The First One Hundred Years of Christianity

An Introduction to Its History, Literature, and Development

Schnelle, Udo, Thompson, James W.

• Publisher: Baker Academic
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781493422425
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: History of Christianity

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.

1
On Writing a History of Origins

Jesus of Nazareth is a figure of history, and the Christian movement is a witness to the impact of this person. One who writes a history of early Christianity from a distance of two thousand years inevitably confronts the basic problem of historical research and knowledge. How does history take place? What happens when a document of the past is interpreted in the present with a claim on the future? How do historical reports and their arrangement relate to the contemporary framework of the historian/exegete’s understanding?

1.1. History as Interpretation of the Present and the Past

Interests and the Acquisition of Knowledge

The classical ideal of historicism, to “demonstrate what happened,”1 turns out to be an ideological postulate in a variety of ways. With its transition into the past, the present irrevocably loses its character as reality. Thus it is not possible to make the past to be present in unbroken form. The temporal interval means a distance in every respect. It denies historical knowledge in the sense of a comprehensive recovery of what happened. Rather, one can only make known one’s own interpretation in the present of what happened in the past. The past meets us exclusively in the mode of the present, in an interpreted and selective form. What is relevant from the past is only that which is no longer past but rather influences the contemporary world formation and world interpretation.2 The historians’ social settings, including their geographical location and political and religious value systems, necessarily shapes what they say in the present about the past.3 The writing of history is never a pure image of events because it has a history of its own, the history of the writer. The subject does not stand over history but is entirely entangled in it. Therefore, “objectivity” is not appropriate as the opposite of “subjectivity” in describing historical understanding.4 Rather, one should speak of “reasonableness” or “plausibility” of historical arguments.5 The actual event is not accessible to us, but rather only the various interpretations from the standpoint of the interpreter. Only through our attribution of meaning do things become what they are for us. History is not reconstructed, but rather it is unavoidably and necessarily constructed. That is, “it becomes history, but it is not history.”6 The writing of history involves much more than a mere relationship to the past. It is a way of establishing and shaping meaning, without which individual and collective life would not be possible.

Facts and Fiction

History turns out to be always a selective system, with which interpreters arrange and interpret not only the past but also their own world.7 The linguistic construction of history that takes place, therefore, is always a process that bestows meaning on both the past and the present. Historical interpretation involves creating a coherent framework of meaning. With the production of a historical narrative, the facts become what they are for us. Thus historical reports must be made accessible to the present and articulated so that in the presentation or narration of historical events, “facts” and “fiction,”8 data and the creative work of an author, are combined with each other. As historical reports are combined, empty historical places must be filled in, and reports out of the past and their interpretation in the present come together as something new.9 Through the interpretation, the event takes on a new structure that it never had before. Facts must be given a significance; the structure of this process of interpretation constitutes the understanding of the facts. The fictional element opens an access to the past and makes possible the essential rewriting of the presumed events.

Reality as Given

At the same time, statements are always interwoven with the conceptions of existing reality and time, without which construction and communication are not possible. There undoubtedly exists a reality, which is before, alongside, and after, but above all independent of our perception and description. Every person is genetically preconstructed and is constantly being coconstructed by sociocultural dynamics. Reflection and construction are always later actions that refer to something that is already given. Thus self-consciousness is never based on itself but necessarily requires reference to something beyond itself that grounds it and makes it possible. The fact that the question about meaning is even possible, and that meaning can be attained, points to an “unimaginable reality,”10 which precedes all existence and gives it the status of reality. A basic principle thus emerges: History comes into being first, after the underlying event takes place, and becomes elevated into the status of the past that is relevant to the present. Thus history does not have the same claim to reality as the underlying events. It is not our world and life that is a construction, but rather our perspective about it. For us, the two cannot be kept apart.

