| Contents |
Introduction: approaching pistis and fides in the Graeco-Roman world, Hellenistic Judaism, and early churches -- Pistis and fides in the world of the early principate I : domestic and personal relations -- Pistis and fides in the world of the early principate II : structures of state -- Pistis and fides in Graeco-Roman religiosity -- Pistis in the Septuagint -- Pistis and the earliest Christian preaching -- Pistis in Galatians, Romans, Philippians, and Philemon -- Pistis in non-Pauline letters -- Pistis in the synoptic gospels and the Acts of the Apostles -- Pisteuein and its relations in the Johannine Corpus -- Relationality and interiority in pistis and fides -- Pistis, fides, and the structure of divine--human communities -- Conclusion. |
| Abstract |
"This study investigates why "faith" (pistis/fides) was so important to early Christians that the concept and praxis dominated the writings of the New Testament. It argues that such a study must be interdisciplinary, locating emerging Christianities in the social practices and mentalites of contemporary Judaism and the early Roman empire. This can, therefore, equally be read as a study of the operation of pistis/fides in the world of the early Roman principate, taking one small but relatively well-attested cult as a case study in how micro-societies within that world could treat it distinctively. Drawing on recent work in sociology and economics, the book traces the varying shapes taken by pistis/fides in Greek and Roman human and divine-human relationships: whom or what is represented as easy or difficult to trust or believe in; where pistis/fides is "deferred" and "reified" in practices such as oaths and proofs; how pistis/fides is related to fear, doubt and scepticism; and which foundations of pistis/fides are treated as more or less secure. The book then traces the evolution of representations of human and divine-human pistis in the Septuagint, before turning to pistis/pisteuein in New Testament writings and their role in the development of early Christologies (incorporating a new interpretation of pistis Christou) and ecclesiologies. It argues for the integration of the study of pistis/pisteuein with that of New Testament ethics. It explores the interiority of Graeco-Roman and early Christian pistis/fides. Finally, it discusses eschatological pistis and the shape of the divine-human community in the eschatological kingdom"-- Publisher's website. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references (pages [515]-594) and indexes. |
| Access restriction | Available only to authorized users. |
| Technical details | Mode of access: World Wide Web |
| Genre/form | Electronic books. |
| LCCN | 2014956894 |
| ISBN | 9780198724148 (hbk) |
| ISBN | 0198724144 (hbk) |
