Early Christianity

Early Christianity Examining sources and case studies, this fascinating book explores early Christianity, how it was studied, how it is studied now, and how Judaeo-Christian values came to form the ideological bedrock of modern western culture. Looking at the diverse source materials available, from the earliest New Testament texts and the complex treatises of early Christian authors such as Lactantius and Eusebius, to archaeology, epigraphy, and papyrology, the book examines what is needed to study the subject, what materials are available, how useful they are, and how the study of the subject may be approached. Case study chapters focus on important problems in the study of early Christianity including: • the book of Acts as a source for the social dynamics of cities and the tensions inherent in Hellenistic Judaism • orthodoxy and organization in early Christianity • early Christianity and the Roman empire. Also including a comprehensive guide for students that lists major collections of literary and non-literary sources, the chief journals and series, and important textbooks, Early Christianity is an excellent aid to the study of Christianity in history. Mark Humphries is senior lecturer in Classics at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth. He is the author of Communities of the Blessed (OUP 1999) and a chapter in the Cambridge Ancient History XIV (2000). He is a general editor of the series Translated Texts for Historians. Classical Foundations The books in this series introduce students to the broad areas of study within classical studies and ancient history. They will be particularly helpful to students coming to the subject for the first time, or to those already familiar with an academic discipline who need orientation in a new field. The authors work to a common brief but not to a rigid structure: they set out to demonstrate the importance of the chosen subject and the lines of recent and continuing research and interpretation. Each book will provide a brief survey of the range of the subject, accompanied by some case studies demonstrating how one may go on deeper into it. Each will also include guidance of a practical kind on sources, resources and reference material, and how to pursue the subject further. When complete, the series will comprise a critical map of the whole field of ancient studies. The series is planned to include: Early Christianity Greek History Greek Literature Greek Philosophy Late Antiquity Latin Literature Roman Social History The Roman Empire Books currently available in the series: Roman Social History Susan Treggiari Latin Literature Susanna Morton Braund Greek History Robin Osborne Early Christianity Mark Humphries ii 1 2 Early Christianity 3 4 5 61 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Mark Humphries 1711 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 iii Folio First published 2006 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group © 2006 Mark Humphries This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2006. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.” All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Humphries, Mark. Early Christianity/by Mark Humphries. – 1st ed. p. cm. – (Classical foundations) Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Church history – Primitive and early church, ca. 30–600 I. Title. II. Series. BR165.H74 2006 270.1–dc22 2005023645 ISBN10: 0–415–20538–7 (hbk) ISBN10: 0–415–20539–5 (pbk) ISBN13: 9–78–0–415–20538–2 (hbk) ISBN13: 9–78–0–415–20539–9 (pbk) iv 1 2 3 4 5 For Tim, Ash, Luke, and Joey 61 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 1711 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Folio God shall have a starring role in my history of the world. How could it be otherwise? If He exists, then He is responsible for the whole marvellous appalling narrative. If He does not, then the very proposition that He might has killed more people and exercised more minds than anything else. He dominates the stage. Penelope Lively, Moon Tiger I do not know if you are one of those who look down on every- thing called religion and theology with disdain or indifference. And yet, no matter how one looks at Christianity, and possibly regards it as a mistake, is it not of real value to pursue the history of this mistake and discover the world shaking events and transformations this mistake had caused? Adolf von Harnack, private letter, 1869 (cited in Frend 2003: 11) 1 2 3 4 5 Contents 61 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Preface xi 1711 18 Introduction: how to use this book 1 19 20 1 What is early Christianity and why does 21 it deserve study? 9 22 The shape of early Christianity 9 23 Approaching early Christianity in the twenty-first 24 century 17 25 26 2 Tradition and revelation: the historical 27 quest for early Christianity 34 28 Discovering early Christianity in the age of 29 Constantine 35 30 Early Christianity from late antiquity to the middle 31 ages 41 32 Renewal, reform, and the origins of critical scholarship 49 33 The rise of modern scholarship 55 34 Towards modernity: early Christianity in the nineteenth 35 and twentieth centuries 59 36 vii Folio CONTENTS 3 The search for early Christianity: sources and their interpretation 64 Christian literature 65 Jewish and pagan literature 82 Documentary sources and material remains 88 Using the sources 93 4 Messiahs and missions: contexts for the origins and spread of Christianity 97 Christian origins and the problem of Judaism 98 Mission and conversion: the expansion of early Christianity 108 Case study: inscriptions and the missionary journeys of Paul 125 5 Doctrine and power: orthodoxy and organization in early Christianity 142 How many bishops attended the council of Nicaea? 143 The ideal of unity in early Christianity 146 Organization and personnel 149 Ritual 156 Orthodoxy and heresy 158 Truth, tradition, text 165 Case study: the Nag Hammadi discoveries and early Christianity 167 6 Confronting Babylon: early Christianity and the Roman empire 186 An age of persecutions? 188 Christian alienation from Roman society 196 Christian attitudes to the Roman empire 202 Towards Christendom: an uneven progress 206 Case study: Pliny the Younger and the Christians 210 viii CONTENTS 7 Discovering early Christianity 225 1 Points of departure 226 2 Source materials 230 3 Specialist journals 234 4 Bibliographical guides to chapters 3–6 237 5 61 Notes 244 7 Bibliography 250 8 Index 268 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 1711 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 ix Folio 1 2 3 4 5 Preface 61 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 It is quite a challenge, I have discovered, to write a book that 1711 explains not only what one does, but also how and even why one 18 does it. That this book should have been written at all, and that 19 the writing of it was a pleasurable task, should be attributed to 20 the support of many friends and colleagues. First and foremost, 21 I am grateful to Richard Stoneman for his invitation to contribute 22 to the Classical Foundations series. In these days when univer- 23 sity courses empower students to choose from a diverse range of 24 modular units, and when, as a consequence, university teachers 25 cannot assume that all students will have had the same basic 26 training, it seems to me useful that there should be books that 27 provide students with basic orientation in specific subjects and 28 their methodologies. Richard is to be commended, therefore, for 29 taking the initiative in editing a series of books that answers this 30 need. More than that, I am grateful to him personally for his assis- 31 tance and encouragement – not to mention his great patience – 32 at various stages in the thinking through and writing of the 33 volume, and for feeding me both his own thoughts and those of 34 other contributors to the series. Also at Routledge, Amy Laurens 35 and Annamarie Kino have seen the book through the press most 36 xi Folio PREFACE efficiently. I have been saved from many errors and infelicities by the perceptive copy-editing of Frances Brown. Others too have made their contributions to whatever virtues the book possesses. Much of the initial thinking that underpins this book was done while I was a doctoral student in St Andrews between 1993 and 1996. I should like to reiterate my gratitude to the many who were thanked in the published version of my doctorate (Humphries 1999), especially Gillian Clark and Mary Whitby, who have done much to shape my attitudes to early Christianity and late antiquity. Although the initial thoughts for the book were generated elsewhere, it was written entirely at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth.

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