1st Edition
Foundations of Christianity (Routledge Revivals) A Study in Christian Origins
First published in 1925, Karl Kautsky presents a Marxist history of Christianity and Christian society. Divided into four key sections, the book begins by considering the personality of Jesus as portrayed within Pagan and Christian sources and highlighting the Church’s difficulty in presenting a unified and concurrent image of Jesus and interpretation of His words. Next, Kautsky analyses the structure of Roman society, with particular emphasis on the slave-holding system, the Roman State and the historiography of the period. In the third section, an early history of the Jewish people is presented, whilst the final section discusses the beginnings of Christianity and the social struggles present within early Christian society. This is a fascinating reissue, which will be of particular interest to students of Church History, Christian theology and the various interpretations of Jesus.
Introduction; Part I: The Personality of Jesus 1. The Pagan Sources 2. The Christian Sources 3. The Struggle for the Image of Jesus; Part II: Roman Society in the Imperial Period 1. The Slave-Holding System 2. The Life of the State 3. Currents of Thought in the Roman Imperial Period; Part III: The Jews 1. The People of Israel 2. The Jews After the Exile; Part IV: The Beginnings of Christianity 1. The Primitive Christian Congregation 2. The Christian Idea of the Messiah 3. Jewish Christians and the Pagan Christians 4. The Story of Christ’s Passion 5. The Evolution of the Organization of The Congregation 6. Christianity and Socialism; Index
