Within the contemporary renewal of the exegetical and historical research on Jesus and early Christianity, this book focuses on a wider knowledge of the social and cultural context of the first two centuries, thanks to a systematic research of documentary materials and archaeological data (epigraphs and documentary papyri). Secondly, the book faces the increasingly perceived need to use all the existing literary material for the reconstruction of the historical Jesus and the first groups of his followers. Thirdly, the book stresses the importance of giving space to new epistemological and methodological perspectives in the field of human sciences. The last section of the volume is dedicated to the connection of contemporary research with the interpretations of Jesus and early Christianity developed in the modern age.