Christian Beginnings: From Nazareth to Nicaea, AD 30-325
Author(s): Geza Vermes
Philosophy, Spirituality & Religion
Geza Vermes, translator and editor of "The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls" and worldwide expert on the life and times of Jesus, tells the enthralling story of early Christianity and the origins of a religion. The creation of the Christian Church is one of the most important stories in the development of the world's history, yet one of the least understood. With a forensic, brilliant re-examination of all the key surviving texts of early Christianity, Geza Vermes illuminates the origins of a faith and traces the evolution of the figure of Jesus from the man he was - a prophet in the tradition of other Jewish holy men of the Old Testament - to what he came to represent: a mysterious, otherworldly being at the heart of the official state religion of the Roman Empire. "Christian Beginnings" pulls apart myths and misunderstandings to focus on the true figure of Jesus, and the birth of one of the world's major religions.
General Information
- :
- : Penguin Books, Limited
- : Penguin Books, Limited
- : 0.213
- : 01 June 2013
- : United Kingdom
- : 01 August 2013
- : books
Other Specifications
- : Geza Vermes
- : Paperback
- : 1
- : 272
- : maps (black and white)
More About The Product
The subject is not exactly the Christian Church, which makes an appearance effectively only half way through the text; it is Jesus - what he was, what he said he was, and what Christians said about him after his crucifixion. For anyone puzzling over such questions, this is an exciting and challenging port of call, sweeping aside much of the fuzzy thinking and special pleading that bedevils the study of sacred scripture ... [a] courteously expressed and witty little book -- Diarmaid Macculloch The Times
Geza Vermes was born in Hungary in 1924. He studied in Budapest and Louvain, and was the first Professor of Jewish Studies at Oxford. He is one of the world's greatest experts on early Christianity and the Dead Sea Scrolls.
