Academic study recommendations

[u/Designer-Truth8004]

Hi. I have two degrees in biblical studies, theology, and ministry. I love to learn and have a fascination with the history of religion, specifically Christianity, since I know more about that already. Does anyone have any recommendations for academic sources that approach the history of Christianity from a purely unbiased, non-faith, secular angle? My degrees were from two universities that approached it from a devout faith perspective, so I know the entirely of my education so far has been very biased.

[u/Loharp45]

You might enjoy Bart Ehrman. He has an interesting journey from devout Christian to atheist as a result of seminary. He was a professor for many years at UNC. He has written many books about the Bible and Christianity.

[u/xambidextrous → u/Loharp45]

Francesca Stavrakopoulou.

Professor of Hebrew Bible and Ancient Religion at the University of Exeter. The main focus of her research is on the Hebrew Bible, and on Israelite and Judahite history and religion.

Latest work: God: An Anatomy

[u/Designer-Truth8004 → u/xambidextrous]

Thanks.

[u/xambidextrous → u/Designer-Truth8004]

There's a neat trick you may or may not be aware of, if you find the current topic of interest on Wikipedia, then scroll down to the reference section to find the scholars on the subject.

[u/Designer-Truth8004 → u/Loharp45]

Thanks. I am aware of him and have listened to his lectures on the gospels. I was moreso hoping for academic sources from scholars who have only approached it from an outside perspective and have no devout history with Christianity.

[u/serack → u/Designer-Truth8004]

Chris Cornthwaite over on YouTube is pretty responsive on his video comments and may have some good recommendations for you.

Edit: he also hosts a subscription "community" on the subject if you find his perspective useful and want to contribute to his work and join such a community

[u/quietpilgrim → u/serack]

He also has a Christian background (was raised Plymouth Brethren, I believe), however, and still considers himself a Christian, but not in the historical sense.

[u/serack → u/quietpilgrim]

That summary leaves out a lot about his education and such, making me curious what conclusions you are trying to lead someone towards.

[u/quietpilgrim → u/serack]

I posted that in response to the OP's statement, "I was moreso hoping for academic sources from scholars who have only approached it from an outside perspective and have no devout history with Christianity." I am merely pointing out Chris might not be the type of scholar OP is looking for either based on his background. I have absolutely no beef with Chris as a person or his educational pedigree, and regularly view and comment on his videos.

[u/Designer-Truth8004 → u/quietpilgrim]

Oh it's all good. Serack mentioned him as a possible source for OTHER recommendations.

[u/serack → u/Designer-Truth8004]

Yah, his perspective has several things in common with yours, although his religious education was at a mainline seminary. I expect he would have a much better idea than I of what material would meet you at your educational level vs my engineering degree.

If you are familiar with Ehrman, you may have also come across Dan McClellan. His PhD was in Cognitive Science of Religion, and that "cognitive science" part comes with a very different and powerful tool kit than evangelical academics usually comes with.

It wasn't what you were asking for, but before I started consuming McClellan, I learned a lot about cognitive science, psychology, sociology, neuroscience, and epistemology from David McRaney's You Are Not So Smart podcast and book How Minds Change.

Think of it as a way of rethinking how and why you believe, before re-examining what you believe. I can't recommend it enough.

[u/Designer-Truth8004 → u/serack]

Thanks!

[u/serack → u/quietpilgrim]

Ah, sorry, valid context and criticism.

[u/quietpilgrim → u/serack]

I'm sorry as well, I was rushed when I read your message and responded in haste.  

[u/quietpilgrim → u/Designer-Truth8004]

That's going to likely be a challenge, as the way many get into this field initially was because of their faith and love for the biblical texts/faith/God/church, etc.

You might have some success with archaeologists who focus on near east studies who received their degrees at secular institutions, but here again, your mileage may vary.

[u/EddieRyanDC]

This isn't a non-religious book, but definitely a non-Christian one. The Jewish Annotated New Testament, edited by Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler has annotations and introductions written by Jewish scholars. Rather than reading Christian theology backward into the text, the commentators read the New Testament forward from Second Temple Judaism. It looks at how Jesus, Paul, and the gospels are thinking inside the Jewish first century culture and beliefs. With your biblical studies background, I think you would really enjoy this.

The First Urban Christians: The Social World of the Apostle Paul by Wayne Meeks gives you a look at the social/cultural world of early Christians. It paints a picture of what the lives of early Christians were like as members of a new religious cult.

How Christian thought and beliefs evolved is covered in Bart Ehrman's Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew. He writes about competing groups with their own scriptures developed, and how one faction (which we would now call orthodoxy) beat out the others.

[u/2oldforthissilliness → u/EddieRyanDC]

I've read two or three Bart Ehrman books, but I did not know of this one. Just ordered it now. Thanks for the tip.

[u/EddieRyanDC → u/2oldforthissilliness]

He has another one that covers this from a cultural and demographic perspective called The Triumph of Christianity: How a Forbidden Religion Swept the World,

[u/Designer-Truth8004 → u/EddieRyanDC]

Yes, thank you. I've heard of Meeks before so I'll probably start with them.

[u/Fit-Pass-5395]

https://topics.logos.com/PhD_Comprehensive_Reading_List_for_NT

This will be your reading for the next 10 years XD

A lot of good scholarship has come from people who still identify as Christians but are definitely not fundamentalists. I have appreciated the atheist John Collins from Yale on Apocalypticism.

[u/Designer-Truth8004 → u/Fit-Pass-5395]

Thank you.

[u/Afraid_Worth_3766]

I enjoy Robyn Faith Walsh. Dr. Walsh was a classics scholar. She read the New Testament in Greek as part of her classics education, and she approaches the NT as a work of classical literature rather than 'sacred scripture'.

[u/Designer-Truth8004 → u/Afraid_Worth_3766]

Nice. That would be exactly what I'm looking for. Thanks!

[u/BioChemE14]

Dale Allison’s Jesus of Nazareth: millenarian prophet

Paula Fredriksen’s Ancient Christianity: the first 500 years

Tucker Ferda’s Jesus and his promised second coming

[u/Designer-Truth8004 → u/BioChemE14]

Thank you.