"We don't really understand all we owe to Luther and the Protestant Reformation. We were freed from the shackles of spiritual bigotry, and because of constant cultural tradition have since become able to return to the source and experience Christianity in its purest form." The New Testament theologian Eduard Lohse subscribes to these words of Goethe completely. The main concern of this introduction lies in exposing the roots of early Christianity. He takes a look at the general situation and conditions of that time and describes both the historical and theological environment. This is not done through an effusion of details, but rather by concentrating on communicating the main features that led to the evolvement of early Christianity.