Angellous' Reading List (translation, church, scriptures, faith, Christianity)

[angellous_evangellous]

I am reading quite a few books right now, and I'd love to talk about any of them at just about any time. I'll group them by topic.

Apostolic Fathers - I'm reading several editions. The ones by Lightfoot, Holmes, and Ehrman.

Early Christianity

Lost scriptures : books that did not make it into the New Testament edited by Bart D. Ehrman.Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2003.


The Orthodox corruption of scripture : the effect of early Christological controversies on the text of the New Testament by Bart D. Ehrman. New York : Oxford University Press, 1993.

Lost Christianities : the battles for Scripture and the faiths we never knew / Bart D. Ehrman. New York : Oxford University Press, c2003.

That's all for this weekend. I'll add more asap.

[angellous_evangellous]

Here's a wonderful book on the formation of the Christian creeds, from the NT era to the Nichene Creed.

J. N. D. Kelly, Early Christian Creeds. London: Continuum, 1950. Third edition, 2006 printing.

[gnomon]

Originally Posted by angellous_evangellous

That's all for this weekend. I'll add more asap.

And to think I was planning on chewing gum this weekend.

I've got to read more than magazines.

I would like to know what you think of Ehrman after you read those selections. Is he one of the "Higher Critics" or whatever it's called. I've only read a little bit on this subject but have developed an interest.

[angellous_evangellous]

Originally Posted by gnomon

And to think I was planning on chewing gum this weekend.

I've got to read more than magazines.

I would like to know what you think of Ehrman after you read those selections. Is he one of the "Higher Critics" or whatever it's called. I've only read a little bit on this subject but have developed an interest.

I think Ehrman is interesting because he's using the same sources as everyone else (that is, the church fathers), and just packaging it through Bauer's paradigm. That is, after Bauer scholars tend to think that orthodoxy was equal in number and influence as all the other heterodox sects and by happenstance and luck was preserved as Christianity.

[angellous_evangellous]

Lost Christianities and Lost Scriptures are excellent companion volumes, and IMO accessible to the beginner (eg, someone who is not a graduate student in religion). I don't think that Ehrman presents complicated arguments, but simply a general overview of evidence in the church fathers that indicate where and when a particular document or group existed.

Ehrman is mainly concerned with the second to fourth centuries in these volumes.

Lost Scriptures is excellent because it provides the English translation of all the texts mentioned in the table of contents - most are fragmentary, so they are short. It's a very interesting read.

[robtex]

Nate that is neat. When you have time fill us in on more of what you are reading and learning.

[angellous_evangellous]

I also read four other books this weekend - two books on the origins of WWI, one on Roman dining habits, and another on Roman bathing in public. All very interesting.

The book on Roman dining habits is for research in 1 Corinthians. It is also very accessible - very little Latin in it, and everything is translated (I think) into English. This books is very cool because it has 150 receipes that you can try, as well as several ancient references for social habits, etc.

Around the Roman table by Patrick Faas translated from the Dutch by Shaun Whiteside ; edited by the author. New York, N.Y. : Palgrave MacMillan, 2003.

The second book on Roman bathing is very technical, but all the Latin and Greek is translated into English. It covers sociological aspects of Roman bathing in public from 200BCE to 200CE. It is truly a gift to the student of antiquity.

Bathing in public in the Roman world / Garrett G. Fagan. Ann Arbor : University of Michigan Press, c1999.

[angellous_evangellous]

Ermatinger, James. Daily Life of Christians in Ancient Rome. London: Greenwood, 2007.

The destruction of the Temple in 70 is missing from the timeline on page xvi. Not useful to me. It does not implement a critical method to study any particular thing. It is written for the Christian - I suppose a Catholic - who knows nothing about the origins of Christianity or the Roman Empire. It is a mediocre introduction to Rome with an excellent bibliography. It is directed towards the layperson.