First One Hundred Years of Christianity

Udo Schnelle

Description

Beginning as a marginal group in Galilee, the movement initiated by Jesus of Nazareth became a world religion within 100 years. Why, among various religious movements, did Christianity succeed? This major work by internationally renowned scholar Udo Schnelle traces the historical, cultural, and theological influences and developments of the early years of the Christian movement. It shows how Christianity provided an intellectual framework, a literature, and socialization among converts that led to its enduring influence. Senior New Testament scholar James Thompson offers a clear, fluent English translation of the successful German edition.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie
• History of religions
• Christianity

Informations

• Publié par: Baker Publishing Group
• Date de parution: 30 juin 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781493422425
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 10 Mo

Extrait

Cover
Half Title Page
Title Page
Copyright Page
Originally published as Udo Schnelle, Die ersten 100 Jahre des Christentums , 3. veränderte Auflage
© 2019 by Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht GmbH & Co. KG, Göttingen. All rights reserved.
English translation © 2020 by Baker Publishing Group
Published by Baker Academic
a division of Baker Publishing Group
PO Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www.bakeracademic.com
Ebook edition created 2020
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
ISBN 978-1-4934-2242-5
Contents
Cover i
Half Title Page ii
Title Page iii
Copyright Page iv
Illustrations ix
Translator’s Preface xi
Author’s Preface to the American Edition xiii
Abbreviations xv
1. On Writing a History of Origins 1
1.1 History as Interpretation of the Present and the Past 1
1.2 History and Method 3
2. Definition and Demarcation of the Epoch 8
2.1 Primitive Christianity or Early Christianity? 8
2.2 The Chronological Framework 9
3. Presuppositions and Contexts 13
3.1 Hellenism as a World Culture 13
3.2 Greco-Roman Culture 18
3.3 Judaism 45
3.4 The Political and Economic Situation in the Roman Empire in the First and Second Centuries CE 65
4. The New Movement of Christ-Believers 80
4.1 The Easter Events 80
4.2 The Origin of Christology 85
4.3 The Founder of a New Discourse and New Thinking 89
5. The Jerusalem Church 94
5.1 The Beginnings 95
5.2 Groups and Persons 99
5.3 Places: The Temple 112
5.4 Conflicts 113
5.5 Theological Institutions and Discourse 119
5.6 Texts: The Passion Narrative 133
5.7 The Theological Development of the Early Jerusalem Church 135
6. Early Churches and Early Mission outside Jerusalem 140
6.1 Contexts: Mobility and Religious-Philosophical Variety in the Roman Empire 140
6.2 Persons 148
6.3 Groups: The Jesus Movement 157
6.4 Lands and Places 166
6.5 Competitors and Conflicts 177
6.6 The Development of the Community’s Own Cult Praxis and Theology: The First Forms of Institutionalization 185
6.7 Texts 194
6.8 The First Missionary Journey and the Mission to the Gentiles without the Requirement of Circumcision 200
6.9 The Three Great Currents at the Beginning 203
7. The Apostolic Conference 211
7.1 The Initial Conflict 212
7.2 The Essential Problem 213
7.3 The Process 214
7.4 The Result 216
7.5 Interpretations of the Outcome 219
7.6 The Incident at Antioch 220
8. The Independent Mission of Paul 225
8.1 Perspective, Process, and Conflicts 226
8.2 Persons 239
8.3 Structures 243
8.4 External Discourse 260
8.5 Internal Discourse 268
8.6 Theology in Letter Form: The Pauline Letters 283
8.7 Paul and the Development of Early Christianity as an Independent Movement 289
9. The Crisis of Early Christianity around 70 CE 299
9.1 The Deaths of Peter, Paul, and James and the First Persecutions 299
9.2 The Destruction of the Temple, the Fall of the Jerusalem Church, and the Fiscus Judaicus 304
9.3 The Rise of the Flavians 307
9.4 The Writing of the Gospels and Pseudepigraphy as Innovative Responses to Crises 309
10. The Establishment of Early Christianity 315
10.1 A New Genre for a New Era: The Gospels 315
10.2 The Synoptic Gospels and Acts as Master Narratives 317
10.3 The Continuing Legacy of Paul 332
10.4 Johannine Christianity as the Fourth Great Stream 345
10.5 Jewish Christianity as an Enduring Power 360
10.6 Perceptions by Outsiders 384
11. Dangers and Threats 388
11.1 The Delay of the Parousia 388
11.2 Poor and Rich 400
11.3 Controversies, False Teachers, and Opponents 405
11.4 Structures and Offices 416
11.5 Conflicts with Judaism after 70 CE 421
12. The Persecutions of Christians and the Imperial Cult 427
12.1 The Imperial Cult as a Political Religion 427
12.2 Persecution under Nero 431
12.3 Persecution under Domitian? 439
12.4 Pliny and Trajan concerning Christianity 445
13. Early Christianity as an Independent Movement 453
13.1 The New Narrative and the New Language of the Christians 453
13.2 New Perspectives about God 467
13.3 Serving as a Model of Success 474
13.4 Early Christianity as a Religion of the City and of Education 482
13.5 The Major Theological Currents and Networks near the End of the First Century 493
13.6 The Expansion of Early Christianity 524
14. The Transition to the Ancient Church 531
