Table of Contents

Dedication

List of Illustrations

Preface

List of Abbreviations

I THE CONTEXT

1. The Mediterranean Context of Early Christianity Philip F. Esler

2. Emperors, Armies and Bureaucrats 68-430 CE Jill Harries

3. Greek and Roman Philosophy and Religion Luther Martin

4.Jewish Tradition and Culture James Aitken

II CHRISTIAN ORIGINS AND DEVELOPMENT

5. Jesus in His World Douglas Oakman

6. Early Jewish Christianity Edwin Broadhead

7. Paul and the Development of Gentile Christianity Todd Klutz

8. The Jesus Tradition: The Gospel Writers’ Strategies of Persuasion Richard Rohrbaugh

9. The Second and Third Centuries Jeffrey S. Siker

10. From Constantine to Theodosius and Beyond Bill Leadbetter

11. Jewish and Christian Interaction from the First to the Fifth Centuries Anders Runesson

III COMMUNITY FORMATION AND MAINTENANCE

12. Mission and Expansion Thomas Finn

13. The Development of Office in the Early Church Mark Edwards

14. Christian Regional Diversity David Taylor

15. Monasticism Columba Stewart

IV EVERYDAY CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE

16. Reading the New Testament in Roman Britain Richard Cleaves

17. Sex and Sexual Renunciation I Teresa Shaw

18. Sex and Sexual Renunciation II: Developments in Research since 2000 Elizabeth Castelli

19. Women, Children and House Churches Mona LaFosse

20. Worship, Practice and Belief Max Johnson

21. Ritual and the Rise of the Early Christian Movement Risto Uro

22. Communication and Travel Blake Leyerle

V CHRISTIAN CULTURE

23. Christian Realia: Books, Papyri and Artefacts Giovanni Bazzana

24. Scriptures in Early Christianity Outi Lehtipuu and Hanne von Weissenberg

25. Saints and Hagiography Mark Humphries

26. Translation and Communication across Languages Malcolm Choat

VI THE INTELLECTUAL HERITAGE

27. The Apostolic Fathers Carolyn Osiek

28. The Apologists Anders-Christian Jacobsen

29. Early Theologians Gerald Bray

30. Later Theologians of the Greek East Andrew Louth

31. Later Theologians of the West Ivor Davidson

32. Creeds, Councils and Doctrinal Development Piotr Ashwin-Siejkowski

33. Biblical Interpretation Oskar Skarsaune

VII THE ARTISTIC HERITAGE

34. Early Christian Architecture: The First Five Centures L. Michael White

35. Art Robin Jensen

36. Music John Arthur Smith

37. Imaginative Literature Richard Bauckham

VIII EXTERNAL CHALLENGES

38. Political Oppression and Martyrdom Candida R. Moss

39. Graeco-Roman Philosophical Opposition Michael Simmons

40. Popular Graeco-Roman Responses to Christianity Craig de Vos

IX INTERNAL CHALLENGES

41. Internal Renewal and Dissent in the Early Christian World Sheila McGinn

42. Gnosticism Alistair Logan

43. Montanism Christine Trevett

44. Donatism Jakob Engberg

45. Arianism David Rankin

46. Manichaeism Jason BeDuhn

X PROFILES

47. Origen Thomas Scheck

48. Tertullian Geoffrey D. Dunn

49. Perpetua and Felicitas Shira L. Lander and Ross S. Kraemer

50. Constantine Bill Leadbetter

51. Antony the Great Columba Stewart

52. Pachomius the Great James E. Goehring

53. Athanasius David Gwynn

54. John Chrysostom Wendy Mayer and Pauline Allen

55. Gregory of Nyssa Elena Ene D-Vasilescu

56. Jerome Dennis Brown

57. Ambrose Ivor Davidson

58. Augustine Carol Harrison

59. Ephrem the Syrian Kathleen McVey

60. Julian the Apostate Michael Simmons

About the Author

Philip F. Esler is the Portland Chair in New Testament Studies and Director of the International Centre for Biblical Interpretation in the University of Gloucestershire, Cheltenham, UK. His previous positions include Chief Executive of the Arts and Humanities Research Council (2005-2009) and Principal of St Mary’s University College, Twickenham, London (2010-2013). His research focus lies primarily in the social-scientific of biblical and extra-biblical texts and ancient legal papyri, and he also writes on the Bible and the visual arts and on New Testament theology. His latest monograph is Babatha’s Orchard: The Yadin Papyri and An Ancient Jewish Family Tale Retold (2017) and before that he published Sex, Wives and Warriors: Reading the Old Testament With Its Ancient Audience (2011).

Reviews

"This new edition is a goldmine of up-to-date information for anyone interested in the development of early Christianity. The contributors represent an international collection of top-flight scholars, and the range of topics covered is expansive; yet the essays are written in an accessible style and could certainly be used in a classroom setting at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Of particular note is the way in which the essays situate Christianity within its broader cultural contexts, rather than treating it as if it developed in a 'holy vacuum'. You will want this book on your shelf as a standard reference work for the study of early Christianity."
- Professor David Eastman, Ohio Wesleyan University, USA"The second edition of this valuable collection will be welcomed even by those who already own the first edition. This thoroughly updated edition preserves the structure and comprehensiveness of the first, as well as its important focus on social history and everyday experience. It also adds both depth and breadth through the inclusion of new topics and current approaches. This volume will be a boon to instructors looking for current and provocative readings to challenge their students, and indeed to anyone interested in early Christianity in its historical, social and cultural contexts."
- Professor Adele Reinhartz, University of Ottawa, Canada"The second edition of the Early Christian World successfully manages a difficult task. It not only updates the existing contributions in the first edition of this highly useful tool for studying early Christianity, it also includes new directions in scholarship. Thus it promises to be an valuable part of the libraries of students, academics, and any reader interested in the first five centuries of Christianity alike."
- Dr Jutta Leonhardt-Balzer, University of Aberdeen, UK"The Early Christian World is and remains an enormously useful reference work. It is highly accessible to specialist and non-specialist readers, with essays written in an accessible style, rich illustrations, indices of biblical, classical, Jewish references and patristic references as well as a subject index. These indices make it somewhat easier to navigate through its almost 1200 pages of text. Each article is followed by an extensive and up-to-date bibliography, encouraging and facilitating further research."
- Dr Ine Jacobs, University of Oxford, UK, Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2018"The analysis demonstrates that by silencing slaves and using a rhetoric of violence, the authors of these texts contributed to the construction of myths in which slaves functioned as a useful trope to support the combined power of religion and empire."
- A Journal of Bible and Theology"This new edition fully reflects these developments and provides the reader with authoritative, lively, and up-to-date access to the early Christian world. A quarter of the text is entirely new and the remaining essays have all been carefully revised and updated by their authors.
This book gives a detailed view on Early Christianity from many different angles which are indispensable in studying and comprehending the genesis and further developments in Late Antiquity. "
- Mark Beumer, Kleio-Historia