Theories, Models, and Metaphors in the Historiography of Christian Origins - Paper Plus
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The founding of Christianity becomes a live case study in Great Man Theory — did Jesus or Paul actually "cause" history, or were they products of deeper social forces?
Great Man TheorySocial Movement TheoryHistorical MaterialismMetaphor and Framing
Theory Briefing
- Thomas Carlyle's 19th-century Great Man Theory sparked a debate over whether Jesus or Paul deserves credit for founding Christianity.
- Historians now use competing models and metaphors to explain Christian origins, challenging the idea that one individual drives religious history.
- The shift from Great Man Theory to sociological and structural frameworks reveals how our explanatory tools shape the history we think we find.