Christianity at the Crossroads by Michael J. Kruger

Much attention is paid to the first century (for obvious reasons!), and by the time the third and fourth centuries roll around, the church is more established (which means more sources for scholars to study). Who would’ve thought people would be interested in the second century?įor those who haven’t picked up a copy yet, this book highlights what is really a forgotten century of sorts in the history of Christianity. I’ve been pleased this year to see so many encouraging responses to my new book, Christianity at the Crossroads: How the Second Century Shaped the Future of the Church (IVP Academic, 2018). His opening paragraph: įiled Under: New Testament Canon, Orthodoxy and Heresy Tagged With: Christianity at the Crossroads, second century, Walter Wagner Some Recent Interactions with My Book on Second Century Christianity Since my volume covers a number of controversial issues, I was thankful to see he thought I was even-handed in my treatment of them. Given that Wagner has written on this subject before, I was pleased to see that he reviewed my book recently in the journal Interpretation (vol. Wagner covers a lot of the same ground as my volume, but I also cover additional topics such as the development of the canon and transmission of the NT text. One is the fine book by Walter Wagner, After the Apostles: Christianity in the Second Century (Fortress Press, 1994).

There just hasn’t been much done on this “Cinderella Century” (to use the phrase of Larry Hurtado).īut, of course, there are exceptions to that pattern of neglect. One of the reasons I wrote this book is because of the enormous gap in scholarship on the study of second-century Christianity. For a list of some of those reviews, see prior post here. Over the last year or so, I’ve been encouraged by the many different reviews of (and interactions with) my book, Christianity at the Crossroads: How the Second Century Shaped the Future of the Church.

Christianity at the Crossroads by Michael J. Kruger