Gerd Theissen

Eine der faszinierendsten Fragen der Geschichtsschreibung ist die nach der Entstehung des Christentums: Was führte dazu, dass aus einer kleinen Sekte des Judentums eine Bewegung erwuchs, die die Weltgeschichte veränderte? Um dies zu verstehen, genügt es nicht, historische und soziologische Fakten zu interpretieren. Es sind gerade auch psychologische Sachverhalte, die an der Wurzel des Christentums liegen. Diese zeigt Gerd Theißen in seinem neuen Buch auf. In dieser Psychologie der urchristlichen Religion beschreibt und ordnet der Heidelberger Neutestamentler das religiöse Verhalten und Erleben der ersten Christen und macht es für uns heute verstehbar. Nach ?Die Religion der ersten Christen? ein weiteres großes Werk in der Deutung des Frühen Christentums.

Recent emphasis on the social matrix out of which the early church's documents arose marks a notable turn in the path of contemporary New Testament studies. Although the terms, goals, and procedures of scholars vary considerably, there is widespread agreement that much of the interesting and innovative work in the field is that of Gerd Theissen. Four of his most formidable and sustained contributions treat Paul's correspondence with the Christian community at Corinth. Together these four essays provide a composite picture of the social stratification at this ancient urban center and of the concrete organizational and ethical problems that that stratification engendered for the Christians' common life. A fifth essay helps to focus the critical questions of methodology that arise whenever one approaches ancient religious texts for information on issues which to the texts themselves are of peripheral concern. A lucid introduction by the translator and a helpful bibliography of the author's major writings round out this significant exploration and interpretation of the social world of early Christianity.

Der TOP-Seller: 16. Auflage! - Lebendig erzählte Geschichtsforschung Gerd Theißen erzählt von Jesus und seiner Zeit. Die Rahmenhandlung ist fiktiv: Ein junger Jude, Andreas, wird von Pilatus dazu erpresst, Material über neue religiöse Bewegungen in Palästina zu sammeln. Dabei stößt er auf Jesus und reist ihm hinterher. Aus Erzählungen über Jesus rekonstruiert er dessen Leben. Theißen ist ein fesselndes Buch gelungen, das dem Stand der Forschung entspricht, aber auch für die Gegenwart verständlich ist. Verkündigung und Geschick Jesu werden aus der Perspektive eines jüdischen Zeitgenossen dargestellt und im Rahmen der religiösen und sozialen Welt des Judentums verständlich gemacht. Spannend wie ein Krimi. Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung

There is no better book than this to introduce any reader to the New Testament. Gerd Theissen presents all the main issues straightforwardly, but with a depth of scholarship and brilliance of analysis that is unsurpassed. Gerd Theissen's approach is so interesting and illuminating that anyone considering the New Testament for the first time, and even experienced students, will value this book immeasurably.

All the main issues for reading the New Testament are covered in this exciting new introduction by one of the world's foremost biblical scholars.

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.

The context of Jesus, his followers, and the early movement What do the social sciences have to contribute to the study of Jesus and the Gospels? This is the fundamental question that these essays all address - from analyses of ancient economics to altered states of consciousness, politics, ritual, kinship, and labeling. Contributors: Bruce J. Malina, Wolfgang Stegemann, Richard L. Rohrbaugh, Ekkehard W. Stegemann, Gerd Theissen, T. Raymond Hobbs, Dennis C. Duling, K.C. Hanson, Philip F. Esler, S. Scott Bartchy, John J. Pilch, Christian Strecker, Richard DeMaris, Stuart L. Love, Jerome H. Neyrey, Douglas E. Oakman, Gary Stansell, Santiago Oporto Guijarro

Should the dissimilarity between Jesus and early Christianity or between Jesus and Judaism be the central criteria for the historical Jesus? Gerd Theissen and Dagmar Winter argue that the criterion of dissimilarity does not do justice to the single most important result of more than two-hundred years of Jesus research: that the historical Jesus belongs to both Judaism and Christianity. The two authors propose a criterion of historical plausibility so that historical phenomenon under question can be considered authentic so long as it can be plausibly understood in its Jewish context and also facilitates a plausible explanation for its later effects in Christian history. This book is a cooperative project between Dagmar Winter and Gerd Theissen and represents the fruit of many years of their research on the historical Jesus.

Combining New Testament study with the terseness of thriller writing, Gerd Theissen conveys the gospel story in the fresh and imaginative prose of a novel. The story is told by Andreas, an imaginary contemporary of Jesus, through whom we learn a great deal about life and politics in Palestine, as well as what Jesus (the Galilean of the title) might have been like and how he might have behaved.

