__A History of Early Christianity, 30-130 CE__ "Udo Schnelle, one of Germany's leading New Testament scholars, has produced a comprehensive account of the growth and development of early Christianity. Thoroughly at home in all the relevant ancient texts and in critical dialogue with contemporary scholars, Schnelle sets the development of the church against the complex background of Greco-Roman and Jewish culture. He carefully traces the ways in which communities of Jesus believers grew and produced their distinctive literature. This is a rich and rewarding resource for serious students of early Christianity, particularly useful for introducing English readers to a wealth of German scholarship."  
--__Harold W. Attridge__, Yale Divinity School  
  
"This immense undertaking is no light survey but a wide-ranging, comprehensive assessment of most of the major questions and issues in contemporary scholarship with regard to the transition from charismatic movement to Early Christianity. It takes balanced and well-informed positions on disputed issues. Rather than an introduction for beginners, it is a treasury of scholarship and interpretation for those who want more."  
--__Carolyn Osiek__, Brite Divinity School, Texas Christian University (emerita)  
  
"There is no better New Testament scholar active in Europe today than Udo Schnelle, whose penetrating account of the first hundred years of early Christian history has now been ably translated into English by James Thompson. Highly recommended as both a textbook and a reference volume."  
--__John T. Fitzgerald__, University of Notre Dame  
  
"Professor Schnelle's distinguished career in New Testament scholarship and theology provides the foundation for this substantial history of Christianity's first hundred years. Eschewing fads and popularizing the byways of noncanonical gospels, Schnelle makes the case for the deserved success of Jesus's followers in establishing an independent religious movement that originated with the person, ministry, and teaching of Jesus. This movement's new vision of God, salvation, and conduct in community was key to its success, as was the crucial role played by written texts and education."  
--__Pheme Perkins__, Boston College

__Udo Schnelle__ (DrTheol, University of Göttingen) is professor of New Testament at the University of Halle-Wittenberg in Germany. His previous works have been highly acclaimed.  
  
__James W. Thompson__ (PhD, Vanderbilt University) is scholar in residence at the Graduate School of Theology at Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas.

__Praise for the German Edition__  
"This volume could be an excellent textbook . . . for any course on the beginnings of Christianity, a very good example of how a historical study of the period should be undertaken."  
--__James D. G. Dunn__, Journal of Ecclesiastical History   
Beginning as a marginal group in Galilee, the movement initiated by Jesus of Nazareth became a world religion within one hundred years. Why, among various religious movements, did Christianity succeed? Udo Schnelle traces the historical, cultural, and theological influences and developments of the early years of the Christian movement, demonstrating how Christianity provided an intellectual framework, a literature, and socialization among converts that led to its enduring influence.  
  
"Written clearly and judiciously, this up-to-date integration of early Christian history and theology will be of interest to all students of the beginnings of Christianity and the formation of the New Testament. This succinct volume should instantly become a standard textbook and the go-to book for all interested students, teachers, and pastors. Thanks go to Baker Academic and James Thompson for making this important book available in English."  
--__M. Eugene Boring__, Brite Divinity School, Texas Christian University (emeritus)  
  
"This translation makes Udo Schnelle's monumental scholarship about the formative period of early Christianity available to English-speaking audiences. The book outlines the origins of the Jesus movement and its rapid development within the multifaceted matrix of the ancient Greco-Roman world and early Judaism. It is clear in its structure, solid in its argumentation, and broad in its scope, while still remaining attentive to important details. Benefiting from Thompson's sensitive and competent translation, Schnelle's sweeping depiction of the past will find the approval of many biblical scholars. I highly recommend this work as a comprehensive and trustworthy textbook for graduate classes in early Christianity/New Testament."  
--__Christian A. Eberhart__, University of Houston

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.

This major work by a senior international scholar traces the historical, cultural, and theological influences and developments of the early years of the Christian movement.

