Overview

What is the biggest challenge for the writing of early Christian history? As Markus Vinzent suggests in this study, it is not the interpretation of material evidence. Rather, it is the interpreter herself or himself. Unlike most historical studies, which aim at keeping to sources, facts, and close readings of texts as objectively as possible, Vinzent here offers a new approach: autobiographical historiography and personal methodological reflection, including test cases that advocate transparency, courage, and willingness to be challenged. He takes the reader on a journey through the notions of 'space', 'space in-between', 'the argument from silence', 'cognitive historiography' and 'evolution', 'time', 'scholarship', 'evidence/fact', 'tradition' and 'future'. Proposing a contemporary, post-postmodern reading of history that goes far beyond the field of Early Christianity, Vinzent's anachronological study interrogates traditional historical approaches and challenges both conservative and progressive scholars and students to contradict, engage with, and argue over established interpretations of events.

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9781009638203

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Markus Vinzent held the Chair for the History of Theology in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at King's College London from 2010–2022. A Fellow of the European Academy of Science in Vienna, and the Max-Weber-Institut for Advanced Studies at Erfurt University, he is author, most recently, of Resetting the Origins of Christianity (2023) and Writing the History of Early Christianity (2019).

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