CONTENTS

PAGE

Preface to the First Edition ix

Preface to the Second Edition xiii

Part I

PRIMITIVE CHRISTIANITY

Chap. I—The Beginnings

§ 1.[Documentary Clues]1
§ 2.[The Earliest Christian Sects]5
§ 3.[Personality of the Nominal Founder]10
§ 4.[Myth of the Twelve Apostles]16
§ 5.[Primary Forms of the Cult]20
§ 6.[Rise of Gentile Christism]28
§ 7.[Growth of the Christ Myth]36

Chap. II—The Environment

§ 1.[Social and Mental Conditions in the RomanEmpire]41
§ 2.[Jewish Orthodoxy]46
§ 3.[Jewish Sects: the Essenes]49
§ 4.[Gentile Cults]51
§ 5.[Ethics: Popular and Philosophic]60