The Dawn of Christianity: People and Gods in a Time of Magic and Miracles

by Robert Knapp

Ordinary people of antiquity interacted with the supernatural through a mosaic of beliefs and rituals. Exploring everyday life from 200 BCE to the end of the first century CE, Robert Knapp shows that Jews and polytheists lived with the gods in very similar ways. Traditional interactions provided stability even in times of crisis, while changing a relationship risked catastrophe for the individual, his family, and his community. However, people in both traditions did at times leave behind their long-honored rites to try something new. The Dawn of Christianity reveals why some people in Judea and then in the Roman and Greek worlds embraced a new approach to the forces and powers in their daily lives.

Knapp traces the emergence of Christianity from its stirrings in the eastern Mediterranean, where Jewish monotheism coexisted with polytheism and prayer mixed with magic. In a time receptive to prophetic messages and supernatural interventions, Jesus of Nazareth convinced people to change their beliefs by showing, through miracles, his direct connection to god-like power. The miracle of the Resurrection solidified Jesus’s supernatural credentials. After his death, followers continued to use miracles and magic to spread Jesus’s message of reward for the righteous in this life and immortality in the next.

Many Jews and polytheists strongly opposed the budding movement but despite major setbacks Christianity proved resilient and adaptable. It survived long enough to be saved by a second miracle, the conversion of Emperor Constantine. Hand in hand with empire, Christianity began its long march through history.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Religion, Christianity

320 pages, Hardcover

Published August 14, 2017

Reviews

[Vlăduțu Alexandru · Rating 5 out of 5]

Merită citită!

[Ton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, well-written book about the way Chrisitianity was a product of the ancient world; shows the general themes the Christians tried to play into, and the way the realities of the ancient world shaped the development of the religion itself. Very erudite and also lots of fun.

[Thomas Burchfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

For those new to the Christian faith, or outsiders curious how a seemingly obscure Jewish cult from Palestine eventually conquered the hearts and minds of billions, this books is an excellent place to start.

Many of the scholarly books I've read on the early days of Christianity, while well meaning, can be as dense as damp clay. Happily, Professor Knapp clears away the underbrush that trips up many another scholar to reveal the magical roots of Christianity's appeal (and by extension the appeal of the other two great faiths of the era, Judaism and Polytheism). He demonstrates how both their similarities and their differences worked together to provide the soil for a new faith. (The similarities between the three are often surprising--even the Roman polytheists could be as prudish as any fundamentalist--sexual prudery was not unique to Christianity.)

This is not about the power brokers so much as about what drew ordinary people--the vast majority of them poor and invisible--to the new faith and how such factors as magic and miracles proved essential--and still are--to getting people through the doors of church and temple alike. The book is accessible and big-hearted, a strong voice for magic and meaning in a dangerously demystified world.

[Don Siegrist · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting examination of Judaism and Christianity from a strictly historical perspective.
Knapps main point is that early Christinity was in many ways little different from Judaism or the various polytheistic religions that existed in that era. Consequently converting to Christianity was not as huge a jump as most people believed it to be.
I particularily enjoyed his synopisis of Jewish history and how it evolved over time. Beginning as a religion led by priests trying to placate Yahweh (seen as one god among many) with ritual and sacrifices on behalf of the community then transitioning to true monotheism with individuals having a personal relationship to God. With God's favor coming from personal righteousness not community sacrifices.

[Agana-Nsiire · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting historical argument in favour of a more nuanced understanding of the factors leading to the early success of Christianity. Rather than its message, Christianity's main appeal was in offering a powerful option at a time when people's lives depended on their ability to navigate supernatural influences. Christianity, through its miracles, resonated in a religious scene stepped in magic and superstition.

This book reads very nicely. Of course, the perspective is a critical one. Often the author leaves out alternative interpretations of his sources in order to further his argument. But altogether the writing is lively and engaging.

[Vafa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quite disappointing as there was not much new content in this book but the most irritating to me was the underlying assumption of the author about the nature of religion

[Jon-Jo Armstrong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting book and sheds some light on the development of Christianity and how it sprang out from the world before it.

[Neil · Rating 4 out of 5]

I used this book as a source for a research paper and found what I read to be interesting enough to finish the book after the paper was finished. The author points out how both the polytheistic people and the Jews both believed in the supernatural, in supernatural powers interacting with the environment and with the common person. The supernatural was seen as interacting with every aspect of a person's life, too, so in order for Christianity to make any kind of impact, it was going to have to be something that filled with power and authority and might, something that was 'even more powerful' than the local beliefs (be they polytheists or Jewish monotheists). The only way people during this time would even consider, let alone believe, a new religion would be if it was backed up by power and might.

For the most part, I thought it was a well-written book that discussed the environment in the two centuries before and after the birth of Christ. The author does a great job describing how important the supernatural was to people during this time. Again, it did not matter if they were polytheists or Jewish monotheists - it was agreed that some kind of supernatural power interacted with humanity and the natural environment on a daily basis. The supernatural touched a person's general life, health, crops, business, weather, how fast a person recovered from an injury or sickness, how long a person lived, how much money a person made during business transactions, whether or not a person was blessed with wealth and good fortune. People attempted to make bargains with supernatural powers in hopes of improving their lives.

