The First One Hundred Years of Christianity: An Introduction to Its History, Literature, and Development

by Udo Schnelle

Publisher:

Baker Academic

, 2020

Overview

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.

Key Features

• Traces the historical, cultural, and theological influences and developments of the early church
• Examines how how Christianity provided an intellectual framework among converts that led to its enduring influence
• Explores early Christian literature

Contents

• On Writing a History of Origins
• Definition and Demarcation of the Epoch
• Presuppositions and Contexts
• The New Movement of Christ-Believers
• The Jerusalem Church
• Early Churches and Early Mission outside of Jerusalem
• The Apostolic Conference
• The Independent Mission of Paul
• The Crisis of Early Christianity around 70 CE
• The Establishment of Early Christianity
• Dangers and Threats
• Persecutions of Christians and the Imperial Cult
• Early Christianity as an Independent Movement
• The Transition to the Ancient Church
• Fifteen Reasons for the Success of Early Christianity

Top Highlights

“purification. ‘Our ancestors believed that every sin and every cause of ill could be wiped out by rites or purgation.” (Page 21)

“A combined heritage in Judaism and Hellenism was one of the decisive presuppositions for the successful reception of the new faith in mixed communities and thus was characteristic of early Christianity.” (Page 18)

“The concept of an absolute, transcendent deity inevitably raised the question of how communication between god and humankind was possible. Plutarch maintains the existence of intermediary beings that maintain contact with the true deity and maintain an indispensable function for humankind.” (Pages 43–44)

“The incarnation of gods or godlike beings (and the divinization of a man) is a genuine Greek idea (see above, 3.1; 3.2, first subheading) and reflects a motif from Hellenistic culture that played an important role in the formation and reception of the earliest Christology.” (Pages 90–91)

“Early Christianity did not develop out of Judaism into Hellenism but was a part of Hellenism from the beginning” (Page 18)

Product Details

• Title: The First One Hundred Years of Christianity: An Introduction to Its History, Literature, and Development
• Author: Udo Schnelle
• Translator: James W. Thompson
• Publisher: Baker
• Publication Date: 2020
• Pages: 688
• Resource Type: Introduction
• Topic: Early Church

About Udo Schnelle

Udo Schnelle (born 1952) is professor of New Testament at the University of Halle-Wittenberg, and is the author of a number of theological works. Schnelle studied from 1974–1979 in Göttingen, where he graduated in 1981. From 1986–1992 he was Professor of New Testament studies at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg and has taught at Halle since 1992.