Welcome
Welcome to christianorigins.org. This site began some nine years ago as a gateway for resources relevant to the study of earliest Christianity that had started to appear online. I am afraid that I have long ago conceded defeat and have been unable to expend the time necessary to keep abreast of the proliferation of such material. Those of you who came to this site looking for a comprehensive and reliable gateway for studying early Christianity should go to Mark Goodacre's excellent ntgateway.com
Rather than providing a gateway to other resources, I shall be developing christianorigins.org to provide support for the various research, teaching and media projects in which I am currently engaged - mostly, but not exclusively, concerned with the first Chrsitians. I have a broad range of other interests in the study of religion and have a particular passion for helping to faclitate informed and critical thinking in the public understanding of religion and religions in the UK today - about which, a lot of rubbish is spoken by a lot of people.
Research Interests and Research Students
My research interests include the following: early Christianity in its social context; the historical Jesus; Roman religion; the history of (ancient) medicine; sociology and anthropology of sectarianism and apocalypticism; religion and ancient popular culture; the relationship between religion and economics, secularism, and anarchism; seventeenth-century religious radicalism and interreligious encounter.
I supervise at gradaute level in a number of these areas and am happy to hear from any potential graduate students. However, before contacting me do make sure that you have had a look at the information for potential graduate students provided by the Faculty of Divinity.
Advanced Diploma in the Study of Religion
In addition, I also oversee and supervise for the University's new Advanced Diploma in the Study of Religion, which is an undergraduate-level qualification. This is a research-based course of supervised independent study over 9 months, culminating in a 10,000-12,000 word dissertation. It provides a good foundation in research methods for students who wish to continue with their research at a higher level, either through a post-graduate course or on their own initiative. The course is open to all students who can demonstrate appropriate previous experience in Religious Studies or a related discipline at an advanced level. Applicants should have a research topic in mind and should be prepared to travel to Cambridge for supervision.
For more information about the Advanced Diploma in the Study of Religion, click here.