book amply confirms that Gerd Theissen is the most exciting of contemporary German theologians, and could well prove to be for the 1980s what Teilhard de Chardin's The Phenomenon of Man was for the 1960s. All too often, Professor Theissen argues, scientific criticisms of Christianity, whether literary, social or psychological, stop short before reaching the heart of their investigations, suggesting that the central theological statements of the Christian faith can be made independently of their findings. But what happens if we press the questioning as far as it will go, refusing to leave any privileged ground for religion? As a framework for his critique Professor Theissen uses the theory of evolution, though well aware of its negative connotations. He is not so naive as to associate evolution with naive optimism about progress; progress has brought humanity to the point where it may well destroy the world. Nor does he ignore the difference between biological evolution and human history; the distinction between biological evolution and cultural evolution is crucial to his argument. The result of the investigation surprised even the author. When we refuse to stop short at the innermost sanctuaries of the tradition with modern scientific questioning, the tradition shows up in quite a new, yet still plausible light. And our understanding becomes all the richer. Not only those interested in the relationship between religion and science, but anyone with the slightest curiosity about religious questions, will be fascinated by this book.

Biblical Faith: An Evolutionary Approach

As those who have read his The Shadow of the Galilean and Biblical Faith are aware, Gerd Theissen is not someone whose main concern is the theory and practice of preaching. However, he himself is a fascinating preacher, as was evident in his imaginative collection The Open Door, which Frances Young in Theology described as 'nothing less than gripping'. In this book he engages as it were in self-analysis, an analysis of haw he preaches, in order to offer help to others. A first draft was shown to younger ministers, women and men, for their critical comments, and the book derives from lectures which gave rise to lively discussion. Professor Theissen's illuminating comments are grouped round a variety of focal points. The first chapter discusses the biblical world and how that can be approached; then comes the text, and the new possibilities offered by the 'open' text. The third chapter examines how preaching can talk about God and the fourth looks at the existential dimension of preaching. A fifth chapter on preaching as communication is followed by five sample sermons. Preachers will learn a great deal from this book - but so too will their congregations, and anyone interested in the communication of Christianity in the modern world. Few theologians are richer in creative ideas than Gerd Theissen, and they are here in abundance.

The Sign Language of Faith

The best available textbook on the historical Jesus.

Historical Jesus: A Comprehensive Guide

Merz, Annette

Biographies & Memoirs

Signs of Life follows the signs from God in a world from which he seems to have disappeared. It points o ut how they are often to be found in unexpected places, in t he offensive, the immoral and the absurd. '

Signs of Life: Sermons and Meditations

Gerd Theissen argues that neither a theology of the New Testament nor a history of the early church can do justice to all the dimensions of the earliest Christianity, which include myth, ethic and rites'

A Theory of Primitive Christian Religion

Combining NT scholarship with the racy and readable style of a thriller, Theissen succeeds brilliantly in conveying the gospel story in the fresh and imaginative prose of a novel. Here is a wealth of information about Palestinian life and politics.

The Shadow of the Galilean (SCM Classics)

This ground-breaking book is certainly the crowning of achievement of an author whose works have always been among the very best of modern theological scholarship. Gerd Theissen argues that neither a theology of the New Testament nor a history of the early church can do justice to all the dimensions of the earliest Christianity, which includes myth, ethic and ritual. Primitive Christianity is to be seen as a sign system that the first Christians built on the basis of Jewish religion. They constructed a semiotic cathedral, a world of signs in which to live, out of the narrative, ritual and ethical material. For them it was plausible and 'true', and those who want to be more than tourists in such a semiotic cathedral can find it plausible and true also. The first part of the book explores in depth the formation of the myth, or basic narrative, the ethics and rites of primitive Christianity, after which there is an account of how primitive Christianity differentiated itself from Judaism and constituted itself as a distinctive sign language. This development culminates in the New Testament in the Gospel of John. Further chapters investigate how the autonomy of the new sign language developed and proved itself in the two great crises of primitive Christianity, those over the split with Judaism and the threat from Gnosticism. Although these crises indicated that the sign language of Christianity had its limits, within its framework primitive Christianity developed an amazing multiplicity and plurality, which constantly threatened unity and coherence. The last chapter discusses the relevance of this whole new approach to Christianity today. .

There is no better book than this to introduce any reader to the New Testament. Gerd Theissen presents all the main issues straightforwardly, but with a depth of scholarship and brilliance of analysis that is unsurpassed. Gerd Theissen's approach is so interesting and illuminating that anyone considering the New Testament for the first time, and even experienced students, will value this book immeasurably.

The New Testament (Understanding the Bible and Its World)

T&T Clark International

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Theißen, Gerd. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Theißen, Gerd

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Theißen, Gerd. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The First Followers of Jesus: A Sociological Analysis of the Earliest Christianity

On Having a Critical Faith

Biblical Faith: An Evolutionary Approach

The Sign Language of Faith

Historical Jesus: A Comprehensive Guide

Signs of Life: Sermons and Meditations

A Theory of Primitive Christian Religion

The Shadow of the Galilean (SCM Classics)

A Theory of Primitive Christian Religion

The New Testament (Understanding the Bible and Its World)