__Contents__   
__1. On Writing a History of Origins__ 1.1 History as Interpretation of the Present and the Past  
1.2 History and Method  
__2. Definition and Demarcation of the Epoch__ 2.1 Primitive Christianity or Early Christianity?  
2.2 The Chronological Framework  
__3. Presuppositions and Contexts__ 3.1 Hellenism as a World Culture  
3.2 Greco-Roman Culture  
3.3 Judaism  
3.4 The Political and Economic Situation in the Roman Empire in the First and Second Centuries CE  
__4. The New Movement of Christ-Believers__ 4.1 The Easter Events  
4.2 The Origin of Christology  
4.3 The Founder of a New Discourse and New Thinking  
__5. The Jerusalem Church__ 5.1 The Beginnings  
5.2 Groups and Persons  
5.3 Places: The Temple  
5.4 Conflicts  
5.5 Theological Institutions and Discourse  
5.6 Texts: The Passion Narrative  
5.7 The Theological Development of the Early Jerusalem Church  
__6. Early Churches and Early Mission outside of Jerusalem__ 6.1 Contexts: Mobility and Religious-Philosophical Variety in the Roman Empire  
6.2 Persons  
6.3 Groups: The Jesus Movement  
6.4 Lands and Places  
6.5 Competitors and Conflicts  
6.6 The Development of the Community's Own Cult Praxis and Theology: The First Forms of Institutionalization  
6.7 Texts  
6.8 The First Missionary Journey and the Mission to the Gentiles without the Requirement of Circumcision  
6.9 The Three Great Currents at the Beginning  
__7. The Apostolic Conference__ 7.1 The Initial Conflict  
7.2 The Essential Problem  
7.3 The Process  
7.4 The Result  
7.5 Interpretations of the Outcome  
7.6 The Incident at Antioch  
__8. The Independent Mission of Paul__ 8.1 Perspective, Process, and Conflicts  
8.2 Persons  
8.3 Structures  
8.4 External Discourse  
8.5 Internal Discourse  
8.6 Theology in Letter Form: The Pauline Letters  
8.7 Paul and the Development of Early Christianity as an Independent Movement  
__9. The Crisis of Early Christianity around 70 CE__ 9.1 The Deaths of Peter, Paul, and James and the First Persecutions  
9.2 The Destruction of the Temple, the Fall of the Jerusalem Church, and the Fiscus Judaicus  
9.3 The Rise of the Flavians  
9.4 The Writing of the Gospels and Pseudepigraphy as Innovative Responses to Crises  
__10. The Establishment of Early Christianity__ 10.1 A New Genre for a New Era: The Gospels  
10.2 The Synoptic Gospels and Acts as Master Narratives  
10.3 The Continuing Legacy of Paul  
10.4 Johannine Christianity as the Fourth Great Stream  
10.5 Jewish Christianity as an Enduring Power  
10.6 Perceptions by Outsiders  
__11. Dangers and Threats__ 11.1 The Delay of the Parousia  
11.2 Poor and Rich  
11.3 Controversies, False Teachers, and Opponents  
11.4 Structures and Offices  
11.5 Conflicts with Judaism after 70 CE  
__12. Persecutions of Christians and the Imperial Cult__ 12.1 The Imperial Cult as a Political Religion  
12.2 Persecution under Nero  
12.3 Persecution under Domitian?  
12.4 Pliny and Trajan concerning Christianity  
__13. Early Christianity as an Independent Movement__ 13.1 The New Narrative and the New Language of the Christians  
13.2 New Perspectives about God  
13.3 Serving as a Model of Success  
13.4 Early Christianity as a Religion of the City and of Education  
13.5 The Major Theological Currents and Networks near the End of the First Century  
13.6 The Expansion of Early Christianity  
__14. The Transition to the Ancient Church__ 14.1 Claims to Power and Established Structures  
14.2 The Emergence of Another Message: Early Gnosticism  
__15. Fifteen Reasons for the Success of Early Christianity__ Works Cited  
Indexes

Schnelle, Udo

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The First One Hundred Years of Christianity

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