When Christians Were Jews
By Paula Fredriksen
Yale, 250pp, £19.99/$27.50
How did a group of 1st-century Jews, the followers of a recently crucified Jewish apocalyptical preacher, inspire the most diverse and popular religion in the world? It’s a topic that has fascinated many since biblical scholarship began in earnest, and one that is simultaneously contentious and necessary if we are to understand the origins of Christianity.
Paula Fredriksen begins her study by surveying the political and religious background into which the Jesus movement (her term for early Christians) first materialised. First-century Jerusalem was an exciting, fractious and often surprising place. Self-proclaimed messiahs were popping up all over the place; Roman soldiers guarded holy sites during the four big festivals; a group of disaffected Jews invented monasticism out in the Dead Sea; and Jesus of Nazareth began his world-changing ministry. There were conflicts between Jews and Romans, as well as among Jews.
