Meet the people, empires, and ideas surrounding the earliest claims about Jesus. Explore the Jewish and Roman world of the New Testament and the meaning of Christian claims about Christ.
New to this subject? Start here.
Articles in this topic
Browse the complete collection below, newest first.
-
Could someone belong to Christ before Christ was born?
When we picture the beginning of Christianity, we naturally think of Jesus calling his disciples, teaching in Galilee, dying under Pontius Pilate, and rising from the dead. Those events stand at the center of the…
-
The God the Ancient World Saw in Pieces: Philippians 2 and Ancient Stories of Divine Descent
When I began comparing Philippians 2 with the stories told about Dionysus, Apollo, Demeter, Heracles, Prometheus, and other ancient figures, I expected to find a few interesting verbal similarities. I did not expect to find…
-
Did Plato Foresee Christ? The Perfectly Righteous Man Who Would Be Condemned
Nearly four centuries before the crucifixion of Jesus, Plato asked what would happen if a genuinely righteous man appeared among people who believed him to be wicked. The passage occurs in Book 2 of the…
-
The Gospel of Peter: A Late Text, A Local Church, and an Early Test of the Christian Message
The Gospel of Peter is often presented as one of the most intriguing “lost gospels,” a text that some claim could have stood alongside Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John if history had taken a different…
-
Apollonius or Christ? – A Roman Governor’s Challenge
In the early fourth century AD, Christianity encountered one of the most serious intellectual challenges it would face before its legalization. This challenge did not come from rumor, satire, or popular mockery. It came from…
-
Why Even Atheist Historians Believe in John the Baptist
What kind of world crucified Jesus—and why do even atheist historians agree that John the Baptist was real? This post explores the reign of Emperor Tiberius (AD 14–37) and the volatile political and religious landscape…
-
The Sons of God: Augustus and the Christ
What did it mean to call someone “Son of God” in the Roman world—and why would anyone believe it about Jesus? Before Christianity ever faced persecution, the Jewish people had already gained a remarkable status…
-
When Philosophy Clashed with the Cross: Gentile Rejections of the Christ Hymn
In Philippians 2:6–11, one of the earliest Christian hymns declares a staggering paradox: that Jesus Christ, “being in very nature God,” humbled himself to become human and die on a cross—only to be exalted and…
Keep exploring Scripture and Christian history. Get new articles by email.
