New publication: What are the origins of the Christian religion?

How do we know what we know about the origins of the Christian religion? Neither Jesus, the founder, nor the apostles, nor Paul left written certificates about their movement. The testimonies of the witnesses were passed down through several generations of copyists and historians, with the oldest surviving fragments dating from the second and third centuries - well after Jesus' death.

Markus Vinzent, Fellow at the Max Weber Centre for Cultural and Social Studies at the University of Erfurt, questions in this innovative book Resetting the Origins of Christianity. A New Theory of Sources and Beginnings, the standard interpretations of Christian origins that have been handed down over the centuries. He examines – in reverse order – the earliest recorded sources from the sixth to the second century and shows that the works of Greek and Latin writers reveal much more about their own times and concerns than they do about early Christianity. In this way, the author challenges the understanding of one of history's most momentous social and religious movements, as well as its reception over time and in different places.