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The critical re-reading of the letters that make up the epistolary corpus of Bishop Cyprian of Carthage, the first episcopate to be martyred and killed in North Africa, during the persecutions carried out during the government of the Roman Emperor Valerian, indicates the occurrence of several conflicts within the communities early Christians. In this article, we aim to analyze some of these disputes, in order to demonstrate how they were established, how they were fought, how they were sometimes resolved. The organization of the commanding authority of Bishops and the choice of priests, deacons and readers expressed all the human feelings that surrounded the establishment of hierarchies within the original communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the present article is to investigate the representation of slavery in the First Epistle to the Corinthians, written around 53 CE. A premise in the article is that slavery is an institution which pervades the imaginary of the ἐκκλησία of Corinth, located in the East of the Roman Mediterranean. Based on that, an analysis of context and content of the epistle will be conducted. The article also seeks to understand how the Early Christian movement connected with Stoic philosophy in terms of similarities and differences presented by them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present article develops a study about two topics considered essential in the interpretation of the Luke-Acts: repentance and conversion. With the concepts of peravóm and émarpéipti), the author transmits a complex and broad awareness of one of the essential elements in the kerygmatic salvific ministry, developed within all of Jesus Christ's work - from the mission of His precursor, John the Baptist, continuing throughout the activity of the Apostolic Church with the Jews and gentiles, and finally with the eschatological events at the end of time. Such is Christ's call to all men, for the forgiveness of sins and the gaining of eternal life, saving from divine wrath, and leading to faith in Jesus and the practice of deeds worthy of conversion. This invitation, however, demands abandonment of sin, a change of mentality and a complete "turning" to the Lord. With his vast theological and pastoral sense, St. Luke approaches these topics in a way that permits a thematic comparison permitting a broader and more profound understanding. Therefore, from a hermeneutic, synchronic, and diachronic point of view, making use of recent exegetic studies and the comparisons of the occurrence of the terms within the Luke-Acts, this study investigates the Lukan concept of pcruvóo and étttOTpétpco as man's response to Christ's invitation to the participation in God's Kingdom. Keywords: peravo®, êîtis'rpécpa», repentance, conversion, Luke. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we will seek to bring together two authors separated by four centuries: Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) and Karl Popper (1902-1994). The first proceeds in line with the Pyrrhonian adaptation to social traditions and customs combined with an adogmatic defense of traditional Catholicism. The second proceeds through the adogmatic defense of the ideals of primitive Christianity as driving forces of the liberal-democratic tradition. To do so, we will begin with an exposition of Montaigne's fideism and the aforementioned Pyrrhonian adaptation. Next, we will explain Popper's way of dealing with tradition, placing it as the main vector of social order. Furthermore, we will show how the Christian tradition influenced his thinking to the point that the philosopher conceived it as one of the main ingredients of the open society. We conclude by emphasizing that, despite the differences between the two authors, both are united both in the critique of human cognitive pretensions and in the consideration of traditions as a factor of social stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study considers the experience of the new Christian religion in the context of the Roman Empire of the first century, seeking to highlight several aspects of its earliest institutionalization. Primitive Christianity was not a singular movement but was instead reflected in the existence of many small domestic communities without an orthodoxy standardized in faith, an ecclesiastical hierarchy, or centralized institutions. The study will reveal the ways in which Christianity spread through the imperial and synagogal infrastructures, as well as through the use of Greek cultural references. It will also discuss the dominant types of Christian organization, which would benefit from the socially entrenched arrangement of the old patriarchal house as a framework for the centralized and hierarchized institutional development to take root in Christianity, in a manner analogous to imperial bureaucratic architecture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article proposes to reflect on the relationship that exists between the pandemic of the new coronavirus and the breaking of paradigms in religions, especially in Christian churches. Based on the concept of paradigm, proposed by Thomas S. Khun, we seek to show that, more than tragedies, the main pandemics experienced by humanity in the Christian Era imposed the need for Christian churches to break paradigms in order to meet the demands of society and, above all, the demands of the communities themselves. The main objective of the article is to show that breaking paradigms is also an opportunity that churches have to review their convictions and practices, especially in overcoming templocentrism and in using new technologies that allow access to new media available in contemporary society. The problem question we are trying to answer is the extent to which Christian churches are taking advantage of these moments of acute crisis, experienced by humanity, to rescue lost paradigms, present in primitive Christianity and implement new paradigms in the face of the opportunities that are opened up with new technologies. The first section will take a historical approach, highlighting some events experienced by humanity in the pandemic known as bubonic plague or black plague (1346 to 1352) and in the great flu, also known as the Spanish flu (1918 to 1920). In the second section, some paradigm concepts and the need to break paradigms in pandemics will be presented, especially in that experienced by humanity at the beginning of the 21st century. In the third section, some measures taken by the Christian churches of the different denominations will be shown, due to the COVID - 19 pandemic, related to the paradigm break. