How Did Christianity Begin?
Regular price
€17.99
The objective of "How Did Christianity Begin?" is to present two contrasting perspectives on the history of early Christianity. The contrast is evidently sharp as one co-author comes from a conservative Christian background (Michael Bird), whilst the other co-author (James Crossley) approaches the matter from a secular standpoint. The volume works sequentially through Christian origins and addresses various topics including the historical Jesus, the resurrection of Jesus, the Apostle Paul, the Gospels, and the early church. Each author in turn examines these subjects and lays out his historical arguments concerning their origin and meaning.The volume also includes short responses from two other scholars (Maurice Casey and Scot McKnight) to the arguments of Bird and Crossley so as to give an even handed and broad evaluation of the arguments and debates that unfold.
Michael Bird is lecturer in New Testament at the Highland Theological Institute. He has published several articles in areas such as the linguistic background to the gospels and the Gospel of Mark and is the author of the forthcoming Jesus and the Origins of the Gentile Mission. James Crossley is lecturer in New Testament at the University of Sheffield. He is the author of The Date of Mark's Gospel: Insight from the Law in Earliest Christianity (2004) and the forthcoming The Spread of Earliest Christianity c. 26-50 CE (WJK, 2006). He is also the co-editor of Writing History, Constructing Religion (Ashgate, 2005).