Christ in the Early Christian Hymns

by Daniel Liderbach

Publisher:

Paulist Press

, 1998

Overview

From the first days of the church, Christians confessed their faith in Jesus Christ in both theological discussion and in popular hymns of devotion. After the major church councils from Nicaea to Chalcedon brought clarification and definition to Christological doctrines, the hymns began to express clearly this belief in Jesus as truly God and truly human. Were the new Christological doctrines deductively developed and imposed by the councils? Or did they arise from the beginning out of the faith of the Christian community as known by its prayers and worship? Father Daniel Liderbach shows that pre-Nicaen hymns inductively held in tension both the full humanity of Jesus and his more-than-human status. Then during the councils from Nicaea to Chalcedon, deductive doctrine held sway in the new hymn compositions. But the final definition by Chalcedon encouraged new hymns in which humanity and divinity are once again held in experiential tension according to the “rule of faith” of the earliest period.

Product Details

• Title: Christ in the Early Christian Hymns
• Author: Daniel Liderbach
• Publisher: Paulist Press
• Print Publication Date: 1998
• Logos Release Date: 2019
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Jesus Christ › Natures--History of doctrines--Early church, ca. 30-600; Hymns, Early Christian › History and criticism
• ISBNs: 0809138093, 9780809138098
• Resource ID: LLS:CHRSTRLYCHHYMNS
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2024-03-25T19:21:21Z

About Daniel Liderbach

Daniel Liderbach, SJ, is a member of the College Theology Society and teaches at Canisius College in Buffalo, New York.