Scholarly Books
Christianity in the First and Second Centuries: Essential Readings
Fontes Press, 2022
Fontes Press, 2022
In the first and second centuries, the early church flourished in literary activity. A variety of writings collectively named the Apostolic Fathers give us insight into the early church's diverse life, developing theology, and biblical interpretation. Another group of writers known as the apologists defended the faith against outsiders and defended the church's rights from infringements by the Roman empire. Editor Kevin Douglas Hill has curated essential readings from these earliest writings of the church outside the New Testament. Readers will encounter the concerns and perspectives of early Christians in their own words as they wrote in service of the early church. With an authoritative and accessible introduction by Paul Foster, short entries providing context for each major text, fully revised translations in contemporary English, and appendices with readings on the early church's Greco-Roman context, this reader will serve students of the Bible, church history, and theology.
Athanasius and the Holy Spirit:
The Development of His Early Pneumatology
Fortress Press, 2016
The Development of His Early Pneumatology
Fortress Press, 2016
Athanasius of Alexandria wrote over seven dozen works, the majority of which contain at least one reference to the Holy Spirit. Yet, previous studies have primarily concentrated on Athanasius’s Letters to Serapion on the Holy Spirit (ca. 359–361), leaving a lacuna in our knowledge of Athanasius’s prior pneumatology. By exploring the period from Athanasius’s election as bishop (328) to the completion of the third Oration against the Arians (ca. 345), this book seeks to help fill this gap.
The first part argues that by the mid-330s, Athanasius had begun to establish core pneumatological perspectives that he would maintain for the rest of his career. Part 2 examines Athanasius’s three Orations, giving particular attention to Orations 1–2. To Athanasius, the Holy Spirit is eternal, uncreated, united to the Son, worthy of worship, and essential for salvation. These points laid the foundation for what was to come in Serapion. Without the pneumatological perspectives that he established in the 330s and 340s, Athanasius would not have been prepared to take the next steps of confessing the Holy Spirit’s divine nature and role in creating the world.
Reviews
"Hill expertly establishes how Athanasius's pneumatology integrates with his Christological and Trinitarian thought."
Ben C. Blackwell, Professor of Early Christianity at Houston Theological Seminary
"Well-written, even pedagogically... Hill’s argumentation is generally convincing and well-articulated."
Zeitschrift für Antikes Christentum / Journal of Ancient Christianity
★★★★★ 5-Star Rating on Amazon.com
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