Synoptica
The Earliest Christianity

Hans Lietzmann

It is not surprising if the usages of modern Christianity have evolved greatly from those of the first Christian believers. But where exactly do we locate the first Christian believers in the overall scheme of things? Were they those who accepted Jesus's call to repentance, the message which he is said in Mark 1:14-15 to have preached following the death of his mentor, John the Baptist?

. . . Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the Gospel of God and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the Gospel."

Or those who believed that the forgiveness of their sins was secured through the atonement of Jesus's Crucifixion, as Mark 14:23-24 suggests?

And he took a cup, and . . . gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And he said to them, "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many."

Investigations of these and like problems have been carried out by many, both past and present. Some results of those researches are summarized here. They bear on the question of whether the canonical Gospels have been adjusted in the light of changing doctrine, so as to be acceptable to orthodox opinion in the early Church. One place to look for early forms which have been replaced by later forms is in the Gospels themselves. The noncanonical works too may sometimes be suggestive; most are obviously later and divergent, but some seem to preserve details or assumptions that may reflect, or retain, early belief and practice.

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7 May 2006 / Contact The Project / Exit to Synoptica Page