COGaIC: Scholars Changing Perspective on Early Christian History

Two days ago, COGaIC’s Peter Nathan posted the following:

The Context of Jesus Christ and His Followers

Dramatic Change in Perspective

“One of the biggest changes that’s happened in the scholarly world since I was introduced to it back in the 1970’s is the way that Judaism . . . is seen as the context of Christianity rather than as its contrast.” 44:18 Paula Fredriksen, “Sin: The Early History of the Idea: Lecture 1: God, Blood, and the Temple” October 9, 2007 — Spencer Trask Lecture, cosponsored by Princeton University Press.

Comments by COGwriter

The fact is that any interested in the truth of early Christianity need to realize that the early Christians were considered to have been a Jewish sect and had many practices that those who are associated with what passes for mainstream Christianity today would consider to be Jewish.

But it is true that, recently, some scholars have become more open-minded and are realizing this. Sadly, I do not expect this to have much in the way of positive impact on the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, or Protestant churches.

But, since Paul taught, “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil 2:12), individuals can benefit from the truth about early Christianity.

Several articles of related interest may include:

The History of Early Christianity Are you aware that what most people believe is not what truly happened to the true Christian church?
The Churches of Revelation 2 & 3 Do they matter? Most say they must, but act like they do not. This article contains some history about the Church of God (sometimes referred to as the continuation of Primitive Christianity) over the past 2000 years.
What Do Roman Catholic Scholars Actually Teach About Early Church History? Although most believe that the Roman Catholic Church history teaches an unbroken line of succession of bishops beginning with Peter, with stories about most of them, Roman Catholic scholars know the truth of this matter. This eye-opening article is a must-read for any who really wants to know what Roman Catholic history actually admits about the early church.
Location of the Early Church: Another Look at Ephesus, Smyrna, and Rome What actually happened to the primitive Church? And did the Bible tell about this in advance?
Another Look at the Didache, Ignatius, and the Sabbath Did Ignatius write against the Sabbath and for Sunday? What about the Didache? What does the actual Greek reveal?
Ancient “Christian” Sermon This is believed to be the oldest complete surviving post-New Testament sermon. Have you ever read it?
Polycarp’s Letter to the Philippians This is Roberts and Donaldson’s translation, corrected by me in one place, where they made a small error in translating Latin by omitting one word.