The First One Hundred Years of Christianity: An Introduction to Its History, Literature, and Development by Udo Schnelle (review)

Udo Schnelle, Professor of New Testament at the University of Halle-Wittenberg, originally published this large tome as Die ersten 100 Jahre des Christentums: Die Entstehungsgeschichte einer Weltreligion (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2015; 3rd rev. ed., 2019). He states that there is one major question upon which the study is focused: "How did the insignificant Jesus movement in Galilee and Jerusalem become a powerful religious community and spread in a brief period throughout the Roman Empire?" (p. xiii). In his view three crucial factors were determinative: (1) the diversity of the movement enabled survival, since the demise of one stream did not result in ending the entire movement; (2) a conceptual unity combining the history of events and ideas was formed at the beginning, which gave rise to theological interpretation, and those ideas made history; and (3) the new movement was characterized by a high literary production, which S. holds must be regarded as an educational phenomenon. According to S., "[V]ery early an independent identity emerged, and the developing Christianity possessed a charismatic, social, and intellectual power of attraction" (p. xiii).

Following a brief introductory chapter on historical method, in chap. 2, S. sets forth his preference for referring to the epoch he is focused on as "early Christianity" (Frühchristentum) vs. "primitive Christianity" (Urchristentum), holding that the former is the more neutral terminus technicus. In the next chapter, S. surveys presuppositions and contexts, such as the world culture of Hellenism, Greco-Roman culture, Greek religion, Roman and mystery religions, philosophical movements, Judaism, and the political and economic situation in the Roman Empire. In chap. 4, S. launches into his treatment of Jesus and the Jesus movement by discussing the Easter events and the emergence therefrom of nascent christology. In his view, the early Christians founded a new religious discourse that drew from both Jewish theological foundations (e.g., God as one, as creator) and Greek concepts (God becoming human in Jesus). He observes that, from the very beginning, Christian discourse was not actually compatible with either set of views. "The affirmation that a crucified man was the messiah was perceived as blasphemy" from the Jewish perspective as well as "a theological offense," while to the Greco-Roman world worshiping a crucified man appeared "as lunacy" (p. 91). S. thus affirms that "at the beginning of the new movement stood a thoroughly creative process … by which the Christ-believers introduced nothing less than the founder of a new discourse into the existing religious world and ascribed to him an unlimited soteriological power" (p. 92). He comments that it should not therefore be surprising that the church in Jerusalem came into conflict with official Judaism from the beginning.

In chap. 5, S. deals with the Jerusalem church in terms of, for example, its structure, leadership, conflicts, and theological institutions. A notable position he espouses is that, in contrast to Lucan traditions, Paul's admitted persecution of Christ-believers could not have taken place in Jerusalem since he stated in Gal 1:22: "I was unknown by sight to the churches in Judea." S. locates Paul's anti-Christ-believers activity rather in Damascus "before or at his conversion" and suggests that "there where he acts against the message of Jesus, he is won over to it" (p. 117).

Schnelle envisions baptism and the Lord's Supper as among the first basic elements of institutionalization of the Christ-believers in Jerusalem. He finds the deepest reason for adopting the practice of baptism to be that "the announcements of the Baptist were unexpectedly fulfilled" with the Easter events around Jesus (p. 119). He holds that in continuity with John's baptism "the baptism among Christians was a once-for-all act" (p. 119) and thus was distinguished from ritual washings in Judaism.

In his sixth chapter, S. identifies three great currents at the beginning of Christianity...