F. Gerald Downing explores the teachings of Paul, arguing that the development of Paul's preaching and of the Pauline Church owed a great deal to the views of the vagabond Cynic philosophers, critics of the gods and of the ethos of civic society. F. Gerald Downing examines the New Testament writings of Paul, explaining how he would have been seen, heard, perceived and understood by his culturally and ethnically diverse converts and disciples. He engages in a lucid Pauline commentary and offers some startling and ground-breaking views of Paul and his Word. Cynics, Paul and the...
F. Gerald Downing explores the teachings of Paul, arguing that the development of Paul's preaching and of the Pauline Church owed a great deal to the ...
The first Christian century must be approached with careful attention to its cultural and linguistic heterogeneity. It should not simply be assumed that this past 'is a different place, they do things differently there'. Downing treats the ways in which early Christians tried to 'make things make sense' within their cultures, noting both the similarities and differences between their ways and contemporary ones and stressing the variety of contexts and influences on first-century communication. Downing brings his renowned expertise to bear in illuminating the cultural features of early...
The first Christian century must be approached with careful attention to its cultural and linguistic heterogeneity. It should not simply be assumed...
Articulate first century Mediterranean society, Jewish and Christian included, expressly favoured harmonious order in society, in individuals, in communication, and in thought. Its common basis was the patriarchal family, the rule of law, rational self-control, and rational thought. Yet there was also resistance to oppressive and unjust order in all spheres; and while law could be held educative, yet there were substantial first century critiques of law, not just Paul's, and awareness that judicial procedures could be chaotic and biassed. Strands of such dissidence appear in Jesus and in...
Articulate first century Mediterranean society, Jewish and Christian included, expressly favoured harmonious order in society, in individuals, in comm...
