Internet Ancient History Sourcebook:
Christian Origins
See Main Page for a guide to
all contents of all sections.
Contents
See Internet Medieval
Sourcebook for the later history of Christianity
Christian Origins
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Source Problems
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Jesus of Nazareth (c.4 BCE-c.30 CE)
- Context
- Teaching [links are to Bible
Gateway]
- Death
In addition to the canonical gospels, see,
-
Gospel of Peter (2nd century) [At
Internet Archive, from Theological Network]
A somewhat expanded account, seen by some scholars (Crossan) as containing stories unknown
to the canonical writers. It is an ealry witness to the intense interest in Jesus'
resurrection among 2nd cent. Egyptian Christians.
- Historical Evidence
- The Pilate Inscription [At K.C. Hanson's website]
An inscription found in Caesarea which first proved the existence of Pilate.
- Josephus (37- after 93 CE): Description
of Jesus [Antiquities of the Jews 18:3][At PBS]
A much debated text. Many think it is all, or in parts, an interpolation.
- Josephus (37- after 93 CE): Description of
Jesus Antiquities of the Jews 18:3 [At UPenn]
With Greek and Arabic versions.
-
2ND The Gospel Truth, TIME
Magazine, April 8, 1996 Volume 147, No. 15 [At Internet Archive, from Millersville]
On the Jesus Seminar and its critics.
- Birger A. Pearson: The Gospel According
to the Jesus Seminar [At UCSB]
A vigorous attack on the methods.
- WEB Ancient Jewish Accounts of
Jesus [At UPenn]
Texts given in full.
- WEB From Jesus to Christ [PBS Website]
-
WEB Jesus
of Nazareth in Early Christian Gospels [Formerly "Quest for Historical
Jesus"] [Website]
A really useful site.
-
WEB The Jesus Puzzle [Website]
Denial of the historicity of Jesus. See the Quest site above for very different
opinions.
-
WEB The Jesus Seminar Forum [At Virtual Religion]
Excellent collection of primary and secondary sources.
- WEB Conference on the
Historical Origins of the Worship of Jesus, 13-17 June 1998, [At St Andrews]
With extended paper abstracts.
-
Monty Python: The Life
of Brian [Script][At the Unofficial Monty Python Homepage]
Thought by some to be blasphemous, this film [explicitly about Brian, not Jesus] raised in
a quite interesting way some of the issues discussed in scholarship.
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Early Church: First Century
Josephus, a Jew writing in Greek, and Tacitus, Suetonius, and Pliny the Younger, are
the earliest non-Biblical witnesses to the existence of Christianity. The Didache seems to be a source independent to some degree of the Biblical texts.
- The Earliest Christians
- Josephus (37- after 93 CE): Description
of Jesus [Antiquities of the Jews 18:3][At PBS]. [aka Testimonium
Flavianum]
Much contested passage. Probably genuine with Christian interpolations.
See the Flavius Josephus Page [At
AOL]
- Tacitus (c.55 -117 CE), Suetonius (c.69-after 122 CE), and Pliny the Younger (61/62-113
CE): Persecution of the Christians [At CSUN]
- Tacitus (c.55 -117 CE): Nero's
Persecution of the Christians Annals 15:47 [At WSU]
-
The
Didache (Teaching of the Twelve Apostles) 2nd Cent CE [At Spurgeon.org]
-
The Oxyrhynchus
Hymn (2nd Cent CE) [Text and Audio] [At Smith Creek Music]
The oldest surviving piece of Christian Music.
- Eusebius (c.260-340 CE): Ecclesiastical
History [At CSUN]
On Jesus Family, the leadership of James, and the New Testament. The tradional historian
of the Church, but writing very late.
- WEB The First Christians [At PBS Jesus to Christ Site]
- Paul of Tarsus (d.c.65 CE) and the Pauline Churches
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Early Church: 2nd-3rd
Centuries
- Persecution and Survival
- Challenge to Social and Political Norms of Antiquity
- Church Organization
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The Emergence of Theologies
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Early Christian Art
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The
"Triumph" of the Church
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Modern
Perspectives on Early Christianity
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NOTES:
Dates of accession of material added since July 1998 can be seen in the New Additions page..
The date of inception was
4/8/1998.
Links to files at other site are indicated by [At some indication of the site
name or location].
Locally available texts are marked by [At this Site].
WEB indicates a link to one of small
number of high quality web sites which provide either more texts or an especially valuable
overview.
The Internet Ancient History Sourcebook is part of the Internet History Sourcebooks Project
The Internet History Sourcebooks Project is located at the History Department of Fordham University, New York. The Internet
Medieval Sourcebook, and other medieval components of the project, are located at
the Fordham University Center
for Medieval Studies.The IHSP recognizes the contribution of Fordham University, the
Fordham University History Department, and the Fordham Center for Medieval Studies in
providing web space and server support for the project. The IHSP is a project independent of Fordham University. Although the IHSP seeks to follow all applicable copyright law, Fordham University is not
the institutional owner, and is not liable as the result of any legal action.
© Site Concept and Design: Paul Halsall created 26 Jan 1996: latest revision 26 January 2023 [CV]
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