{"product_id":"christ-consciousness-and-the-three-ages-of-the-church","title":"Christ Consciousness and the Three Ages of the Church","description":"\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eTitle:\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003eChrist Consciousness and the Three Ages of the Church \u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\n\n\u003cstrong data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eSubject Classification: \u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\n\u003cspan\u003eReligion and Faith, Philosophy\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eBIC Classification: \u003c\/strong\u003eHRC \u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"UTF-8\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eBISAC Classification: \u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\n\u003cspan\u003eREL067080, REL067050, PHI022000\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eBinding:\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e Hardback, Paperback, eBook\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003ePublication date:\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e 29 Jan 2026\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eISBN (Hardback):\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e978-1-83711-676-8 \u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eISBN (eBook):\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e978-1-83711-677-5 \u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eISBN (Paperback): \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e978-1-83711-678-2\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eTo view a sample of the book, please click \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"text-decoration:\" underline data-mce-style=\"text-decoration:\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ehere\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003ee-books available for libraries from \u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\n\n\u003cstrong data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eProquest\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\n\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eand \u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\n\n\u003cstrong data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eEBSCO\u003c\/strong\u003e\n \n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003ewith non-institutional availability from \u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003cstrong data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\nGooglePlay\n\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eFor larger orders, or orders where you require an invoice, contact us  \u003cspan id=\"cloak8074a48c555b85c31ec4347354a45e96\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\nadmin@ethicspress.com\n\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch5\u003eDescription\u003c\/h5\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\n\u003cspan\u003e'The three ages of the church' is an old idea going back before the Reformation to the prophetic monk Joachim of Fiore (c.1135-1202): the age of the father, the age of the son and the age of the holy spirit. St. Peter here is a cipher for the first age of the church, of which the Roman Catholic church in its heraldry holds the keys; the monarchical church of empire. The apostle Paul is a cipher of the second age of the church, the age of book-based theological belief, and colonisation (spreading the Gospel); the church of correct believers and believing.\u003cbr\u003eThe third age of the church according to Joachim would be an age of the holy spirit. This book takes “spirit” in both Christian (religious) and Hegelian (secular) senses as the force of freedom or liberty: a vision of peace and goodwill on earth, and human creativity. \u003cbr\u003eThe age of the spirit is associated symbolically, spiritually, and philosophically, with the apostle John, the friend of Jesus. John was commissioned by Jesus to take care of his mother Mary (symbol of the feminine carriage of religion) and at the Last Supper, he laid his head on Jesus’ breast, traditionally taken among the Church Fathers as the symbol of hearing the true heart and inward divine sense of the Lord. Peter, Paul, and John stand for three different paradigmatic ways that historic Christianity, working with the spirit, has comprehended itself and continues to comprehend itself and present itself to the world at large, and thereby, three kinds of “Christ consciousness.”\u003cbr\u003eThe age of the spirit was the age to come in Joachim’s day, but since the time of Rousseau, Goethe and Kant it has been our age. It is an age associated with freedom, striving, and destruction. The second part of the book takes Christ consciousness outside the idiom of theological Christology. The book draws on transcendental empirical ideas that have psychological traction. This includes ideas from Buddhist as well as modern philosophy.\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch5\u003eBiography\u003c\/h5\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eAuthor(s):\u003c\/span\u003e \n\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eMatthew Del Nevo is a professor of philosophy at the Australian University College of Divinity, Sydney.\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch5 class=\"p1\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\n\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eReviews\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/h5\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eThis title is currently being reviewed. Please check back for further updates in due course.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Ethics Press","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":44866824437802,"sku":"pxa1789711863102","price":32.8,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":44866824470570,"sku":"vcd1789711863103","price":85.91,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"eBook","offer_id":44866824503338,"sku":"uej1789711863104","price":26.24,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0721\/0709\/8154\/files\/christ-consciousness-and-the-three-ages-of-the-church_1.jpg?v=1789711869","url":"https:\/\/layerreadywear.shop\/products\/christ-consciousness-and-the-three-ages-of-the-church","provider":"My Store","version":"1.0","type":"link"}