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the Covid-19 pandemic and the closing of worship spaces in Brazil, the different churches sought to serve their members mainly by offering online religious services. In front of this situation, this paper reflects on the religious and liturgical practices of the Roman Catholic Apostolic Church and the Evangelical Church of Lutheran Confession in Brazil. It describes and analyses the messages and documents issued during the period by the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (CNBB), in the case of ICAR, and the pastoral letters issued by the IECLB presidency between March and July 2020. Finally, it is concluded that the pandemic led the churches to reflect on the theological and pastoral sense of liturgical practice in other formats, recognizing the digital also as a "theological place." Hence the need to do theology of the networks, for the networks, and on the networks, taking on the challenge of promoting a "digital inculturation." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the relationship between religion, globalization, and economics by focusing on the informal economy and by drawing from world pentecostalism as a more-or-less concrete case study. After defining the informal economy, the article examines the parallels and intersections between the church and informality, identifies the challenges and opportunities that exist for the church that is in but not constrained by the informal sphere, and sketches a pentecostal theology of the informal economy in light of early Christian economic practices. The burden of the paper is two-fold: to think about a Christian theology of the economy in the context of poverty and globalization processes, and to consider how the early Christian political economy of the book of Acts can inform such theological reflection. From this perspective, contemporary Pentecostalism provides a springboard for examining local and global economic issues in light of biblical and theological concerns and vice-versa. The challenge will be to discern how and to what degree early Christian economic practices can be said to inform contemporary pentecostal political economy on the one hand, and how this interface between biblical and contemporary practice funds reflection on a Christian theology of economics in the late modern capitalistic world of the early twenty-first century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This text The Apostolic Church: from the "Tent of God for Salvation and Healing" to the "Church of the Santa Vó Rosa" - Religious Mutations (1954-2020) aims to describe the emergence and mutations experienced by an initially Pentecostal Church, founded in São Paulo, in 1954, in the wake of the divine healing movement. We try to answer the question: Given these changes experienced over the course of six decades, what of Pentecostal features remained at the end of this trajectory marked by doctrinal, liturgical and administrative transformations? In the research, were examined: primary documentation; minutes of assemblies registered at notary offices; Church websites and bulletins; television documentaries and other documents posted on Youtube; newspapers; and electronic files produced by former members and pastors some years ago against the leadership of this Church. The data obtained lead us to the conclusion that the changes implemented are sufficient to classify this Church as a sect-type institution (Troeltsch, Wilson) because of the closure in itself, the rigor of its discipline, of its eschatological emphasis and of its anticultural position. The Apostolic Church today maintains only a few remnants of its Pentecostal origins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this article is to study both the reception of the corpus johannicum and its place among the New Testament texts. The corpus johannicum has its particularities, beginning with the fact that it is not a "cohesive" corpus in which the books appear in a sequence as in, for instance, the Pauline letters. The corpus johannicum has three biblical literary genres, namely: Gospel, Letter/Epistle and Revelation. In the early Church, most of its texts faced resistance regarding their effective attribution to John the Evangelist. This corpus has only five texts: a Gospel, three Letters and an Apocalypse. The Gospel of John was accused of being a pro-gnostic text; the second and third letters took a long time to gain full acceptance in the biblical canon; the book of Revelation was accepted by the Western Church and rejected by the Eastern Church until the end of the 4th century, when it finally became accepted in the canon of the New Testament. The First Letter had easier acceptance from the outset. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to explain the motivations that inspired the production of the "official translation" of the Bible by the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (CNBB), as well as investigating the historical background of the origins of the Bible as a literary set. The Introduction shows that the Second Vatican Council expressed a desire for a new, official, Latin translation and other vernacular translations based on it. The first part of the article briefly explores the use of biblical translations, from the compilation of the Bible in Judaism and early Christianity to the Vulgate of Jerome in the early 5th century. The second part of this work shows the path of development for the Vulgate in Latin Christian- ity, with emphasis on its recognition at the Council of Trent until the publication of the New Vulgate aeer the Second Vatican Council. Included are examples of modifications introduced in relation to the old Vulgate considering the progress of textual criticism and exegetical interpretation. The third part concerns the composi- tion, under the auspices of the CNBB, of a Brazilian version based on the biblical texts in their original languages according to the criteria of the New Vulgate and especially for use in the liturgy, catechesis and official documents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ancient myths are not dead. Based on this premise, founded on the research of scholars such as Warburg, Jean Seznec, Erwin Panofsky and Fritz Saxl, the intent of this paper is to delineate the historical paths which legitimized the survival of the myth of the Sibyls in the Christian world in its close association with astrology. Paganism was not reborn after the Middle Ages. It has always been an intrinsic element of Christianity, not only symbolically, but also as a direct impact on people and their lives. Some particular moments in history are in this sense noteworthy, from the apologist priests of primitive Christianity to the birth of modern science. The sibyls and astrology, as "outside" witnesses, are a constant presence in Christian theology, literature and music, as well as in artistic representations of the Christian world, which is the focus of this paper. The survival or afterlife (Naschleben) of the sibyls throughout history is further affirmed by the writings of the patristic and scholastic theologians, and also evidenced in the work of Albumasar, the Muslim theologian born in the 8th century, who associates sibyls, astrology and the Virgin Mary. How can we justify the presence of the sibyls on the ceilings of Catholic churches? This is the question that this paper largely intends to address. