Hans Lietzmann was not only a great scholar of the early church, but was also interested in early Christian literature and its value to the historian. However, although there is a large body of scholarship on patristic studies and theology, little attention has been paid even now to literary, as opposed to rhetorical, analysis. Some scholars are now trying to address the problem, which is both methodological and intellectual. This publication discusses the issues involved, and suggests new ways of applying literary readings to early Christian texts. Are we entering a new age of interpretation of the massive literary production by early Christians, and how does this relate to the traditional disciplines of patristics and church history?
