Читать книгу The World's Christians - Douglas Jacobsen - Страница 13

The Christian movement began with just a handful of people, maybe a few hundred, who had known Jesus while he was alive and who looked to him even after his death as their religious teacher and guide. Jesus was born in a remote part of Palestine at the eastern edge of the Roman Empire, and during his lifetime his following never extended beyond that region. Most of his closest associates were of modest means, and many – perhaps most – were illiterate. All in all, there was little to suggest that this movement would endure for centuries and someday span the globe. Yet today Christianity, the religion of Jesus, is the largest and most widely disseminated religion in the world.

There are many different ways to study religion, and there are many different ways to study the particular religion that is known as Christianity. Some scholars of Christianity spend most of their time and energy trying to understand Jesus himself, some focus on the distinctive beliefs and moral teachings of Jesus’s followers (theology), some concentrate their work on the oldest writings of Christianity (biblical studies), some want to know how Christianity has grown and developed over the centuries (the history of Christianity), and some emphasize the great works of art, architecture, and literature that have been produced by the Christian community. This book takes a multi‐disciplinary approach, combining historical, sociological, and theological resources, seeking to describe the vast diversity that now exists within the movement.