Beginning from Jerusalem: Christianity in the Making, Volume 2

by James D. G. Dunn

Overview

The second volume in the magisterial Christianity in the Making trilogy, Beginning from Jerusalem covers the early formation of the Christian faith from 30 to 70 CE. After outlining the quest for the historical church (parallel to the quest for the historical Jesus) and reviewing the sources, James Dunn follows the course of the movement stemming from Jesus “beginning from Jerusalem.” 

Dunn opens with a close analysis of what can be said of the earliest Jerusalem community, the Hellenists, the mission of Peter, and the emergence of Paul. Then he focuses solely on Paul―the chronology of his life and mission, his understanding of his call as apostle, and the character of the churches that he founded. The third part traces the final days and literary legacies of the three principal figures of first-generation Christianity: Paul, Peter, and James, the brother of Jesus. Each section includes detailed interaction with the vast wealth of secondary literature on the many subjects covered.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780802878007
Publisher:	Eerdmans, William B. Publishing Company
Publication date:	03/20/2020
Pages:	1363
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

James D. G. Dunn (1939–2020) was a renowned New Testament scholar and the longtime Lightfoot Professor of Divinity at Durham University. His numerous books include The Theology of Paul the Apostle, Jesus according to the New Testament, and the magisterial Christianity in the Making trilogy.

