The Origins of Christianity: A Historical Introduction to the New Testament (Oxford Bible Series) [Paperback]

Schuyler Brown (Author)

Book Description

Series: Oxford Bible Series | Publication Date: September 23, 1993

The life and death of Jesus of Nazareth and the beginnings of the movement which venerated him are of profound religious significance to Christian believers today. These events are also part of our common history and have had enormous influence on the development of Western civilization. This is a thorough historical introduction to the New Testament, considering many aspects of the formation of Christianity and how it has influenced subsequent secular and religious history. A revised edition of a classic text, The Origins of Christianity addresses the historical problems involved in the study of the New Testament, suggesting modern techniques for solving them. For the this revised edition, the author has not only corrected and updated the text, but also expanded and clarified some points with new material and further references.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Extremely helpful--I like the revisions."--Sr. Karen Wilhelmy, Mt. St. Mary's College

"Delightful and most informative."--The Advocate

"High-class and refreshing--makes me want to reread it again."--David Jenkins, Church Times

About the Author

Schuyler Brown is at St Michael's College, Toronto.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; Revised edition (September 23, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0198262078
• ISBN-13: 978-0198262077
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,215,454 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars History gleaned from Biblical text, August 21, 2010

By 

Chuck - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Origins of Christianity: A Historical Introduction to the New Testament (Oxford Bible Series) (Paperback)

I've started studying the origins of Christianity, not out of religious devotion, but to understand the formation of this institution which has played so large a role in Western history. I'm not finding any single source which provides a comprehensive survey on the topic, though the lecture course put out by The Teaching Company called "The Beginnings of Christianity" provides a good overview. Otherwise, the books seem to focus on particular aspects of, or take limited approaches toward, the topic; so each of the books, while not comprehensive, contributes in its own way to the larger discussion. That's the case with Brown's book: it emphasizes the origins of Christianity as revealed in Biblical text, as opposed to outside historical sources. Brown views the Bible as the primary historic resource, the book that speaks most directly to the historic events of early Christianity. So you won't get any "contextualized" history from Brown, no fitting in of Christianity with cultural or religious currents of the times.

This doesn't mean he just reiterates "the story of the Bible"; he engages in close and detailed textual analysis to distinguish the subtexts of the different gospels (e.g., Matthew more traditionally Jewish than the others)to ascertain the nature of the earliest currents of Christian thought and belief. This I found interesting. What I found less appealing is when Brown begins to take the texts at face value, giving them too much credit for narrative historical accuracy. His approach is, apparently, that it's a narrow-minded historian who won't take a text at its word. For instance, he says about the stories of miracles in the New Testament: "[the historian] is not entitled to reject a priori the the occurence of extraordinary events attested in his sources simply because they are not part of his everyday experience." Brown doesn't support this provocative and somewhat outlandish statement, but tries to quell dissent by disparaging "dogmatic scepticism". I had no idea that a historian was somehow required to check his/her critical thinking and common sense at the door and assign credibility to claims of the supernatural. It may be fine for believers, but it will be an unhappy day for secular history if historians are required to give credence to every tall claim made throughout the ages.

Anyway, Brown's book is otherwise well-written and scholarly, even though its scope is limited, and though some of his basic premises give his conclusions limited value for a secular reader.