The Early Church: History and Memory. By JOSEF LOSSL.

Abstract

This book is an excellent introduction to a subject which Lössl expends some time and effort delineating in methodological terms. He establishes the conceptual boundaries which give shape and coherence to our evidence for the phenomenon which he describes as ‘early church’ as distinct from ‘early Christianity’. Thus he attempts to set aside the preconceptions and cultural baggage which cluster around ‘Christianity’ in order to explore how the early Christians expressed and understood their social and religious identity. This methodology is ably justified with plenty of reference to current and past scholarly debate on the subject. His observance of the terminology of early Christians' self-description encourages confidence in the attention he gives to the details of this ‘early church’ phenomenon. The relationship between church history and Christian theology emerges as a problematic one which infiltrates even apparently detached scholarship; and Lössl sketches the historiography of the church in such a way as to show the construction, and subsequent deconstruction, of that early ecclesial self-identity. The outlining of the Hellenistic and Roman background to the early church's story is effectively done, in such a way as to clarify for readers with no background in classical history how the evidence for the early church can be properly contextualized. The Jewish–Hellenistic polarity popularized by von Harnack, and its background persistence as influencing interpretation of the extant material, is explored effectively, with reference both to theology and to liturgy. This turns out to be part of a wider intellectual contest for what constituted authoritative text and authoritative tradition within the group.