Download or read book A Theory of Primitive Christian Religion written by Gerd Theissen and published by Hymns Ancient and Modern Ltd. This book was released on 2003 with total page 418 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A discussion of 'primitive' Christianity - Christianity in its original form, this work was first given as Speaker's Lectures in Oxford. Covering the first five centuries of Christianity, it 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. It explores in depth the formation of primitive Christianity and studies the effect of the two great crises of primitive Christianity: the split with Judaism and the threat from Gnosticism. It is aimed at academic theologians.