Early Christianity

In such circumstances, the intrinsic importance of studying
religious traditions, early Christianity among them, would seem
to have declined correspondingly. The rest of this chapter aims,
therefore, to justify the study of early Christianity in this context.
Of course, there can be no single argument in support of this field
of study: different people will approach the subject for different
reasons. As such, then, I aim to appeal here to a wide constituency
of opinions. Not everyone will find each of the various reasons
given below equally convincing; indeed, they may even reject
some of them. I do not see this as a problem, however: we humans
are a varied and individualistic bunch, and our reasons for study-
ing or being interested in a particular subject are correspondingly
diverse.

Modern Christians and early Christianity

It may be as well to begin with those for whom the study of early
Christianity would appear to be least controversial. There are
many modern Christians for whom the study of early Christianity
does not need justification, being perfectly explicable as a search
for their religious roots. For them this chapter – and even this
book – might seem an unnecessary exercise (thus J. Kelly
1991; contrast R. Williams 2005). Many will seek affirmation of
their own beliefs and lifestyles in the lives of early Christians.
Depending on what sort of affirmation they are looking for, and
how they are looking for it, some of them will find it. The next
chapter will show how, historically, the study of early Christianity
has often been driven by the Christian agendas of later ages. Here
I want to suggest that this is still the case today.
Among the more controversial of modern Christian groups
are the Jehovah’s Witnesses, who frequently hit the headlines
because of their strong rejection of the modern medical practice
of blood transfusion, even in cases where its administration might
mean the difference between life and death. Of course, their rejec-
tion – which encompasses (some might even say conflates) both
oral ingestion and transfusion into the veins – is based primarily

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