Table of Contents

List of Maps xii

Preface xiii

Part 6 Writing a History of Christianity's Beginnings

20 The Quest for the Historical Church 3

20.1 Defining Terms 4

20.2 From Jesus to Paul 17

20.3 From Jewish Sect to Gentile Religion 29

21 The Sources 52

21.1 External Sources 53

21.2 The Acts of the Apostles 64

21.3 The Speeches in Acts 87

21.4 The Letters of Paul 98

21.5 Jesus Tradition 111

21.6 Conclusion - and a Note on Procedure 127

Part 7 The First Phase

22 Beginning in Jerusalem 133

22.1 One Community or Several? 133

22.2 Between Easter and Pentecost 138

22.3 Pentecost 156

23 The Earliest Community 172

23.1 The Social Character of the First Christian Community 172

23.2 The Religious Character of the First Christian Community 185

23.3 Leadership 206

23.4 Beliefs about Jesus 212

23.5 The Significance of Jesus' death 230

23.6 In Sum - a Messianic Sect 238

24 The Hellenists and the First Outreach 241

24.1 A New Phase 242

24.2 Who Were the Hellenists? 246

24.3 The Seven 254

24.4 Stephen 257

24.5 The Speech Attributed to Stephen 265

24.6 The First Persecution - against Whom Was It Directed? 274

24.7 The Mission of Philip 278

24.8 The Breakthrough at Antioch 292

24.9 A Hellenist/Antiochene Theology? 308

25 The Emergence of Paul 322

25.1 The Early Life and Education of Saul 323

25.2 'The Persecutor' (Gal. 1.23) 335

25.3 'Approaching Damascus, about Noon' 346

25.4 The Origin of Paul's Gospel 357

25.5 The Immediate Aftermath and Tunnel Period 362

26 The Mission of Peter 378

26.1 Mission to 'the Circumcision' 379

26.2 Caesarea as a Pivotal Point 383

26.3 The Conversion of Peter 389

26.4 The Acceptance of Cornelius 396

26.5 Anxious Times under Herod Agrippa I (Acts 12) 402

26.6 A Distinctive Petrine Theology? 414

27 Crisis and Confrontation 416

27.1 Mission from Antioch (Acts 13-14) 417

27.2 The Crisis 438

27.3 The Council in Jerusalem 446

27.4 Confrontation - the Incident at Antioch 470

27.5 The Truth of the Gospel 482

27.6 The Outcome 489

Part 8 Apostle to the Gentiles

28 Dates, Destinations and Distances 497

28.1 The Chronology of Paul's Life and Mission 497

28.2 Travels and Travails 512

29 Paul the Apostle 519

29.1 The Second Founder of Christianity 519

29.2 Who Did Paul Think He Was? 522

29.3 The Apostle 530

29.4 Paul's Strategy 541

29.5 Paul's Tactics 555

29.6 Paul's Co-workers 566

29.7 Paul's Gospel 572

29.8 Paul the Pastor and Letter Writer 587

30 Paul's Churches 598

30.1 Why 'Church'? 599

30.2 House Churches - the Archaeological Evidence 601

30.3 An Association or a Religious Cult? 608

30.4 The Social Composition of Paul's Churches 622

30.5 The Organization of Paul's Churches 637

30.6 Their Meetings 641

30.7 Boundaries 648

30.8 The Christian Network 654

30.9 Conclusion 657

31 The Aegean Mission: Phase One 660

31.1 The Aegean Mission 660

31.2 The Beginnings of the Aegean Mission 663

31.3 Confrontation in Athens 682

31.4 The Founding of the Church in Corinth 692

31.5 Paul's First Letter to the Thessalonians 703

31.6 Paul's -Second Letter to the Thessalonians 714

31.7 Paul's Letter to the Galatians 720

32 The Aegean Mission: Phase Two 747

32.1 Intermission 747

32.2 The Founding of the Church in Ephesus 762

32.3 Between Ephesus and Corinth 780

32.4 The First of Paul's Letters to the Corinthians 786

32.5 The Second of Paul's Letters to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians) 787

32.6 The Third of Paul's Letters to the Corinthians 831

32.7 The Fourth of Paul's Letters to the Corinthians (2 Corinthians) 834

33 The Close of a Chapter 858

33.1 A Final Circuit 858

33.2 The Reasons for Romans 863

33.3 Paul's Letter to Rome 875

33.4 The Collection 932

33.5 The Testament of Paul (Acts 20.17-38) 947

Part 9 The End of the Beginning

34 The Passion of Paul 957

34.1 Arrest in Jerusalem 959

34.2 Trials and Tribulations 972

34.3 And So to Rome 992

34.4 Paul's Letter to the Philippians 1011

34.5 Paul's Letter to Philemon 1029

34.6 The Letter to the Colossians 1035

34.7 When Did Paul Die? 1052

35 The Voiceless Peter 1058

35.1 The Later Mission of Peter 1058

35.2 Persecution under Nero 1068

35.3 The Martyrdom of Peter 1071

35.4 The Lasting Significance of Peter 1075

36 Catastrophe in Judea 1077

36.1 The Church in Jerusalem 1077

36.2 The Death of James 1090

36.3 What Happened to the Jerusalem Church? 1096

36.4 The Fail of Jerusalem 1100

37 The Legacy of the First-Generation Leadership 1105

37.1 Paul - the Letter to the Ephesians 1106

37.2 James - the Letter of James 1122

37.3 Peter - the Letter of Peter (1 Peter) 1147

37.4 The End of the Beginning 1166

Abbreviations 1176

Bibliography 1183

Index of Scriptures and Other Ancient Writings 1249

Index of Authors 1317

Index of Subjects 1338

Editorial Reviews

A wealth of historical insights about the earliest churches reflected in Acts and the letters.”
— Michael J. Gorman in Interpretation

“A truly remarkable achievement, reflecting a lifetime of research, writing, teaching, and supervising. Throughout Dunn maintains a style that is both readable and erudite but also unfailingly courteous. His vigorous running exegesis of the texts is expanded in a veritable mountain of footnotes engaging with (mostly recent) scholarship. The resulting work is every undergraduate’s dream, providing lateral access to a vast array of research interest. In consequence this is a text the scholar and the teacher will want to have in a handy place for frequent use.”
— Paul Barnett in Themelios

“Beginning from Jerusalem will not be the last word on a number of issues it raises. However, for a judicious, middle-of-the-road, even conservative-leaning synthesis of the status quaestionis on countless topics, spiced up by Dunn’s distinctive positions at several key points, one could hardly ask for more.”
— Craig L. Blomberg in Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society

“Readers will surely express admiration for the learning and scholarly passion this volume displays.”
— L. W. Hurtado in Catholic Biblical Quarterly

“A remarkable book, both in its scope and in its impressive engagement with debates on a huge number of contested matters upon which excessive comment has been passed for well over a century and a half. . . . Dunn’s extensive knowledge of the primary material, and the fact that he constantly brings this to the attention of the reader, often in considerable detail, adds to the appeal of the book.”
— James Carleton-Paget in Journal of Theological Studies

“A magnificently clear and thorough resource for studying the apostolic age.”
— John Proctor in Biblical Studies Bulletin

“Any preacher would do well to get acquainted with this volume with its up-to-date discussion of the early Church story as it emerges from and serves as background for the lectionary selections from Acts and the New Testament Epistles.”
— Adam Gilbert Bartholomew in Homiletic

“A masterly and exciting treatment of the first generation of Christianity.”
— The Pastoral Review

“Reading through this book gives one a powerful sense for the development of Christianity out of Second Temple Judaism. . . . Dunn’s writing always conveys significant information in a readable style; thus a broad range of readers can appreciate his work.”
—Choice

“Mastery of the primary and secondary sources, creativity balanced by sound judgment, and breadth of treatment based upon thorough attention to the details: this is what we have come to expect from James Dunn, and this is what we have in this book. A magnificent review and evaluation of all the major critical issues regarding the first forty years of the Christian religion.”
— Dale C. Allison Jr.
Princeton Theological Seminary

“This mega-study of earliest Christianity combines panoramic scope, attention to specific issues and relevant evidence, familiarity with current scholarship, and a readable style. The vigorous but cordial treatment of disputed matters will not always convince but is invariably stimulating. One can only admire the bold breadth of coverage. This is vintage Dunn, a harvest of his scholarly career.”
— Larry W. Hurtado
University of Edinburgh

“James Dunn’s Beginning from Jerusalem is a teacher’s dream come true. In this sequel volume to Jesus Remembered, Dunn steers his readers through a whirlwind of beginnings in the most formative period of Christianity, 30–70 CE, visiting both New Testament scenes and significant Greco-Roman sites that bring those texts to life. But unlike the usual broad-brush approach to Christianity’s origins, Dunn probes into the heartthrob of these texts such that his readers experience the historical surprises and existential mysteries of this emerging ‘faith’ as it pulsates from within Judaism and courses out into the Gentile world. Combining both Dunn’s enormous learning and his original insights, this volume will quickly become the preferred textbook of university and seminary classes alike.”
— David P. Moessner
Texas Christian University

From the Publisher