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After Jesus, Before Christianity
- A Historical Exploration of the First Two Centuries of Jesus Movements
- Narrated by: Cindy Kay
- Length: 10 hrs and 53 mins
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Publisher's Summary
From the creative minds of the scholarly group behind the groundbreaking Jesus Seminar comes this provocative and eye-opening look at the roots of Christianity that offers a thoughtful reconsideration of the first two centuries of the Jesus movement, transforming our understanding of the religion and its early dissemination.
Christianity has endured for more than two millennia and is practiced by billions worldwide today. Yet that longevity has created difficulties for scholars tracing the religion’s roots, distorting much of the historical investigation into the first two centuries of the Jesus movement. But what if Christianity died in the fourth or fifth centuries after it began? How would that change how historians see and understand its first two hundred years?
Considering these questions, three Bible scholars from the Westar Institute summarize the work of the Christianity Seminar and its efforts to offer a new way of thinking about Christianity and its roots. Synthesizing the institute’s most recent scholarship - bringing together the many archaeological and textual discoveries over the last 20 years - they have found:
- There were multiple Jesus movements, not a singular one, before the fourth century
- There was nothing called Christianity until the third century
- There was much more flexibility and diversity within Jesus’s movement before it became centralized in Rome, not only regarding the Bible and religious doctrine, but also understandings of gender, sexuality and morality.
Exciting and revolutionary, After Jesus, Before Christianity provides fresh insights into the real history behind how the Jesus movement became Christianity.
Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.
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What listeners say about After Jesus, Before Christianity
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
- Claire Z.
- 04-17-22
Excellent and informative
Every scholar or theologian looking to learn more about early Christianity and early Jesus movements needs to read this book. It is incredibly informative and delves deeper into familiar topics and thoroughly explores ones I had never heard. The way each topic is presented was very beneficial for someone looking at these topics from an academic perspective as the sources are clearly given for further reading, which I found very helpful. I greatly appreciate the honesty with which the hypothesis is stated, as well as how the authors are forthcoming with certain misunderstandings and gaps in knowledge that have caused divisions in the past. The performance was wonderful and engaging and I think I may listen to it again now that I'm done!
4 people found this helpful
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- Alison
- 03-03-22
thought provoking
glad to have listened. scholarship always is a place of many life giving discoveries and land mines! but loving Jesus and the way(s) he leads us to live serving each other is light!
4 people found this helpful
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- julioj725
- 03-02-22
A new essential resource
An excellent resource for anyone studying the history of early Christianities. I highly recommend it.
4 people found this helpful
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- Anne C.
- 10-28-22
Informative & Important!
A book for our times. Unlike the negative reviewer, one doesn’t have to be woke to benefit from this scholarship. I recommend it highly.
2 people found this helpful
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- Kindle Customer
- 07-15-22
Ancient texts speak for themselves
Encyclopedic in scope, rigorous referencing, careful scholarship. Listened three times; now I'm reading the book.
2 people found this helpful
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Story
In contrast to the oppressive Roman military occupation of the first century, Crossan examines the meaning of the non-violent Kingdom of God prophesized by Jesus and the equality advocated by Paul to the early Christian churches. Crossan contrasts these messages of peace with the misinterpreted apocalyptic vision from the Book of Revelation, which has been misrepresented by modern right-wing theologians and televangelists to justify US military actions in the Middle East.
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Smart Book
- By Wesley Bishop on 07-01-22
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Religion of the Apostles: Orthodox Christianity in the First Century
- By: Stephen De Young
- Narrated by: Stephen De Young
- Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Rev. Dr. Stephen De Young, creator of the popular The Whole Counsel of God blog and podcast, traces the lineage of Orthodox Christianity back to the faith and witness of the apostles, which was rooted in a first-century Jewish worldview. The Religion of the Apostles presents the Orthodox Christian Church of today as a continuation of the religious life of the apostles, which in turn was a continuation of the life of the people of God since the beginning of creation.
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The first Christians did not “invent” anything
- By Petar Jovanovic on 06-24-21
By: Stephen De Young
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The First Paul
- Reclaiming the Radical Visionary Behind the Church's Conservative Icon
- By: Marcus J. Borg, John Dominic Crossan
- Narrated by: Mel Foster
- Length: 8 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Paul is second only to Jesus as the most important person in the birth of Christianity, and yet he continues to be controversial, even among Christians. How could the letters of Paul be used both to inspire radical grace and to endorse systems of oppression - condoning slavery, subordinating women, condemning homosexual behavior? Borg and Crossan use the best of biblical and historical scholarship to explain the reasons for Paul's mixed reputation and reveal to us what scholars have known for decades: The later letters of Paul were created by the early church to dilute Paul's message.
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A Liberal Paul
- By Kayla on 05-12-20
By: Marcus J. Borg, and others
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Evolution of the Word
- The New Testament in the Order the Books Were Written
- By: Marcus J. Borg
- Narrated by: Bob Souer
- Length: 22 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Marcus J. Borg, esteemed Bible scholar and best-selling author, shakes up the order of the New Testament as we know it by putting the books in a completely new order - the order in which they were written. By doing so, Evolution of the Word allows us to experience these documents in their historical context. For the first time, see how the core ideas of Christianity took shape and developed over time.
