Christian Beginnings from Nazareth to Nicea, AD 30-325 is a 2012 book by the historian Geza Vermes, Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of Oxford, which traces the development of the figure of Jesus from charismatic Jewish prophet to being considered equal with God by the fourth century Council of Nicea. It follows his earlier works on Jesus the Jew.
Synopsis
1. Charismatic Judaism from Moses to Jesus
Vermes surveys the notion of Charismatic Judaism which he introduced in his 1973 book Jesus the Jew. Although Judaism was centred on adherence to the Torah, charismatic prophets such as Elijah, Elisha and Isaiah were also an important part of Jewish life and this continued with the Essene Teacher of Righteousness, Jesus ben Sira and Hanina ben Dosa, many of whom were miracle workers.
2. The Charismatic Religion of Jesus
Jesus entered the public domain as a follower and disciple of John the Baptist who he compared with Elijah. From the accounts in the synoptic gospels, Jesus emerges as a highly popular itinerant spiritual healer, exorcist and preacher. The most important part of his message was the imminent onset of the Kingdom of God which occurs about one hundred times in the synoptic gospels and remains important in the letters of Paul but almost entirely disappears from the Gospel of John, which was written later. His emphasis was situated between the apocalyptic imagery of a final cosmic battle and the rabbinic hope for a restored earthly kingdom of Israel. Though he calls God his Father, this was common in Judaism and his teaching stays within the scope of the Torah, though his stress on a childlike trust in God is unique.
3. Nascent Charismatic Christianity
The picture supplied in some of the letters of Paul, together with those of James and John and the Didache provide an earlier picture than the Acts of the Apostles. The early church was characterised by faith healing, manifestations of the Spirit and the breaking of bread, also known as the love feast and taught the Kingdom of God, the crucified risen and glorified Messiah and the imminence of his Second Coming, though the urgency of the Parousia declined as the century progressed. It reflects traditional Judaism in the light of Messianic faith.
4. The Christianity of Paul
The synoptic gospels show Jesus as a teacher divinely appointed to deliver a message, but Paul's Christ is the very object of the message. Paul's view of Christ's death as a redemptive act which saved the world from sin brings the idea of the Adam's primeval sin affecting everyone into the Jewish tradition for the first time. Baptism isn't simply a sign of repentance and cleansing but an identification with the death and resurrection of Jesus. He still held to the idea that Jesus would return to establish the Kingdom within the lifetime of people then living. However the status of Christ was not firmly established. Although he referred to the Son of God and Son of the Father, Jesus is seen as subordinate to God and isolated texts (e.g. Phil 2:6-11) are not representative and may not be original.
5. Johannine Christianity
The Jesus of the Fourth Gospel has little in common with the popular preacher familiar from the Synoptic Gospel tradition. There is little emphasis on the Kingdom of Heaven, few if any parables and Jesus is lordly, transcendent and authoritarian. He is not an ordinary human being but a mysterious otherworldly personality.
Though traditionally associated with the Apostle John, the unknown author of the fourth gospel, probably writing in the first decade of the second century, had a strong Hellenistic background with knowledge of Philo of Alexandria and Hermeticism. This is shown most clearly in the first chapter which was probably composed after the rest of the gospel since its ideas are not referred to elsewhere. Jesus is portrayed as the Logos which emanates from God, the Son of God and the sacrificial Lamb of God, but he still claims "The Father is greater than I" (John 14:28). The Holy Spirit is personified in a new way, not seen in the other gospels, as the "other Counsellor" or "Advocate".