Christoph Markschies's Books

God's Body

Jewish, Christian, and Pagan Images of God

By: Christoph Markschies

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God's Body

Jewish, Christian, and Pagan Images of God

By: Christoph Markschies

God is unbounded. God became flesh. While these two assertions are equally viable parts of Western Christian religious heritage, they stand in tension with one another. Fearful of reducing God's majesty with shallow anthropomorphisms, philosophy and religion affirm that God, as an eternal being, stands wholly apart from creation. Yet the legacy of the incarnation complicates this view of the incorporeal divine, affirming a very different image of God in physical embodiment. While for many today the idea of an embodied God seems simplistic--even pedestrian--Christoph Markschies reveals that in antiquity, the educated and uneducated alike subscribed to this very idea. More surprisingly, the idea that God had a body was held by both polytheists and monotheists. Platonic misgivings about divine corporeality entered the church early on, but it was only with the advent of medieval scholasticism that the idea that God has a body became scandalous, an idea still lingering today. In God's Body Markschies traces the shape of the divine form in late antiquity. This exploration follows the development of ideas of God's corporeality in Jewish and Greco-Roman traditions. In antiquity, gods were often like humans, which proved to be important for philosophical reflection and for worship. Markschies considers how a cultic environment nurtured, and transformed, Jewish and Christian descriptions of the divine, as well as how philosophical debates over the connection of body and soul in humanity provided a conceptual framework for imagining God. Markschies probes the connections between this lively culture of religious practice and philosophical speculation and the christological formulations of the church to discover how the dichotomy of an incarnate God and a fleshless God came to be. By studying the religious and cultural past, Markschies reveals a Jewish and Christian heritage alien to modern sensibilities, as well as a God who is less alien to the human experience than much of Western thought has imagined. Since the almighty God who made all creation has also lived in that creation, the biblical idea of humankind as image of God should be taken seriously and not restricted to the conceptual world but rather applied to the whole person.

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632

Published Date

ISBN 10

1481311727

ISBN 13

9781481311724

Gnosis

An Introduction

By: Christoph Markschies

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Gnosis

An Introduction

By: Christoph Markschies

This introduction to Gnosis by Christoph Markschies combines great clarity with immense learning.In his Introduction Markschies defines the term Gnosis and its relationship to 'Gnosticism', indicating why Gnosis is preferable and sketches out the main problems. He then treats the sources, both those in the church fathers and heresiologists, and the more recent Nag Hammadi finds. He goes on to discuss early forms of 'Gnosis' in antiquity, Jewish and Christian (New Testament) and the early Gnostics; the main representatives of Gnosis, especially Valentinus and Marcion; Manichaeism as the culmination and end-point of Gnosis; ancient communities of 'Gnostics'; and finally 'Gnosis' in antiquity and the present.There is a useful chronological table and an excellent select bibliography.

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Page Count

164

Publisher

A&C Black

Published Date

ISBN 10

0567089444

ISBN 13

9780567089441

Hidden Criticism?

The Methodology and Plausibility of the Search for a Counter-Imperial Subtext in Paul

By: Christoph Heilig

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Hidden Criticism?

The Methodology and Plausibility of the Search for a Counter-Imperial Subtext in Paul

By: Christoph Heilig

Is there a counter-imperial message beneath the surface of the text in Paul? Christoph Heilig analyzes the letters of the apostle and concludes that the hypothesis that we can identify critical "echoes" of the Roman Empire in Paul's letters needs to be modified for it to be maintained.

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Page Count

236

Publisher

Mohr Siebeck

Published Date

ISBN 10

3161537955

ISBN 13

9783161537950

Luke's Portrait of Gentiles Prior to Their Coming to Faith

By: Christoph W. Stenschke

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Luke's Portrait of Gentiles Prior to Their Coming to Faith

