Christianity is a complex phenomenon, especially during the initial period. The use of the plural “Christianities” in historiography aims to emphasize this complexity. This paper offers some examples to highlight the different ways of life, the manifold interpretations of Jesus, the diverse organizations of churches and of worship during the first two centuries. The paper goes on to discuss the concept of Christianity and proposes a definition deriving from the impact of Jesus on believers. This impact led to his veneration, (...) whether in an exclusive sense or not, but always in a decisive manner, given that, as the eschatological envoy, Jesus is the cause of salvation. (shrink)

Christianity is a complex phenomenon, especially during the initial period. The use of the plural “Christianities” in historiography aims to emphasize this complexity. This paper offers some examples to highlight the different ways of life, the manifold interpretations of Jesus, the diverse organizations of churches and of worship during the first two centuries. The paper goes on to discuss the concept of Christianity and proposes a definition deriving from the impact of Jesus on believers. This impact led to his veneration, (...) whether in an exclusive sense or not, but always in a decisive manner, given that, as the eschatological envoy, Jesus is the cause of salvation. (shrink)

The question of the role of women in the Church, in other words, of women’s ministries, is still conditioned today, especially in the Catholic Church, by theological a priori and by anachronism. This essay aims to discuss and to point out the difficulties arising from both of these factors.

The present essay, starting from a close examination of the available sources, intends to retrace the historical dynamics of the controversy between Stephen of Rome and Cyprian of Carthage about single baptism. The analysis highlights more clearly than other studies the need to justify, because of the urgent context of the schism of Novatian, the legitimacy of the different traditions of the Churches, something previously taken for granted. The difficulty of this enterprise, combined with the imponderable human factor, represented by (...) the personalities of the protagonists, generates misunderstandings. A further factor is the decisive role played by Dionysius of Alexandria in resolving the conflict, which confirmed the preferential relationship between Rome and Alexandria. (shrink)

Theology, and thus also patristic theology, requires an historical perspective in order to resolve issues in the context of secularization. This article illustrates the persistent suspicion with which theology views history, and the contribution that the historical method can offer to patristic theology.