Esta pesquisa apresenta a primeira tradução do opúsculo Aduersus Valentinianos para a língua portuguesa, a partir do qual desenvolve uma análise de certos mecanismos persuasivos empregados por Tertuliano, o primeiro autor cristão latino, na legitimação e na consequente defesa da corrente proto-ortodoxa no seio do cristianismo, diante da expansão do valentinianismo no século III EC. Desta maneira, partindo do estudo de alguns preceitos retóricos clássicos, sobretudo de autores romanos, demonstra-se que o tratado analisado possui uma importância relevante no seio da literatura proto-ortodoxa, assim como, reflete a apropriação e adaptação das diretrizes discursivas clássicas pelos autores proto-ortodoxos do movimento cristão, dentre os quais se encontra Tertuliano. / This research presents the first translation of the booklet Aduersus Valentinianos into Portuguese, from which develops a analysis of certain persuasive mechanisms employed by Tertullian, the first Christian Latin author, in the legitimation and the subsequent defense of the proto-orthodox group within the Christianity, up against of the expansion of valentinianism in the third century CE. Thus, based on the study of some classical rhetoric precepts, particularly from Roman authors, demonstrates that the analyzed treatise has a great importance within the proto-orthodox literature, as well as reflects the appropriation and adaptation of classical discursive guidelines by the proto-orthodox authors of the Christian movement, among which we find Tertullian.

Esta pesquisa apresenta a primeira tradução do opúsculo Aduersus Valentinianos para a língua portuguesa, a partir do qual desenvolve uma análise de certos mecanismos persuasivos empregados por Tertuliano, o primeiro autor cristão latino, na legitimação e na consequente defesa da corrente proto-ortodoxa no seio do cristianismo, diante da expansão do valentinianismo no século III EC. Desta maneira, partindo do estudo de alguns preceitos retóricos clássicos, sobretudo de autores romanos, demonstra-se que o tratado analisado possui uma importância relevante no seio da literatura proto-ortodoxa, assim como, reflete a apropriação e adaptação das diretrizes discursivas clássicas pelos autores proto-ortodoxos do movimento cristão, dentre os quais se encontra Tertuliano. / This research presents the first translation of the booklet Aduersus Valentinianos into Portuguese, from which develops a analysis of certain persuasive mechanisms employed by Tertullian, the first Christian Latin author, in the legitimation and the subsequent defense of the proto-orthodox group within the Christianity, up against of the expansion of valentinianism in the third century CE. Thus, based on the study of some classical rhetoric precepts, particularly from Roman authors, demonstrates that the analyzed treatise has a great importance within the proto-orthodox literature, as well as reflects the appropriation and adaptation of classical discursive guidelines by the proto-orthodox authors of the Christian movement, among which we find Tertullian.

The separation between Judaism and Christianity is a subject which a large number of scholars within the study of religion have invested time and effort in. The field can surely be described as massive, and to figure out what has been said and done, and why so, is perhaps not the simplest of tasks. Here, however, an attempt to do so has been made in order to try and debone parts of a very large fish and se what it actually consists of. In what terms have some of the prominent scholars within the field described the separation between the two religions which have been considered to, at one point, be the one and same? By using a textual discourse analysis method, the aim for this thesis is to map some of the currents which have been dominant in the field of said separation and to seek the explanations behind them.

Evangelical Protestant Christians have been one of the primary groups opposing Mormons since the beginnings of Mormonism in the 1820s. This thesis is an examination of the historical basis for Evangelical opposition to Mormonism and the impact of that opposition on Mormon identity. This study is divided into three chronological chapters representing the nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first centuries in America. Evangelical animosity towards Mormonism was grounded in the Christian heretical tradition begun in the second century AD. Because of this tradition, Evangelicals were inherently afraid of heresy for two main reasons: temporal treason and eternal damnation. Due to the heterodox claims of a new prophet and new scripture, Mormonism was quickly labeled as dangerous, not only to Christianity, but to America as a whole. This perceived danger only grew as Mormonism continued to differentiate itself further with the practices of polygamy, communalism, and theocracy. In the nineteenth century, Mormon assimilation of Evangelicalism primarily affected the social structures of marriage, economics, and politics. In the twentieth century, Mormon assimilation of Evangelical identity would focus more on the incorporation of Evangelical ideology and theology. As Fundamentalism and Neo-Evangelicalism protested Mormonism as a cult, Mormonism became more Fundamentalist and Evangelical by nature, especially as the Church of Jesus Christ of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recognized how such opposition negatively impacted American public perceptions. Such changes included the development of Mormon neo-orthodoxy with its emphasis on the sovereignty of God, the depravity of man, and salvation by grace. In the twenty-first century, a group of Mormon and Evangelical scholars engaged in the practice of interfaith dialogue developed by Liberal Protestants and Catholics. As part of their dialogue, Evangelicals retained the purposes of evangelism and apologetics thereby qualifying the dialogue as a new more subtle form of Evangelical opposition to Mormonism in the twenty first century. As Evangelicals continuously opposed Mormonism as a Christian heresy, such opposition effected changes within Mormonism, changes that have led to some degree of assimilation and even adoption of several elements of Evangelicalism. The most recent part of this assimilation process has been the development of Mormon progressive orthodoxy that emphasizes anti-sectarianism, anti-liberalism, and revised supernaturalism.

