My work on Early Christianity

My historical research concentrates on religious antiquity, the New Testament and the development of Early Christianity.

To find out more, take a look at the following links:

Web resources

Introduction, bibliography, and online resources.

Selected publications and preprints

	Commission Narratives: A Comparative Study of the Canonical and Apocryphal Acts More...
"The book is a model of how comparative study of a constituent form can illuminate both individual texts and the study of movements." (Religious Studies Review)
	The Grotesque Body in Early Christian Literature: Hell, Scatology and Metamorphosis More...
	Various contributions in the Studies on Early Christian Apocrypha series More...
	My doctoral dissertation online: Apostolic Commission Narratives in the Canonical and Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles More...

<New!>"Women, Charity and Mobility: Weak Links and the Historical Transformation of Religions" (.pdf)

"Rewriting and Textual Fluidity in Antiquity: Exploring the Sociocultural and Psychological Context of Earliest Christian Literacy" (.pdf)

"Wordt vervolgd… Apocriefe handelingen van de apostelen" (.pdf)

"Metamorphoses in Early Christian Imagination" (.pdf)

"The Gospel of Peter and the Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles" (.pdf)

"Early Christian Views on Jesus' Resurrection" (.pdf)

"Eroticism and Epistemology in the Apocryphal Acts of John" (.pdf)

"'As God Counseled Socrates:' Commission Narratives in Cognitive Perspective" (.pdf)

"The Coptic and Old Slavonic Versions of the Ascention of Isaiah" (.pdf)

Courses

What is the relation between religion, morality, and social cognition and how does it help us better understand the development of Early Christianity?

My work on the cognitive science of religion

My theoretical research focusses on the cognitive science of religion. To find out more, visit the following links:

Explaining Religion

"A three-year interdisciplinary research initiative that seeks to understand both what is universal and cross-culturally variant in religious traditions as well as the cognitive mechanisms that undergird religious thinking and behaviour."

Web resources

A brief introduction to the cognitive study of religion, summarising current discussion and suggesting points for further research.

An interdisciplinary research centre established at the University of Groningen to promote the cognitive science of religion.

A collection of texts related to the cognitive science of religion, maintained by Tamás Bíró.

Cognitive science in the study of Early Christianity.

Selected publications and preprints

"The Evolutionary Dynamics of Religious Systems" (.pdf)

"The Promise of the Cognitive Science of Religion for Biblical Studies" (.pdf)

"Explaining Magic: Earliest Christianity as a Test Case" (.pdf)

"Metamorphosis and Mind" (.pdf)

"The Emergence of Early Christian Religion: Toward A Naturalistic Approach" (.pdf)

"The Transmission of Early Christian Thought: Toward a Cognitive Psychological Model" (.pdf)

Courses

A seminar introducing students to the cognitive science of religion.

Habilitation, Heidelberg

Doctor of Theology and Religious Studies (PhD), Groningen

Master of Theology (ThM), Columbia Theological Seminary and Emory University

Master of Divinity (MDiv), Budapest

Associate in Electronics Engineering Technology (AE), Budapest

Welcome to my homepage.

Here you can find information related to my teaching and research on the New Testament, early Christianity, and the Cognitive Science of Religion.

I am Fellow of the Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies and Privatdozent of the University of Heidelberg.

For more details, please visit my institutional homepage or look at my bibliography (with links).

Contact:
istvan.czachesz[at]helsinki.fi