This dissertation is a history of traditions research within the wider context of the history of religions. It traces expectation for Christ's parousia, i. e. his eschatological coming, from its inception through the earliest Christian communities. Paul's modification of the expectation for the parousia in light of the cross of Jesus (and in his conflict with the Judaizers) is examined and seen as a dynamic factor in later interpretations. The various interpretations of the expectation by the Evangelists and others are traced through the first century Christian literature (the New Testament documents). / By the end of the first century C.E., three distinct "trajectories" had emerged: Early (or, emergent) Catholicism, Proto-Gnosticism, and Proto-Montanism. During the early second century, two of these became distinct "churches" with representative literature. In the second half of the second century a third one emerged in the New Prophecy (the earliest name for Montanism). Each of these provide alternative interpretations for the parousia expectation as the chapter titles of the dissertation indicate: (I) THE ORIGIN AND EARLIEST DEVELOPMENT OF HOPE FOR THE PAROUSIA IN FIRST CENTURY C.E.; (II) THE DECLINE AND CRYSTALIZATION OF THE EXPECTATION FOR THE PAROUSIA IN EARLY CATHOLIC CHRISTIANITY; (III) THE REALIZATION OF THE PAROUSIA EXPECTATION IN EARLY CHRISTIAN GNOSTICISM; (IV) THE REVIVAL OF IMMINENT EXPECTATION IN THE NEW PROPHECY (MONTANISM). / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 45-06, Section: A, page: 1784. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1984.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_75336 |
| Contributors | EVANS, HENRY MULLEN, JR., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 396 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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