Jesus and the Rise of Early Christianity : A History of New Testament Times

by Barnett, Paul

• ISBN13: 9780830826995
• ISBN10: 0830826998
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-05-01
• Publisher: Ivp Academic

Summary

The pathway to understanding the New Testament leads through the vibrant landscape of the first-century Greco-Roman world. The New Testament is rooted in the concrete historical events of that world.InJesus & the Rise of Early ChristianityPaul Barnett not only places the New Testament within that world of caesars and Herods, proconsuls and Pharisees, Sadducees and revolutionaries, but argues that the mainspring and driving force of early Christian history is the historical Jesus. We cannot understand the rise of Christianity apart from this Jesus, the messiah of Israel and the spiritual and intellectual impact he had on his immediate followers and those who succeeded them.From his intimate acquaintance with the sources, the evidence and the problems of New Testament history, Barnett offers fresh insights. His telling of the story skillfully avoids the encumbrance of extraneous details and side journeys. From the brith of Jesus to the founding of the messianic community, from the rise of Paul's mission to the Gentiles to the writing of the Gospels, Barnett offers a comprehensive account of the movement that would change the face of world history.Jesus & the Rise of Early Christianityis a comprehensive survey of New Testament history that will meet the needs of students and teachers of the New Testament. In its engagment with contemporary scholarship and its emphasis on the propelling role of the historical and risen Jesus in the rise of Christianity, it provides a timely rejoinder to current revisionist exploration of Christian origins.

Table of Contents

Maps and Tables

Abbreviations

Preface

The New Testament as History

New Testament Chronology

History and Myth

The Impact of Christ

The Hellenistic Background to Jesus

Herod, Idumaean, King of the Jews

Jesus' Birth & Boyhood

Jesus' Context: Galilee & Peraea

Jesus' Context: Judea

The Search for the historical Pontius Pilate

Jesus of Nazareth (c. 29-33)

Working Assumptions

The Criterion of Dissimilarity

Did Jesus Make Claims to Deity?

Resurrection, Exaltation & the Spirit

The Community of the Messiah in Jerusalem

The Use of Acts 1-5 for Historical Reconstruction

The Scattering of the Community & the Conversion of Saul (c. 34/35)

Peter in Palestine (33-47)

The Apostolate of Saul in the "Unknown Years" (c. 34-47)

Paul's Mission Strategy According to Rainer Riesner

Jews, Proselytes and God-fearers

The Inclusion of the Gentiles (47-49)

An Early Dating for Galations

The Missionary Agreement and the Jerusalem Council

James, Cephas & John

Paul's Later Ministry (c. 50-65)

Churches & Evangelists (33-100)

The Four Gospels

The Kindgom of Christ

Epilogue

The Birth of Christianity According to J. Dominic Crossan

Select Bibliography

Indexes

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