Jesus Creed

Jesus Creed

Earliest Christianity: Where to go?

posted by Scot McKnight | 12:04am Wednesday April 8, 2009

Jimmy.jpgLet’s say you want to know what the earliest churches and Christians were like. Is there a book that puts it all together? that sorts out all the scholarship? one that is up-to-date? When I was a student, we turned first to F.F. Bruce and to F.V. Filson, and then sketch in the background by opening up E. Schurer’s famous set. But we have learned so much, and so many ideas have shifted, and so much new evidence has turned up that we are in need of something that sorts it all out.

That is why I commend to you my own doctoral supervisor’s magnum opus, volume 2 of his set on Christianity in the Making. The first book by James D.G. Dunn, one of the deans of New Testament scholarship today, was on Jesus (Jesus Remembered (Christianity in the Making, Vol. 1)
), and this second one is called Beginning from Jerusalem
.

This is a big book (1300+ pages), and we need a big book to get all this stuff into focus. Here are just some of the topics, and Jimmy (that’s what we call our teacher) has a knack at sorting out the evidence, the scholarship, and carrying us to the next station: Pentecost, leadership, the seven, Stephen, Philip, Paul, Peter, and Paul’s whole mission … well, it’s all here. This is the place to begin from now on.

Personal word: I got to read nearly all of this in ms form a while back and I am excited this book is now available. I suspect individual chapters will be assigned for college and seminary classes in all sorts of ways.



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Comments read comments(6)
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Mike Bird

posted April 8, 2009 at 3:34 am


Scot,
I just got my copy too and it looks great. Opening chapter was a delight to read.



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Kyle

posted April 8, 2009 at 4:46 am


I’m jealous of you guys! I can’t wait to get my copy.



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Tony Hunt

posted April 8, 2009 at 4:58 am


Scot,
How does this series differ in focus and scope to Wright’s Origins Project? I have “Jesus Remembered” and it seems to be a bit more technical and detailed than Wright’s, but Wright reads like a really good novel.



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Richard Olsen

posted April 8, 2009 at 11:25 am


Wow, these books look great Scott. I love, live and breathe church history and the more I read the less dogmatic I become. I have you to blame for much of my research which comes from Catholic and Orthodox writings. After all, wasn’t in Cardinal John Henry Newmann who said something to the effect, “to be deep in history is to cease to be a Protestant.”?
I’ve read a lot of the books of Mike Aquilina on the apostles, Thomas Woods on how the Catholic Church built Western Civilization, Upon this Rock by Steve Ray, the huge volumes on early church writings by Jurgens and many others. The Orthodox church has some interesting history texts too that are good counters to the Catholic books. And of course I’ve read parts of the Phillip Schaff’s encyclopedia of church history.
I’ve come to the conclusion so far that how you view history is according to which color of sunglasses you are wearing. I’ll have to save my pennies for these books you mention. Thanks for highlighting these texts.
Rich



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Matt Edwards

posted April 8, 2009 at 3:29 pm


Scot,
I didn’t know you studied under James Dunn. I am very jealous.
I just started reading the book. It is fantastic!



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Kacie

posted April 8, 2009 at 4:42 pm


Scot or anyone else – any suggestions for a good place to get a PhD in early church history – evangelical or mainstream?



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