14.1 Claims to Power and Established Structures 531
14.2 The Emergence of Another Message: Early Gnosticism 539
15. Fifteen Reasons for the Success of Early Christianity 560
Works Cited 565
Index of Authors 644
Index of Selected Subjects 653
Index of Selected References 658
Cover Flaps 663
Back Cover 664
Illustrations
Maps
3.1. The Military Campaigns of Alexander the Great 14
3.6. The Roman Empire in New Testament Times 66
6.1. The First Missionary Journey 201
8.1. The Second Missionary Journey 227
8.7. The Third Missionary Journey 237
Photos
3.2. Greek Temple in Paestum 21
3.3. The Sanctuary of Delphi 22
3.4. The Temple of Isis in Pompeii 28
3.5. Arch of Titus in Rome 57
8.2. The Stoa of Athens 230
8.3. The Sanctuary of Apollo in Corinth 232
8.4. The Theater in Ephesus 234
8.5. Two Portrayals of Artemis of Ephesus 235
8.6. The Celsus Library 236
8.8. The Ekklesiasterion in Paestum 248
8.9. The Erastus Inscription 252
9.1. The Possible Place of Paul’s Tomb 302
13.1. The Theater at Hierapolis 491
Tables
1. Philosophical Schools/Movements 43
2. Chronology of Jewish Literature 65
3. Chronology of World History and Palestine 79
4. Sequence of the Jerusalem Conference according to Paul and Luke 215
5. Chronology of Early Christianity to 50 CE 224
6. Chronology of Early Christianity to 70 CE 314
7. Early Church Locations 525
8. Estimated Growth of Christianity per Decade 530
9. Chronology of Early Christianity to 130 CE 559
Translator’s Preface
I n the last generation, the works of Udo Schnelle have had a major impact on English-speaking scholars and students, who have benefited from his encyclopedic knowledge and depth of insight about a wide range of topics related to the New Testament. Translations of Antidocetic Christology in the Gospel of John ; The Human Condition: Anthropology in the Teachings of Jesus, Paul, and John ; History and Theology of the New Testament Writings ; Theology of the New Testament ; Apostle Paul: His Life and Theology , and numerous articles that have appeared in English have been valuable resources for scholars who do not have access to his original publications. These works in English translation, however, represent only a small part of the scholarly productivity that has been available for decades to German readers.
The First Hundred Years of Christianity builds on the results of the previous works and advances beyond the traditional questions of New Testament introduction and theology by offering a coherent vision of the historical development of the Christian movement from roughly 30 CE to about 130 CE. Beginning with the Greco-Roman and Jewish context, Schnelle demonstrates the variety of streams within the Jesus movement of the first generation and the historical forces that led to the spread of Christianity during this period.
This book reflects an extraordinary knowledge of both primary and secondary sources. As one of the editors of the Neuer Wettstein (cited here as NW ), a collection of texts from the Hellenistic world, Schnelle has a rare mastery of primary sources, which he demonstrates throughout the book. Using more than 1,700 secondary sources representing current scholarship, Schnelle engages the most recent scholarship on the environment of early Christianity.
The First Hundred Years of Christianity has a unique place in current New Testament scholarship. In moving beyond the traditional questions that occupy scholars, the book is unparalleled in current literature. Thus it will be a valuable reference work for scholars and graduate students. I have learned much about early Christianity from the book, and I am pleased to participate in making it available to English readers.
At the request of the author and publisher, I have supplied the English titles and appropriate page numbers for all references where an English translation exists. I have also added works written in English to the secondary sources. Translations of classical sources are from the Loeb Classical Library.
This translation was read by the author and by the editors at Baker Academic, all of whom made valuable suggestions. Professor Schnelle has been a gracious conversation partner, offering clarification for the translation, and the Baker editors’ attention to clarity and accuracy has been helpful in the process of preparing the book for publication.
James W. Thompson October 27, 2019
Author’s Preface to the American Edition
T his book is an introduction to the complex history, literature, and theology of early Christianity. One major question is the focus of this study: How did the insignificant Jesus movement in Galilee and Jerusalem become a powerful religious community and spread in a brief period throughout the Roman Empire? Three factors played a crucial role: Early Christianity was a diverse movement. This diversity ensured its survival, for the demise of one stream (e.g., the early church) did not result in the end of the entire movement. The history of events and ideas formed a unity at the beginning of Christianity; events gave rise to theological interpretation, and ideas made history. An astonishing factor is the high literary production of the new movement and the related intellectual and cultural achievements. Early Christians created and were surrounded by literature, and there