By: Christoph W. Stenschke

Christoph W. Stenschke examines Luke's portrait of the Gentiles' state prior to their coming to Christian faith. Following the history of research, he commences with Luke's direct references to the Gentiles prior to faith and then draws conclusions concerning their state from the Gentile encounter with Jesus and Christian salvation. This includes Luke's notes on the condition of Gentiles and on their appropriation of salvation. Finally conclusions from Luke's portrayal of Gentile Christians are drawn.With his approach Christoph W. Stenschke challenges some previous contributions to Lukan anthropology. He argues that the main study in the field (J.-W. Taeger, Der Mensch und sein Heil) does not sufficiently consider all the evidence. By concentrating on the Gentiles in Luke-Act (including Samaritans and God-fearers) the author's thesis covers all the relevant material. Contrary to Taeger, who suggests that Gentiles do not need 'salvation' as much as 'correction', he discovers that Luke portrays Gentiles prior to faith in a condition requiring God's saving intervention. Thorough correction has to accompany and follow this salvation. Though allowing for distinct Lukan emphases, this portrait is not essentially at odds with that of other NT authors.These results further show that the Areopagus speech needs to and can be satisfactorily interpreted in its context and in conjunction with similar statements. The author further argues that Luke's narrative sections and the characterization they present should no longer be neglected in favour of the speeches. Luke's portrayal of Gentiles prior to faith also bears on his understanding of sin and provides additional justification for the Gentile mission. Christoph W. Stenschke challenges proposals of Luke's alleged anti-Judaism and provides some hitherto little-noticed correctives.

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Page Count

488

Publisher

Mohr Siebeck

Published Date

ISBN 10

3161471393

ISBN 13

9783161471391

Matthaeus Adversus Christianos

By: Christoph Ochs

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Matthaeus Adversus Christianos

By: Christoph Ochs

In this book, Christoph Ochs presents for the first time an extensive study of the use of the Gospel of Matthew in Jewish polemics. These often overlooked texts advance numerous exegetical arguments against Jesus' divinity, the incarnation, and the Trinity. Seven Jewish polemical key texts comprise the main sources for this inquiry: Qissat Mujadalat al-Usquf (c. 8/9th century) and Sefer Nestor ha-Komer (before 1170), Sefer Milhamot ha-Shem (c. 1170), Sefer Yosef ha-Meqanne (c. 13th century), Nizzahon Vetus (13-14th century), Even Bohan (late 14th century), Kelimmat ha-Goyim (c. 1397), and Hizzuq Emunah (c. 1594). Together with the relevant passages in the original Hebrew and in translation, each text is presented with a historical and exegetical introduction. Contemporary parallels are also discussed, but in less detail. The result is a compendium of arguments against the divinity of Jesus based on the Jewish interpretation of Matthew.

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Page Count

448

Publisher

Mohr Siebeck

Published Date

ISBN 10

3161526155

ISBN 13

9783161526152

The Two Jesus Boys

By: Christoph Rau

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The Two Jesus Boys

By: Christoph Rau

The two contradicting genealogies of Jesus in the Gospels have long puzzled biblical scholars. Rudolf Steiner’s spiritual research led him to the controversial theological conclusion that historically there existed two Jesus boys, born of two holy families. These two boys, he said, were necessary as part of the spiritual preparation of forming a suitable human body for the incarnation of Christ into the earthly realm. Both apocryphal texts and the writings of the Essenes – as discovered at Qumran by the Dead Sea – now appear to support this conception, with references to Messianic figures from both royal and priestly lines. Various authors have developed Rudolf Steiner’s observations – first presented in the early twentieth century – although much of this literature has lacked the rigour of accurate and broad scholarship. The Two Jesus Boys is not simply a derivative rehash of these previous publications. Rather, it offers a fresh investigation of primary sources, coupled with an objective determination to allow the facts to speak for themselves. Christoph Rau thus comes to the unavoidable conclusion that Steiner’s presentation of the chronology of the two births needs revision; furthermore, the most recent discoveries and interpretations of Essene scrolls reveal that the Jewish sect expected not one but three Messiahs. Rau quotes from and analyses numerous documents from the landscape of early Christianity and Judaism. His findings provide a secure foundation for the historical existence of two Jesus boys in the prelude to Christ’s incarnation on earth, as well as a revelation of the Essenes’ long expectation of three Messiahs.

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Page Count

168

Publisher

Temple Lodge Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

1912230275

ISBN 13

9781912230273

Book's by Christoph Markschies

God's Body

God's Body

Gnosis

Gnosis

Hidden Criticism?

Hidden Criticism?

Luke's Portrait of Gentiles Prior to Their Coming to Faith

Luke's Portrait of Gentiles Prior to Their Coming to Faith

Matthaeus Adversus Christianos

Matthaeus Adversus Christianos

The Two Jesus Boys

The Two Jesus Boys

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