By: Marcus J. Borg
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The Bible Unearthed
- Archaeology’s New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts
- By: Neil Asher Silberman, Israel Finkelstein
- Narrated by: Bob Souer
- Length: 12 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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In this iconoclastic and provocative work, leading scholars Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman draw on recent archaeological research to present a dramatically revised portrait of ancient Israel and its neighbors. They argue that crucial evidence (or a telling lack of evidence) at digs in Israel, Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon suggests that many of the most famous stories in the Bible - the wanderings of the patriarchs, the Exodus from Egypt, Joshua’s conquest of Canaan, and David and Solomon’s vast empire - reflect the world of the later authors.
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Quite Eye Opening
- By K. Walker on 10-11-22
By: Neil Asher Silberman, and others
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A History of the Bible
- The Story of the World's Most Influential Book
- By: John Barton
- Narrated by: Ralph Lister
- Length: 21 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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In A History of the Bible, John Barton argues that the Bible is not a prescription to a complete, fixed religious system, but rather a product of a long and intriguing process, which has inspired Judaism and Christianity, but still does not describe the whole of either religion. Barton shows how the Bible is indeed an important source of religious insight for Jews and Christians alike, yet argues that it must be listened to in its historical context - from its beginnings in myth and folklore to its many interpretations throughout the centuries....
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Engaging and comprehensive
- By Tad Davis on 07-29-19
By: John Barton
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The Bible with and Without Jesus
- How Jews and Christians Read the Same Stories Differently
- By: Amy-Jill Levine, Marc Zvi Brettler
- Narrated by: Marni Penning
- Length: 14 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Esteemed Bible scholars and teachers Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Z. Brettler take readers on a guided tour of the most popular Hebrew Bible passages quoted in the New Testament to show what the texts meant in their original contexts and then how Jews and Christians, over time, understood those same texts. By understanding the depth and variety by which these passages have been, and can be, understood, The Bible With and Without Jesus does more than enhance our religious understandings, it helps us to see the Bible as a source of inspiration for any and all listeners.
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Scholarly
- By Michael on 01-31-21
By: Amy-Jill Levine, and others
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Convictions
- How I Learned What Matters Most
- By: Marcus J. Borg
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 6 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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On the occasion of his 70th birthday, the renowned Marcus J. Borg shares his "convictions" about Christianity and America, contending that they are both at their best when they focus on hope and transformation, and shares his thoughts on how American Christians can return to what matters most. Meditating on what makes us feel at home, he calls all American Christians to reject divisiveness and exclusivity and create communities that celebrate joy, possibility, and renewal.
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Rehashing of Borg's progressive perspective
- By David on 10-14-14
By: Marcus J. Borg
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How to Read the Bible and Still Be a Christian
- Struggling with Divine Violence from Genesis Through Revelation
- By: John Dominic Crossan
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Many portions of the New Testament introduce a compassionate Jesus who turns the other cheek, loves his enemies, and shows grace to all. But the Jesus we find in Revelation and some portions of the Gospels leads an army of angels bent on earthly destruction. Which is the true revelation of the Messiah - and how can both be in the same Bible? How to Read the Bible and Still Be a Christian explores this question and offers guidance for the faithful conflicted over which version of the Lord to worship.
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A Brilliant, and Brilliantly Flawed Thesis
- By Stephen on 12-06-22
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Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time
- The Historical Jesus and the Heart of Contemporary Faith
- By: Marcus J. Borg
- Narrated by: Adam Verner
- Length: 4 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Of the many recent books on the historical Jesus, none has explored what the latest biblical scholarship means for personal faith. Now, in Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time, Marcus Borg addresses the yearnings of those who want a fully contemporary faith that welcomes rather than oppresses our critical intelligence and openness to the best of historical scholarship. Borg shows how a rigorous examination of historical findings can lead to a new faith in Christ, one that is critical and, at the same time, sustaining.
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first thing he did was deny Christ's deity.
- By Amazon Customer on 03-15-19
By: Marcus J. Borg
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When the Church Was Young
- Voices of the Early Fathers
- By: Marcellino D'Ambrosio
- Narrated by: Marcellino D'Ambrosio
- Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Marcellino D'Ambrosio dusts off what might have been just dry theology to bring you the exciting stories of great heroes such as Ambrose, Augustine, Basil, Athanasius, John Chrysostom, and Jerome. These brilliant, embattled, and sometimes eccentric men defined the biblical canon, hammered out the Creed, and gave us our understanding of sacraments and salvation. It is they who preserved the rich legacy of the early Church for us.
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Masterful summary of the early Church Fathers
- By Mike C on 08-22-14
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Journeys to Heaven and Hell
- Tours of the Afterlife in the Early Christian Tradition
- By: Bart D. Ehrman
- Narrated by: John Tefler
- Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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From classics such as the Odyssey and the Aeneid to fifth-century Christian apocrypha, narratives that described guided tours of the afterlife played a major role in shaping ancient notions of morality and ethics. In this new account, acclaimed author Bart Ehrman contextualizes early Christian narratives of heaven and hell within the broader intellectual and cultural worlds from which they emerged.
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New Hits Here. Not Repackaged Hits.
- By Adam on 06-19-22
By: Bart D. Ehrman