The Present State of Studies Of Early Christianity

Abstract

Recent changes of academic direction in the study of early Christianity have tended to confuse even those working in the field. The situation has been made even more complex by the rapid popularization of scholarly debate. For example, the August 15, 1988 issue of Time had a six page article entitled Who was Jesus?, intended to give some background to the furore aroused by Martin Scorsese's Last Temptation of Christ. The BBC documentary Jesus: the Evidence on recent research in the field was soon followed in 1984 by a book of the same name by Ian Wilson and continues to circulate. It is curious that such interaction between scholarly debate and religious commitment seems to be more vital in Christianity than in any other religious domain.