However much we may disagree with Gibbon’s bleak assessment
of late Roman, Byzantine, and medieval history, there can be no
denying that he sought to write history in the modern sense, based
on a thorough assessment of primary sources. And crucially, he
had no qualms in extending to the history of Christianity the same
analytical skills of secular reason that might be applied to any
other province of human endeavour (Gibbon 1776–88 [1994]: I,
482–3). Gibbon’s narrative included, in chapters 15 and 16 of its
first volume, a notoriously critical and ironic account of early
Christianity (cf. Womersley 1988: 99–133). At its outset, Gibbon
explicitly contrasts the theological and historical approaches to
religion:The theologian may indulge the pleasing task of describing
Religion as she descended from Heaven, arrayed in her
native purity. A more melancholy duty is imposed on the
historian. He must discover the inevitable mixture of error
and corruption, which she contracted in a long residence
upon earth, among a weak and degenerate race of beings.
(Gibbon 1776–88 [1994]: I, 446)In Gibbon’s view, the history of early Christianity ceased to be
in any way a source of moral edification. For all its faults, his
analysis emancipated early Christianity from the constraints of
ecclesiastical debate and considered it as a part of human history.
As such, he provided a model for later generations of historians
to approach the topic with academic rigour. Gibbon’s reassess-
ment was part of a broader reassessment of the heritage of the
ancient world. He lived in the age of the grand tour, when travel
to the lands of classical antiquity became fashionable. In addi-
tion, with the increasing cordiality of relations between western
Europe and the Ottoman empire in the eighteenth century, this
opened up not just Italy to such travellers, but also Greece and
the eastern Mediterranean. Of course, interest in classical antiq-
uities remained paramount, but early Christian remains also
attracted interest (Frend 1996: 23–37).THE HISTORICAL QUEST FOR EARLY CHRISTIANITY
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