In the course of the history of Christianity two types of approaches were expressed in relation to Judaism. They are those expressed by the phrase adversus Judaeos and by Justin Martyr's Dialogos pros Tryphona. The first type has been more prevalent. Beginning with Tertullian a great bulk of literature has been written ‘against the Jews’, contra Judaeos. The dialogue with Trypho seems to have been an anomaly in the flood of literature that was written against Judaism. Among the persons who spoke against Judaism most prominently are St. John Chrysostom and St. Augustine.

Recent decades have seen a flood of books and articles dealing with the resurrection of Jesus Christ. At no time since the second and third centuries has the central affirmation of Christian faith won so much attention from theologians and exegetes. This renewed interest in the resurrection was pioneered by Karl Barth (1886–1968), whose Epistle to the Romans in its second edition of 1922 marks thereal beginning of twentiethcentury theology. To prevent this investigation of Barth's view of Christ's resurrection from becoming confused and confusing, it seems advisable to make use of a distinction between the earlier and the later Barth. His Anselm study (Fides Quaerens Intellectum) of 1931 forms the turning point. It would be inaccurate to maintain that Barth's later theology represents a total break with his work in the 1920's, but it is incontestable that certain important shifts take place.