Bibliographical details:
Rowland, C. (2002). Christian Origins: An Account of the Setting and Character of the Most Important Messianic Sect of Judaism. 2nd ed. London: SPCK.
Publisher’s information:
This new edition of Professor Rowland’s authoritative classic has been thoroughly revised and updated. In the light of recent work, the author has rewritten the chapter entitled ‘Jewish Sectarianism’ and renamed it ‘Schools of Thought’. The last section of Part II has been reshaped and linked more closely with the sources. Extensive additions have been made to the ‘Christianity’ section, particularly in relation to Paul and the nature of tradition. An extra bibliography also enhances this new edition of Christian Origins.
‘Dr Rowland has written a splendid book. He has put together in manageable space a well-read and well-argued account of the beginnings of the Christian movement: a third of it on the Judaism of the first century, a third on Jesus, and a third on Paul and the development from messianic sect to Christian religion. If you are a student, here are the outlines of your New Testament essays, conveniently cut up into three- and four-page sections. If you are a [minister] or teacher, here are the results of all the years of scholarship since you graduated. If you are a professional, here are many insights and nuances which you can weigh with profit.’
Michael Goulder, Theology
‘Dr Rowland’s account of Christian origins is very convincing. There is an enormous wealth of factual information here; but better still, the theological and sociological insights he brings to bear upon the subject make his account of the New Testament truly exciting. When I was a theological student myself, I used to think that New Testament scholars lived in cloud-cuckoo-land. I wish I had had this book then.’
Michael Sadgrove, Church Times
Christopher Rowland is Dean Ireland’s Professor of the Exegesis of Holy Scripture at the University of Oxford.
Table of contents:
Acknowledgements for the First Edition … xi
Preface to the First Edition … xiii
Preface to the Second Edition … xix
Abbreviations … xxv
PART I Introduction … 1
1 The Rock Whence Ye Were Hewn … 3
2 An Approach to Ancient Judaism … 9
3 The Jews After the Exile … 11
PART II Jewish Life and Thought at the Beginning of the Common Era from the Perspective of the Study of Christian Origins … 21
1 God’s Covenant with the Jews … 23
2 The God of the Covenant … 26
3 The Heavenly Host … 30
4 Angelic Mediators … 32
5 The Temple … 37
6 Festivals … 40
7 The Synagogue … 42
8 The Torah … 44
9 The Interpretation of Scripture … 48
10 Apocalyptic Approaches to Scripture: The Disclosure of Heavenly Knowledge … 54
11 Schools of Thought: An Introduction to Sectarianism in the Second Temple Period … 61
12 Schools of Thought: An Outline of Jewish Groups in the First Century CE … 64
13 Diaspora Judaism … 79
14 The Expression of Hope … 86
15 Pragmatism and Hope in Second Temple Judaism … 97
(a) Activists and Quietists … 97 (b) A Crisis for Eschatology? … 101PART III The Emergence of a Messianic Sect … 105
Section 1: Introduction … 107
1 Early Christianity: What Kind of Religious Movement? … 107
2 The Centrality of Eschatology in Primitive Christian Belief … 109
3 The ‘World of Jesus and the First Christians … 115
Section 2: Jesus … 119
1 The Quest for the Historical Jesus … 119
2 Using the Gospels to Establish the Character of Jesus’ Life and Message … 125
3 John the Baptist … 130
4 The Proclamation of the Kingdom of God … 132
5 The Parables … 134
6 Other Teaching … 139
7 The Signs of the Coming Kingdom … 143
8 Jesus and the Future … 145
9 Jesus and Second Temple Judaism … 151
10 The Death of Jesus … 161
11 Jesus’ Personal Claim … 171
12 The Resurrection Narratives … 183
Section 3: Paul … 190
1 Introduction … 190
2 Christianity Before and Apart from Paul … 195
3 Situation and System in Paul’s Letters … 201
4 Major Themes of Paul’s Letters … 205
5 Apostle to the Gentiles … 212
6 Paul’s Method as an Apostle … 218
7 Paul and the Torah … 221
8 Membership of the People of God … 223
9 Paul and Israel … 225
10 The Problem of Authority … 228
Section 4: From Messianism to Christian Religion … 234
1 Early Christian Initiation and Worship … 235
2 The Emergence of Beliefs About Jesus … 247
(a) The Foundations of Christology … 247 (b) The Gradual Dissolution of the Eschatological Framework of Primitive Christology … 2513 Differing Models of Ministry … 256
(a) Paul’s Letters … 257 (b) The Johannine Literature … 261 (c) The Church in Jerusalem … 264 (d) Post-Pauline Developments … 265 (e) Tradition and Charismatic Authority … 2684 Coming to Terms with the Old Age … 276
(a) The Common Life … 276 (b) The Problem of Ethics in the New Age … 279 (c) The Delay of the Parousia: was it a Problem? … 287 (d) The Separation of Church and Synagogue … 296 (e) You are his Disciples but we are Disciples of Moses … 298 (f) The Rise of Gnosticism … 303 (g) Witness against the Beast and Babylon … 306Epilogue … 309
Appendix: The Sources … 311
1 Jewish Literature … 312
2 Early Christian Literature … 322
Notes … 327
Bibliography … 381
Additional Bibliography … 417
Index of Ancient Sources … 431
Index of Subjects … 447
Click here to read the review by Stephen W. Felder, published in the Review of Biblical Literature.
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