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship and possible influence of Hermetism in primitive Christianity can be seen in allusions and intertextual relationships between the Gospel of Thomas and the two hermetic works: Corpus Hermeticum and A Holly Book of Hermes Trismegistus addressed to Asclepius. This apocryphal gospel shares a similar source material with the canonical gospels, however, it bears the marks of a highly mystical source and may have been a collection of hermetic sentences. In this paper, we discuss the subjects of self-knowledge and heaven ascent as common beliefs between two hermetic texts and the Gospel of Thomas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historically, Reformed circles generally understand that the seven elected in Acts chapter 6 are deacons. The main argument for this is the occurrence of the verb diakoneo describing the function that the group would perform. However, the same term is applied to the apostles as those who hitherto performed the function which the seven came to fulfill. Is it correct, then, to think that the apostles were deacons before the election of the seven? The term "deacon" does not occur in Acts 6. For the correct understanding of the text it is necessary to note the deliberate use of "twelve" to refer to the apostles and "seven" to denote the elected group. In Hebrew culture, the first was the number of the Jew, because of the tribes of Israel, and the second, the Gentile, because of the list of seventy nations in Genesis 10. What motivated the constitution of the group was the fact that the widows of the Hellenistic Jews were being omitted in daily food assistance. What Acts 6 shows is that the apostles establish a Judeo-Hellenistic leadership to work with Jews born outside of Judea. They all have Hellenic names, and one of them was not even Jewish. The text clearly emphasizes that the Spirit enabled them to do much more than "serve the tables," leading them to preach with power and authority, performing signs and wonders. Stephen died preaching to Hellenistic Jews, which is clear from the synagogues listed. Philip is seen later baptizing the Ethiopian eunuch, which also denotes something that differs from the diaconal office. Added to this is the fact that there is no reference to elders or deacons in the Scriptures before the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15). It follows, therefore, that the seven were a Jewish-Hellenistic leadership, subject to the apostles, for the sole purpose of assisting the twelve in the evangelization and care of Jews born out of Judea in the early years of the nascent church. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article raises questions about the possibilities and limits of a cultural history of Early Christianity. It presents some key-works that anticipate and come close to the questions of a cultural history, such as the history of religious ideas and doctrine, historical psychology, the history of popular religiosity, among others. In the following section, the article discusses the terminology of this research field, and the scope of its chronology and documentation. Finally, the article proposes the study of the "mental categories" of Early Christianity by means of its narrative and fictional texts and the understanding of it as a system of language. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The socio-cultural identities, the cultural and religious dialogues and the ethnical boundaries compose unfailingly one of the themes of the current debate about religions, religiosities, cultures and identities in the phenomenological field, as well as in the history of interpretations. Concepts such as ethnical boundaries, cultures, histories, identities, ethnicities, fluidity and interactions make comprehensible the encounters, divergences, conflicts, assimilation and exchange between historical and socio-cultural subjects in the process of identities formation and also elucidate those elements which dynamically pass by the genealogies, geographies, territories and the physio-biological and linguistical characteristics in the constitution on of alterity. This process is also inherent to the primitive Christian experiences, in the dynamics of mobilization and interaction between peoples and cultures in the configuration of their identities present in the biblical narratives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article our task will be to study a debated text of the New Testament (Acts of Apostles 5.1-11) where a couple (Ananias and Sapphira) wants to join the Jerusalem's primitive Christian community, but they are murdered by a violent intervention by God. The subject is a current exegetical analysis that will explain some difficult points of this controversial scene by applying narratological methods of analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the study of the primitive Christianity it is common to attempt against stops the beginning of that this was influenced by the Classic Philosophy. For this reason there are innumerable references the Plato and the Aristotle. However, little is reflected concerning the importance of the Greek philosophy in the primitive Christian thought. This article, from the Greek philosophy, has as objective to identify to points of approach between the Roman stoicism and the Christianity of the first centuries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The work realizes an observation of the embryonic development of the Christianity and his process of consolidation as historical-cultural institution, to see how the religion takes us to fundamental questions of human being acts: political theory, philosophy or sociology. We will concentrate on some circumstances of the religious experience on the ancient Church and his process of consolidation that explain so much the originality of the Christian religion respect of his Jewish roots as of his Greco-Roman roots. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]