Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Foreword
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction: Reading Early Christian Literature in Context
- Part 1 The Graeco-Roaaan World: Context For Early Christianity
- Part Two The Teaching of the Historcial Jesus (27-30 Ce)
- Part Three The Earliest Christian Literature (30-70 Ce)
- Part Four The Christian Literature of the Late First Century (70-100 Ce)
- Part Five Beyond the New Testament: The Making of Christianity and Its Emergence Into the World
- Index
10 - Conclusion
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 February 2020
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Foreword
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction: Reading Early Christian Literature in Context
- Part 1 The Graeco-Roaaan World: Context For Early Christianity
- Part Two The Teaching of the Historcial Jesus (27-30 Ce)
- Part Three The Earliest Christian Literature (30-70 Ce)
- Part Four The Christian Literature of the Late First Century (70-100 Ce)
- Part Five Beyond the New Testament: The Making of Christianity and Its Emergence Into the World
- Index
Summary
Through the ages, people have followed Jesus of Nazareth in various ways and have cherished various images of him. For some he is the saviour of their souls and the mediator which makes eternal salvation possible. For others he provides a window on God and even functions as God himself. Then there are those for whom he is the liberator from social and political injustice.
The historical search for Jesus endeavours to portray an image of him which accounts for the complexity of his person and which is not at the outset dominated by subjective beliefs. It stands to reason that this historical research cannot be entirely objective, but should for this very reason be done within the context of scholarly debate.
The recent historical Jesus research have opened new perspectives on who Jesus was, what he said and did, and what his significance was and is. The famous Irish-born author, George Bernard Shaw, for example, in actual fact anticipated the results of present-day scholarship on Jesus's view of the kingdom when he remarked: ‘Jesus said: ‘The kingdom of God is among you.’ Ever since the church has looked for it somewhere else.’
The historical Jesus research presents a challenge to the churches and believers to rethink conventional dogmas and beliefs, and today many people within the church are responding to this challenge. Even if people leave the church and give up conventional Christianity, they are still fascinated by the figure of Jesus of Nazareth.
JESUS AND CHRISTIANITY
Christianity takes its name from the figure of Jesus Christ. According to early Christian tradition (Acts 11:26), it was in Antioch in Syria that the ‘believers were first called Christians’ (Greek: Christiana). As the form of the name would imply, they were constituted (at least in the eyes of outsiders) as a Jewish faction or ‘party’ much like the Herodians. Historically, Christianity emerged in the Graeco-Roman world as a social, an ideological and a political phenomenon. It is exactly this fact that should lead one to consider the nature of Christianity as a religious movement in late antiquity, and in the light of this, to consider the link between Jesus Christ and Christianity. According to traditional conceptions of the history of Christianity, there is a direct line of development between the historical figure of Jesus of Nazareth and what later developed into ‘mainstream', orthodox Christianity.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- From Jesus Christ To ChristianityEarly Christian Literature in Context, pp. 119 - 126Publisher: University of South AfricaPrint publication year: 2001