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:

"A Cognitive History of Earliest Christianity"
(Heisenberg Fellowship project)

Mind, Society and Religion in the Biblical World

A new SBL program unit dedicated to cognitive science approaches in biblical studies.

Biblical Interpretation "A Journal of Contemporary Approaches" (Submit an article.)

A team-project on early Christian miracle narratives at the University of Mainz.
more...

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 vervolgdÂ… 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 Ascension of Isaiah" (.pdf)

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:

Journal for the Cognitive Science of Religion The official journal of the International Association for the Cognitive Science of Religion.

Selected publications and preprints

Changing Minds: Religion and Cognition Through the Ages more...

<New!>"Long-Term, Explicit Memory in Rituals" (.pdf)

"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)

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 Biró.

Cognitive science in the study of Early Christianity.

Cognitive Foundations of Religion

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.

Currently I am Visiting Fellow at the Käte Hamburger Collegium, Dynamics in the History of Religions at the Ruhr University Bochum and Privatdozent of the University of Heidelberg.

For more details, please look at my bibliography (with links).

Contact:
istvan.czachesz[at]gmail.com