Logic and Early Christianity

Mary in Early Christianity and Islam

This article explores the life and importance of Mary in Islam and Christianity, aiming at clarifying the criteria for which Mary has been revered in each tradition. It will be shown that Mary in Christianity is almost merely important because she was the mother of Jesus, while the Muslim reverence for her is based on her own noble characteristics. From the Muslim perspective, even if Mary had ...

Resurrection of the Body in Early Judaism and Early Christianity: Doctrine, Community, and Self-Definition

In the first chapter, the author studies the concept of resurrection among Sadducees and Pharisees, using material from Josephus, the Gospels, Acts, and the Rabbinic literature to examine how each conceives the idea of resurrection and the symbolic boundaries through which its builds an identity. The second chapter analyzes the idea of resurrection among the first followers of Jesus including i...

Celsus of Pergamum: Locating a Critic of Early Christianity

lēthēs Logos of Celsus, preserved in large part with Origen’s response in Contra Celsum, is the most signifi cant extant second-century literary attack on Christianity. Celsus attacked Christianity not only for philosophic reasons, but also because he was alarmed about social consequences of the spread of Christianity. His book was occasioned by Christians refusing to honor the cults of the Rom...

Some Notes on Sabbath Observance in Early Christianity

It seems possible that Sabbath observance among the Copts in Egypt and Ethiopia may have passed through three stages: I) Only the seventh-day Sabbath observed-from apostolic times until the Council of Nicea; 2) Sunday and the seventh-day Sabbath both observed-from the Council of Nicea until perhaps a century or two later; and 3) only Sunday designated as a day of public worship-a practice still...

Christianity and Popular Culture