1.2 History and Method

The indispensable fictional or creative element of any writing of history requires a comprehensive inclusion of all relevant sources, a consideration of the central cultural presuppositions and contexts, and a combination of various questions in order to guard the natural subjective element from subjectivistic reductionism.11

Sources

The main sources are naturally all writings of the NT, especially the letters of Paul, Acts, and the Gospels. In addition one must also consider the Greek OT (Septuagint) and the entire Jewish literature from about 200 BCE to 100 CE insofar as they are relevant to early Christianity (see 3.3.1). In addition there are the writings of Flavius Josephus (ca. 37/38 CE–100 CE), whose main works, Bellum Iudaicum (Jewish War, written around 78/79 CE) and Antiquitates Iudaicae (Antiquities of the Jews, 94 CE) are of greatest significance for the understanding of ancient Judaism. From the Greco-Roman world the major sources are Tacitus (ca. 60–120 CE; major works Historiae [Histories], ca. 105 CE; Annales [Annals], ca. 115 CE), Suetonius (ca. 70–140/150 CE; major work De vita Caesarum [Life of the Caesars], 120 CE), and Dio Cassius (ca. 160–235 CE; major work, Ῥωμαϊκὴ ἱστορία [Historia romana, Roman History], ca. 230 CE).12 They had access to numerous (no longer extant) sources and transmitted valuable information about the relationship of the Roman state to Judaism and to emerging early Christianity. Also noteworthy are individual noncanonical witnesses to Jesus and to early Christianity that indicate how this person/movement was perceived. A distinctive source for the perception of Christians by the Romans appears in the exchange of letters between the governor Pliny and the caesar Trajan (ca. 110 CE), which offers an insight into the thinking of the imperial leadership over legal questions (see 12.4 below). The great philosophical movements in the first century are also significant: in contrast to today, philosophical-religious thinking influenced a large segment of the population. Finally, the inscriptions, coins, and architectonic witnesses (e.g., the Titus Arch in Rome) are to be considered, especially when they are significant for early Christianity.

Chronological Basis

In any historical depiction, a chronological framework is a starting point. The direct and indirect presuppositions must be expressed, including the central lines of development and the major events. The places of the events and the influential persons must be connected to the chronology. Geographic/local history and cultural-religious aspects complement each other, for, as a rule, it is no coincidence that relevant developments occur only or primarily in specific places.

Cultural Contexts and Personae

Early Christianity can neither be viewed in isolation nor explained in a monocausal way. Rather, the starting point for depicting it is its embeddedness in the multifaceted world of Hellenism. Judaism, indeed, as the first reference point of early Christianity, is a part of Hellenism. Hence an intentional further methodical horizon must be chosen, with which the religio-history and societal history, including the world of politics, economics, and culture, are included (see chap. 3 below). Likewise, individual and collective actors are not mutually exclusive in historical developments. Thus Paul is undoubtedly the most influential individual within early Christianity, but at the same time the individual unknown communities and nameless missionaries in the beginning period are of great significance for the development of the empire-wide movement of the “Christians” (cf. Acts 11:26). Likewise, a plausible, logical intentionality may be inherent in historical processes yet also may cause or support accidental developments.

The interaction of individual actors and comprehensive developments must thus be complemented by an understanding of those who thought otherwise (“opponents”) in specific communities in specific ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Illustrations
• Translator’s Preface
• Author’s Preface to the American Edition
• Abbreviations
• 1. On Writing a History of Origins
• 2. Definition and Demarcation of the Epoch
• 3. Presuppositions and Contexts
• 4. The New Movement of Christ-Believers
• 5. The Jerusalem Church
• 6. Early Churches and Early Mission outside Jerusalem
• 7. The Apostolic Conference
• 8. The Independent Mission of Paul
• 9. The Crisis of Early Christianity around 70 CE
• 10. The Establishment of Early Christianity
• 11. Dangers and Threats
• 12. The Persecutions of Christians and the Imperial Cult
• 13. Early Christianity as an Independent Movement
• 14. The Transition to the Ancient Church
• 15. Fifteen Reasons for the Success of Early Christianity
• Works Cited
• Index of Authors
• Index of Selected Subjects
• Index of Selected References
• Cover Flaps
• Back Cover