Beginnings

Summary

From writing the Christian origins to questioning the tracing of origins. Despite generations of scholars, dealing with the questions of the historical Jesus to the life and mission of Paul, the Apostles, oral traditions and the beginnings of Christian writings, little has changed in the description of how Christianity started. To make a fresh start, the introduction outlines a retrospective view on writing history. Instead of asking how we have to describe Christian origins, the book suggests to ask how during the past, beginning from the Medieval period back to the 2nd century authors have conceptualized these beginnings and which sources they have used for the pictures they painted of early Christianity.