Chapter 7
Discovering early
Christianity
The previous chapters in this book have mapped out various ways
in which early Christianity can be studied. Plainly a subject that
boasts such a long and diverse intellectual lineage will have gener-
ated a great deal of published material. If we focus solely on the
modern scholarship produced about the earliest Christian writ-
ings, those found in the New Testament, few people would be
inclined to disagree with Stephen Mitchell’s verdict that they
‘have been overwhelmed by their interpreters’ (Mitchell 1993: II,
3). So where are interested novices to the subject to begin their
studies? How are they to gain access to this arcane and hotly
debated world? This final chapter aims to provide such beginners
with a map of the literature as it exists, suggesting possible entry
points. Of course, like anything else in this book, what I give
below is highly subjective: there is no single right way to approach
early Christianity (but perhaps many wrong ways), so what
follows is not meant to be prescriptive. In any case, I hope to
have offered enough alternatives for individuals to choose their
own routes. But the most important factor to bear in mind is that
what follows – like this book in general – is intended simply as
a set of starting points. If you use any of the items listed here
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