Thomas Kessler

This book challenges some long held beliefs about Christianity as we know it, detailing a great divide between Jesus of Nazareth's teachings and Christianity extending into the Middle Ages. With comprehensive historical research over a twenty year period Thomas Kessler analyzes the power and class struggles in the church. He shows how clergymen continued to choke life out of the Christian community. The reality is insidious, the horrors startling, and some church officials even committed genocide. No, the church has not been perfect throughout its history. Knowing the facts about it grounds us in reality, the starting point of any true Christian commitment. This is a true People's History of Christianity in the tradition of Howard Zinn's People's History of the United States and one that will have you seeing Christianity in a brand-new light. Thomas Kessler is a former Capuchin Franciscan friar and priest. He studied at St. Anthony Friary and Capuchin Seminary in Marathon, Wisconsin, and conducted independent research t Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley and in Assisi, Italy. His interests include Christian history, philosophy, theology, Greek and Latin.

Written by two respectable religious scholars, this groundbreaking new book challenges some of our long-held beliefs about Christianity as we know it, detailing the origins of a great divide between Jesus of Nazareth's teachings and Christianity during its formative stages. With comprehensive historical research, authors Cragun and Kessler use the analysis of power and class struggle to reexamine church history and the teachings of the theologians. They outline how the so-called ""Fathers of the Church"" took over the community of Jesus, destroyed its foundations, and built their own church edifice, which they then passed down to us. Though much of modern scholarship blames Constantine for the corruption of the church. Christianity: Endangered or Extinct? shows how the corruption was a gradual process in which Platonic philosophy, power, and prestige gradually entombed the message Jesus actually gave us. This religion was carefully honed to be acceptable to emperors, rulers, and the elite, replacing Christ's original message of love, egalitarianism, communalism, pacifism, and servant leadership--concepts that are essential for the survival of humanity in the twenty-first century. This is a true People's History of Christianity in the tradition of Howard Zinn's People's History of the United States and one that will have you seeing Christianity in a brand-new light. Rodger L. Cragun holds a Master of Divinity degree from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary; assisted Markus Barth, Anchor Bible Ephesians; was ordained in the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America; served as pastor of the Church of the Brethren; and conducted research at the University of Chicago and at Notre Dame. He has also published The Ultimate Heresy: The Doctrine of Biblical Inerrancy (1996). Thomas Kessler is a former Capuchin Franciscan monk, priest, and director of novitiates. He studied at St. Anthony Friary and Capuchin Seminary in Marathon, Wisconsin, and conducted independent research at Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, and in Assisi, Italy. His interests include Christian history, philosophy, theology, Greek and Latin.

Dieses Buch führt in knapper und gut lesbarer Form durch die wesentlichen Bereiche der Sozialpsychologie. Der Text soll grundlegendes Wissen einfach und verständlich zugänglich machen. Die Themenbereiche umfassen Gegenstand und Geschichte sowie Methoden der Sozialpsychologie, Selbst und Identität, die Konstruktion der sozialen Realität und deren Prozesse, die Effekte sozialer Einstellungen auf Verhalten, interpersonale Beziehungen und Interaktionen, sozialen Einfluss und sozialen Wandel, Prozesse und Strukturen in Kleingruppen sowie Toleranz und Diskriminierung zwischen sozialen Gruppen. Zu den einzelnen Themen werden sowohl klassische wie auch moderne Ansätze vorgestellt und anhand von aktuellen Beispielen illustriert. Jedes Kapitel enthält spezifische Fragen, die zum weiteren Studium anleiten wie auch Hinweise auf weiterführende Literatur.