Religion was one way to interact with the supernatural; magic was another way to interact with the supernatural. While religion tended to be more accommodating in nature when it came to dealing with the supernatural, magic and magicians tended to focus on trying to control the supernatural, to try and bring about a desired result. If the desired result was not obtained, it was assumed to be the person performing the magical act did something as opposed to the magical act itself not working.

The author talks about how other magicians tended to rely upon the authority of somebody else, of something else, when performing their spells or whatnot. However, in Jesus' case, He relied upon Himself; He acted upon His own authority and not upon the authority of other beings. The fact that He did so really set Him apart from other magicians and people who claimed to be able to 'control' the supernatural or have special relationships (understanding) with the supernatural. Other magicians and such failed to provide the same 'spectacular' results that Jesus was able to bring about; His claims and being able to back up His statements with powerful actions helped set Him apart from the rest of other people who made such claims but could not back their claims up with demonstrations of power. Jesus' power, authority, and 'might' helped to ensure that Christianity would be noticed as a 'new/young' religion and that people would take His message seriously.

The author did make some statements that I did not necessarily agree with, but that is okay. Overall, I found it to be an informative book; it was well-written and it held my interest throughout the entire reading. I would have finished it sooner, but I misplaced it for a period of time. I am glad that I went ahead and finished reading it.

[Jodi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aus beruflichen Gründen interessiere ich mich für religiöse Themen und möchte auch mein Wissen diesbezüglich stetig ausbauen. Als mir auf NetGalley dieses Buch begegnete, freute ich mich riesig, da wir den Titel im Geschäft auch an Lager führen. Natürlich ist es für mich auch immer gut, über unsere Bücher Bescheid zu wissen.

"Pilger, Priester und Propheten" lässt sich einfach und fliessend lesen, da Knapp sich an ein breites Publikum wendet. Deswegen verzichtet der Historiker auch zugunsten eines flüssigen Textes auf schwere Wissenschaftlichkeit. Man darf sich also auch ohne grosse Vorkenntnisse an dieses Buch wagen.

Dass der Autor kein Theologe, sondern Historiker ist, merkt man auch an seinem Umgang mit dem religiösen Thema. Ihm geht es nicht darum, eine Religion über die andere zu erheben, sondern er betrachtet einfach nur das damalige Leben, das stark von der jeweiligen Religion geprägt war. Knapp lässt unterschiedliche Quellen sprechen, sodass ein ganzheitliches Bild der damaligen Welt entsteht.

Man muss sich also nicht rein für Religion interessieren, um zu diesem Titel zu greifen; auch wer sich rein historisch für die Zeit um das 1. Jahrhundert vor bis nach Christus interessiert, wird hier auf seine Kosten kommen. Vor meinem Inneren Auge lebten die Städte auf, ich befand mich inmitten des Trubels auf den Strassen, wo sich viele unterschiedliche Menschen begegnen.

Somit war es eine durch und durch faszinierende Lektüre, von der ich sehr profitieren konnte. Ich empfehle diesen Titeln allen, die sich für die Entwicklung des Christentums und/oder allgemein für das Leben der Menschen um das 1. Jahrhundert v. Chr. interessieren. Auch als Einstieg in diese Themen kann ich mir "Pilger, Priester und Propheten" sehr gut vorstellen.

[Fiona Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The breadth of knowledge in this book is vast and all brought together to establish the context within which Christianity developed - both the Jewish and polytheistic cultures from which early Christianity drew so much.

It is an immensely accessible book whilst still demonstrating excellent scholarship and is persuasive in its approach.

However, it still doesn’t answer, for me, the question of why and how Christianity survived until Constantine established it as the faith of The Roman empire. The persecution that Christians experienced whilst the faith developed should have seen numbers dwindle as it’s still not clear that the faith was really that attractive that people ( both those of power and those who had nothing) would risk death. Yet it survived.

We will never know the full story but this book gives us quite a lot to think about.

[Arjen Taselaar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Christianity arose in a world of magicians and miracle-workers. Robert Knapp explains the rise of Christianity from shared experiences of the supernatural in both the Jewish and polytheistic worlds. He carefully and clearly explains how this new cult survived the failure of Jesus’ prophecy that the End of Times was near, and how it survived the death of Jesus’ disciples and family members, both before and after the destruction of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem in AD 70. I found quite instructive the last chapter on the growing divergence of a more philosophical and a popular Christianity at a rather early stage, both fitting in the world as they found it. If not for Emperor Constantine’s experience of the supernatural, Christianity might have remained one religion among many.

[Antje Schrupp · Rating 2 out of 5]

Trutschig gelehrsame Männergeschichte. Nichts Neues darin gefunden, was man mir nicht schon in meinem Theologiestudium vor 35 erzählt hat. Habe mich daran erinnert, warum ich Geschichte früher immer so langweilig fand.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

A couple of chapters were a little “long,” but the book was very enlightening overall. It helped explain, in some detail, why certain movements happened and — most importantly— why did Christianity actually arise. A good read.