My thesis examines relations among practitioners of various religions, especially Christians and Jews, during the era when Jesus’ project went from being a Galilean sect, to a persecuted minority, to religio licita status, and eventually to imperial favor, all happening between the first century resurrection of Jesus and the fourth century rise of Constantine. There is an abiding image of the Church in wider public consciousness that it is unwittingly and in some cases antagonistically exclusionist. This is not a late-developing image. I trace it to the period that the church developed into a formal organization with the establishment of canons and creeds defined by Church councils. This notion is so pervasive that an historical retrospective of Christianity of any period, from the sect that became a movement, to the Reformation, to the present day’s multiple Christian iterations, is framed by the late Patristic era. The conflicts and solutions reached in that period provided enduring definition to the Church while silencing dissent. I refer here to such actions as the destruction of books and letters and the banishment of bishops. Before there emerged the urgent perceived need for doctrinal uniformity, the presence of Christianity provided a resilient non-militant opponent to and an increasing intellectual critique of all religious traditions, including that of the official gods that were seen to hold the empire together. When glaringly manifest cleavages in the empire persisted, the Emperor Constantine sought to use the church to help bring political unity. He called for church councils, starting with Nicaea in 325 CE that took no account for churches outside the Roman Empire, and many within, even though councils were called “Ecumenical.” The presumption that the church was fully representative without asking for permission from a broader field of constituents is just that: a presumption. This thesis studies the ancient world of Christianity’s growth to explore whether, in that age of new and untested toleration, there was a more advisable way of responding to the invitation to the political table. The answer to this can help us formulate, and perhaps revise, some of our conduct today, especially for Christians who obtain a voice in powerful places. / Christian Spirituality, Church History & Missiology / D. Th. (Church History)

My thesis examines relations among practitioners of various religions, especially Christians and Jews, during the era when Jesus’ project went from being a Galilean sect, to a persecuted minority, to religio licita status, and eventually to imperial favor, all happening between the first century resurrection of Jesus and the fourth century rise of Constantine. There is an abiding image of the Church in wider public consciousness that it is unwittingly and in some cases antagonistically exclusionist. This is not a late-developing image. I trace it to the period that the church developed into a formal organization with the establishment of canons and creeds defined by Church councils. This notion is so pervasive that an historical retrospective of Christianity of any period, from the sect that became a movement, to the Reformation, to the present day’s multiple Christian iterations, is framed by the late Patristic era. The conflicts and solutions reached in that period provided enduring definition to the Church while silencing dissent. I refer here to such actions as the destruction of books and letters and the banishment of bishops. Before there emerged the urgent perceived need for doctrinal uniformity, the presence of Christianity provided a resilient non-militant opponent to and an increasing intellectual critique of all religious traditions, including that of the official gods that were seen to hold the empire together. When glaringly manifest cleavages in the empire persisted, the Emperor Constantine sought to use the church to help bring political unity. He called for church councils, starting with Nicaea in 325 CE that took no account for churches outside the Roman Empire, and many within, even though councils were called “Ecumenical.” The presumption that the church was fully representative without asking for permission from a broader field of constituents is just that: a presumption. This thesis studies the ancient world of Christianity’s growth to explore whether, in that age of new and untested toleration, there was a more advisable way of responding to the invitation to the political table. The answer to this can help us formulate, and perhaps revise, some of our conduct today, especially for Christians who obtain a voice in powerful places. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D. Th. (Church History)