Histories of Early Christianity/Christianities

This essay discusses the recent history and current state of the study of early Christianity
or Christianities and offers some suggestions for future directions of travel.
It considers whether historical Jesus research should be included in studies of early
Christianity; what is at stake in different definitions of »primitive« or »early«; and the
ongoing, still under-acknowledged effects of Christian confessionalism on the field.
It surveys some key themes and approaches in recent research, including studies of
wealth, gender, sexuality, education, and material culture, regional and rural studies,
studies of networks, papyrologically or epigraphically led studies, and studies of
»lived religion.« It explores some potentially fruitful directions for future research, arguing
that we must go on debating how we periodize the subject and how we handle
the sources, and that we need to challenge the ubiquitous and little-scrutinized
model of early Christianity as a political formation. It suggests that there is scope, inter
alia, for new approaches to early Christian law, ethics, emotions, and sub-elite religiosity,
in dialogue with new work in ancient Judaism and Mediterranean religions.