The Jesus of early imperial Christianity

The death of Jesus by crucifixion, together with his resurrection from the dead, lies at the heart of Christianity. In about 326 ce, at the end of the period covered by this volume, Helena, mother of emperor Constantine, made a legendary pilgrimage to the Holy Land and is purported to have found the true cross, as well as the tomb in which Christ’s body had been laid. By exploring this story at the very beginning of this history of Christianity, we shall both open up the particular tensions surrounding the figure of Jesus, who may be regarded as at once the historical instigator and the foundation of Christianity – tensions often captured in the distinction between the ‘Jesus of history’ and the ‘Christ of faith’ – and also illustrate with an instructive parallel the problems of reconstructing the life and teaching of a historical figure around whom apparently legendary features have clustered.

To this day, visitors to Rome may make their way to the basilica of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, just inside the remains of the Aurelian walls of the ancient city, and there find relics of the crucifixion of Jesus and associations with Helena’s pilgrimage. Entering a doorway to the left of the altar, the eye is first caught by the supposed crossbeam of the righteous robber (crucified with Jesus, according to Luke 23:39–43). Pilgrims may then follow the traditional Stations of the Cross before turning to the right and entering a twentieth-century chapel.