Ancient Christianities: The First Five Hundred Years, Fredriksen

                 The origin of Christianity is "less linear" than perceived. This book's "goal is to introduce the reader to the complexities and ambiguities, the ironies and surprises, the twists and turns of this richer story." Christianity came from a Jewish world that was different than its contemporary pagan religions in that it was based on an "imageless worship" and a "god who demanded that he be the sole recipient of his people's worship."

                 The concept of a Kingdom of God arose out of Jewish prophecies, and its word was spread to non-Jews by Paul. Christianity's offer of redemption and an afterlife attracted  pagans. Notwithstanding Judaism's role in developing Christianity, two theologies unfriendly to Judaism became an integral part of Christianity. By the third century, Christians blamed the Jews for killing Christ, and demoted the god of Abraham to a lower place than Jesus' God the Father. By the 4th and 5th centuries, anti-semitism abounded in Roman law, custom, and daily life. "Legally, socially, religiously, Jews within a now Christian society retained an ambiguous status and experienced an unstable and inconstant tolerance, one that would follow them into the Middle Ages and beyond."

              Very early on, there was a diversity of opinion about the meaning of many of Christ's teachings. "Christianity as we see it emerging in the second century sponsored many genuinely different and competing visions and versions of the gospel, with all sides condemning the others." The fourth century adoption of imperial Christianity led to the establishment of an orthodox, universal church. "Religious uniformity, ... now become a concern of the state."

             "By opting out of traditional Mediterranean observances, by insisting on worshiping only one god and no others, gentile Christians sometimes drew down on themselves the negative attention of their pagan neighbors." In the 3rd century, the state too joined in the persecution of Christians. When Constantine adopted Christianity as the religion of the empire, tolerance prevailed. He also brought some sense of "concord and unity" to the feuding sects, and directed the Council of Nicaea to address these issues. The Nicene Creed would become "the touchstone for imperially recognized orthodoxy." A sixth century mosaic portrayed Christ as a Roman soldier, confirming the "church and empire coming together as one."

         In conclusion, the question is "how did the apocalyptic Jewish messianic movement, with its odd outreach to pagans in the face of the world's imminent end, transmute within three centuries into an arm of the late Roman state?" Edward Gibbon offered five reasons: 1, the "inflexible and intolerant zeal of the early Christians," 2, the offer of life after death, 3, the miraculous powers ascribed to the church, 4, the austere morals of the early Christians, and 5, the union and discipline of the Christian republic. The author suggests it was the organizational skills of the church's bishops and the adoption of Christianity as the empire's official religion that assured the church's success. 

         This brief, but intellectually challenging and demanding book is incredibly interesting and insightful. Nonetheless, I cannot remeber reading anything this difficult in a very long time.