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Book Review: Understanding the World of the Early Christians

June 21st, 2010 at 11:14am Albert McIlhenny

Backgrounds of Early Christianity – Everett Ferguson Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company (September 2003) Topic: Church History; Paganism Summary: Survey of the cultural setting into which Christianity emerged Rating:

It is undeniable that there is a general lack of understanding within the Church of the world where the early Christians first began spreading the Gospel. Many simply have divided the ancients into Christians, Jews, and pagans with the latter an amorphous listing where you place everyone not part of the first two categories. In reality, the cultural milieu of late antiquity was a complex marketplace of competing religious and philosophical ideas seeking to win the hearts and minds of the Roman world. Without some understanding of this context, there are elements of the New Testament that will remain a mystery to most of its readers.

With Backgrounds of Early Christianity, Everett Ferguson has provided an excellent introduction to the culture of the Roman Empire in the period of Christianity’s origins. Examining all aspects of the life of Hellenistic culture in the Roman Empire, the author effectively illustrates both its strengths and weaknesses. The political, social, religious, and philosophical currents of the Greco-Roman world are surveyed and the developments detailed that contributed to the cultural backdrop during the emergence of the early Church.

Also explained is the context of the Jewish culture leading up to and during the Second Temple period and the tensions present in the face of the invading ideals of the spread of Roman influence. These tensions were carried over into Christianity and present even as the Church adopted those ideals it accepted as moral and good in achieving what has been called the marriage of Athens and Jerusalem.

For those seeking a basic understanding of the complex cultures – both pagan and Jewish – that served as the birthplace of early Christianity, Backgrounds of Early Christianity serves as an excellent starting point for research. Everett Ferguson has covered the most important aspects of the topic without drowning the reader in minutiae and has produced a book that is both highly informative and a good read as well.

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