Luke Timothy Johnson

After 2,000 years, Christianity is the world's largest religion and continues to prosper and grow. What accounts for its continued popularity? In these twenty-four lectures, Professor Johnson maintains that the most familiar aspects of Christianity, its myths, institutions, ideas, and morality are only its outer "husk." He takes you on a journey to find the "kernel" of Christianity's appeal: religious experience. You'll travel back to Christianity's...

Provides an overview of Christianity, the world's largest religion, and discusses why, in addition to being vast and popular, it is also extremely complex and often highly contradictory. Explains why the central figures, elements, and creeds of Christianity are hard to fathom yet give Christianity its distinctive character. Covers topics such as Christianity's birth and expansion across the Mediterranean world, the development of its doctrine, its...

This fully accessible exploration of the creed, the list of beliefs central to the Christian faith, delves into its origins and illuminates the contemporary significance of why it still matters. During services in Christian communities, the members of the congregation stand together to recite the creed, professing in unison the beliefs they share. For most Christians, the creed functions as a sort of 'ABC' of what it means to be a Christian and to...

With the contextual framework in place from volume one of The Canonical Paul, Luke Timothy Johnson now probes each of the thirteen biblical letters traditionally attributed to the apostle Paul in a way that balances respect for historical integrity with attention to present-day realities. In doing so, Johnson reforges the connection between biblical studies and the life of the church, seeking to establish once again the foundational and generative...