Die Dynamik des urchristlichen Glaubens ist in der Dynamik des Lebens verwurzelt. In seinem neuen Buch zeigt Gerd Theißen, was die ersten Christen in ihrem Innersten bewegte. Sein Werk ist eine religionswissenschaftliche Beschreibung und Analyse des urchristlichen Glaubens. Es will weder rein deskriptiv die Theologie des Neuen Testaments beschreiben, noch konfessorisch ihren Glauben durch Wiederholung beschwören, sondern die Kraft dieses Glaubens verständlich machen. Theißen verfolgt dabei zwei Ziele: Einerseits untersucht er das Leben der Urchristen und stellt ihre theologischen Aussagen in semiotische, psychische und historische Zusammenhänge. Auf diese Weise wird mit religionswissenschaftlichen Kategorien der Glaube, der Kult und das Ethos der frühen Kirche sichtbar. Andererseits zeigt er, wie sich das frühe Christentum vom Judentum fortentwickelte und eine autonome religiöse Zeichensprache schuf, die eine ungewöhnliche gemeinschaftsbildende Kraft hatte und die Geschichte umgestaltete. Mit dieser neuartigen Annäherung überschreitet Gerd Theißen den nur innerkirchlichen Diskurs über die Theologie des Neuen Testamentes und macht urchristliches Leben und Denken auch denen zugänglich, die selbst der christlichen Weltdeutung fernstehen. Eine Fortführung und Alternative zu einer "Theologie des Neuen Testaments" Gerd Theißen, geboren 1943, Dr. theol., ist Professor für Neues Testament an der Universität Heidelberg.

In these distinguished Oxford lectures, Theissen picks up where he left off in The Historical Jesus (1998). Employing the notion of religion as a "cultural sign language which promises a gain in life by corresponding to an ultimate reality," he plots the emergence of Christianity as a religion, with elements of myth, ritual, ethics, and an emergent symbolic system. He expands upon the historical, social, and theological analysis of his earlier works to cover such issues as the relationship of Jesus to the earliest churches, power, possessions, interpretations of Jesus' death, and the separation of the church and synagogue. Theissen's most complete and systematic treatment of early Christianity to date Traces the gradual emergence of the most important beliefs about Jesus Encompasses beliefs, ethics, ritual, and the origin of the New Testament canon in one synthesis

Signs of Life follows the signs from God in a world from which he seems to have disappeared. It points out how they are often to be found in unexpected places, in the offensive, the immoral and the absurd. A brilliant collection from the pre-eminent New Testament scholar who wrote The Shadow of the Galilean. He believes that modern sermons are indications that God is alive and getting in touch through the barriers put up by our everyday mentality.

In the continuing quest for the elusive but compelling figure of Jesus of Nazareth, Gerd Theissen and Annette Merz's authoritative yet engaging book is the single most helpful resource to date. Comprehensively detailing the sources for our knowledge of Jesus, Theissen and Merz fully explore the historical and social context of Jesus and his activity. They then unfold what we can know about Jesus' characteristics as a charismatic teacher, a Jewish prophet, a healer, a teller of parables, and an ethical teacher. Finally, they examine closely the historical questions surrounding Jesus' last supper, his violent death, the accounts of Easter, and the beginnings of Christology. Beholden to neither ancient dogma nor contemporary fantasy, written in a clear style with a variety of learning aids, The Historical Jesus will provide students, teachers, and other individuals with a fascinating and reliable guide into this most exciting field of Jesus research.

This textbook by Germany's most interesting New Testament scholar and his assistant is likely to become a standard work on Jesus. After surveying the quest for the historical Jesus, it assesses the sources, non-Christian and Christian, for Jesus. Then it examines the historical, chronological, geographical and social setting of his activity and some of his major characteristics-as charismatic, prophet, healer, poet, and teacher. All this leads on to studies of the passion and resurrection and the beginnings of Christology. Each section discusses a specific topic in the clearest possible terms, using tables and diagrams where relevant. The main results of scholarly research are given with explanations of how they relate to a wider whole. Subdivisions clarify some of the more complex issues. The main parts of the book end in summaries. Throughout, suggestions are made for further study in the form of projects and problems to be solved. And there are full bibliographies, anglicized for this edition by Robert Morgan.

In the tradition of Karl Rahner and Teilhard de Chardin, this book from renowned New Testament scholar Gerd Theissen daringly probes the innermost sanctuaries of the biblical tradition through the lens of evolutionary theory. Without associating evolution with a na?ve optimism about progress, Theissen shows how a thorough examination of the "cultural evolution" of the Christian faith can yield glimmers of a possible goal of history: "complete adaptation to the reality of God."