Some critics claim that we have little reliable knowledge of Christianity's early development during the 20-year gap between Jesus' resurrection and the first New Testament writings. Barnett disagrees. In this illuminating study, he mines Paul's writings, Acts, Mark and John's Gospels, and Q to present a biblically based, historical reconstruction of this much-debated period. 230 pages, softcover from Eerdmans.
Paul Barnett is Visiting Fellow in Ancient History at Macquarie University, and teaches at Moore College in Sydney and Regent College in Vancouver. His many other books include The Second Epistle to the Corinthians (NICNT) and The Birth of Christianity: The First Twenty Years (both Eerdmans).
Contrary to several popular works of Christian scholarship, historian Paul Barnett maintains that the first two decades of Christian history are hardly "lost years." As he shows in this penetrating book, the period between Jesus and the earliest Christian texts is open to historical investigation, and he richly details the time and setting in which the church was born.
Writing in a very accessible style, Barnett provides an informative, reliable chronology of the years immediately following Jesus' crucifixion. Just as important, he presents the historical sources, biblical clues, and other telling evidence that we have for accurately documenting this crucial period of time. Looking more widely, Barnett also surveys world events during Christianity's first twenty years and notes their impact on life in the early church.
The Birth of Christianity: The First Twenty Years is Volume 1 of a trilogy titled After Jesus. Volume 2 will be Paul, Missionary of Jesus, and Volume 3 will be Finding the Historical Christ.
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5 out of 5 stars
Reviewed by Rich Bland (Guffey, Colorado), March 07, 2006
Paul Barnett's work is worth your consideration. His writing style is very much the way a reader thinks in terms of logical organization. He has several books now in circulation and I have them all. If you are looking for easy to read NT background material that is also detailed and exhaustive, then this guy's work is for you.
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