Early Christian Thought
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The RouTledge Companion To eaRly ChRisTian ThoughT The shape and course which Christian thought has taken over its history is largely due to the contributions of individuals and communities in the second and third centuries. Bringing together a remarkable team of distinguished scholars, The Routledge Companion to Early Christian Thought is the ideal companion for those seeking to understand the way in which early Christian thought developed within its broader cultural milieu and was communicated through its literature, especially as it was directed toward theological concerns. divided into three parts, the Companion: • asks how Christianity’s development was impacted by its interaction with cultural, philosophical, and religious elements within the broader context of the second and third centuries; • examines the way in which early Christian thought was manifest in key individuals and literature in these centuries; • analyses early Christian thought as it was directed toward theological concerns such as god, Christ, redemption, scripture, and the community and its worship. D. Jeffrey Bingham is department Chair and professor of Theological studies at dallas Theological seminary, usa. he is editor of the Brill monograph series, The Bible in Ancient Christianity, as well as author of Irenaeus’ Use of Matthew’s Gospel in Adversus Haereses and several articles and essays on the theology and biblical inter- pretation of early Christianity. The RouTledge Companion To eaRly ChRisTian ThoughT Edited by D. Jeffrey Bingham First published 2010 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 100016 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2010. 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. © 2010 d. Jeffrey Bingham for selection and editorial materials; the contributors for their contributions all rights reserved. no part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized 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 The Routledge companion to early Christian thought / edited by d. Jeffrey Bingham. p. cm. includes bibliographical references and index. isBn 978-0-415-44225-1 (hardback : alk. paper) – isBn 978-0-203-86451-7 (ebook) 1. Christianity–philosophy–history–early church, ca. 30-600. i. Bingham, d. Jeffrey (dwight Jeffrey) ii. Title: Companion to early Christian thought. BR100.R67 2009 230.09'015–dc22 2009026872 ISBN 0-203-86451-4 Master e-book ISBN isBn10: 0-415-44225-7 (hbk) isBn10: 0-203-86451-4 (ebk) isBn13: 978-0-415-44225-1 (hbk) isBn13: 978-0-203-86451-7 (ebk) For pamela and marti, and in memory of my Father, dwight hemenway Bingham, Jr. (12 april 1926–28 may 2009) ConTenTs Notes on Contributors ix Preface xi Part I World 1 Christianity in the Graeco-Roman world: socio-political, philosophical, and religious interactions up to the Edict of Milan (ce 313) 3 geoRge h. van KooTen 2 Early Christianity and philosophy 38 maRK J. edWaRds 3 Greco-Roman understanding of Christianity 51 paul haRTog 4 Jews and Christians 68 lynn h. CohiCK Part II Literature 5 Imitations in literature and life: Apocrypha and martyrdom 87 J. K. ellioTT 6 Ignatius and the Apostolic Fathers 108 ClayTon n. JeFFoRd 7 Justin and the apologists 121 osKaR sKaRsaune 8 Irenaeus of Lyons 137 d. JeffRey Bingham 9 Roman and North African Christianity 154 geoFFRey d. dunn 10 Clement and Alexandrian Christianity 172 henny FisKå hägg 11 Origen 188 Ronald e. heine 12 Gnosis and Nag Hammadi 204 anne mCguiRe EDITED By d. JeFFREY BINGHAM 13 Schism and heresy: identity, cracks, and canyons in early Christianity 227 pheme peRKins Part III Thought 14 God 241 m. C. sTeenBeRg 15 Christ: the Apostolic Fathers to the third century 256 J. a. mCguCKin 16 Redemption 271 James d. eRnesT 17 Scripture 288 peTeR W. maRTens 18 Community and worship 313 eveReTT FeRguson Index 331 viii ContriBuToRs D. Jeffrey Bingham is department Chair and professor of Theological studies at dallas Theological seminary in dallas, Texas. Lynn H. Cohick is associate professor of new Testament in the Biblical and Theological studies department at Wheaton College in Wheaton, illinois. Geoffrey D. Dunn is currently an australian Research Council-funded australian Research Fellow in the Centre for early Christian studies, australian Catholic university. Mark J. Edwards is Tutor in Theology at Christ Church, oxford and lecturer in patristics in the Theology Faculty of oxford university. J. K. Elliott is emeritus professor at the university of leeds, uK. he has recently retired from the personal chair of new Testament Textual Criticism. James D. Ernest is an academic acquisitions editor for Baker publishing group and adjunct instructor in historical Theology at Calvin Theological seminary in grand Rapids, michigan. Everett Ferguson is distinguished scholar in Residence at abilene Christian university in abilene, Texas. Henny Fiskå Hägg is associate professor at the department of Religion, philosophy and history at the university of agder, norway. Paul Hartog is an associate professor of new Testament and early Christian studies at Faith Baptist Theological seminary in ankeny, iowa. Ronald E. Heine is professor of Bible and Theology at northwest Christian university in eugene, oregon. Clayton N. Jefford is professor of scripture at the st meinrad school of Theology in st meinrad, indiana. Peter W. Martens is an assistant professor in the department of Theological studies at saint louis university in st louis, missouri. EDITED By d. JeFFREY BINGHAM J. A. McGuckin is ane marie and Bent emil nielsen professor in late antique and Byzantine Christian history at union Theological seminary as well as professor of Byzantine Christian studies at Columbia university, new york. Anne McGuire is the Kies Family associate professor in the humanities and associate professor of Religion at haverford College in haverford, pennsylvania. Pheme Perkins is professor of new Testament in the Theology department at Boston College in Boston, massachusetts. Oskar Skarsaune is professor of Church history at the mF norwegian school of Theology, oslo. M. C. Steenberg is Chair and professor of Theology at leeds Trinity university College in horsforth, leeds, uK. George H. van Kooten is dean of Faculty and professor of new Testament and early Christianity in the Faculty of Theology and Religious studies of the university of groningen, The netherlands. x PreFaCe in the second and third centuries, as Christianity continued its movement outward and westward from its early urban centers into the larger Roman world, the challenge of relating to greco-Roman socio-political, philosophical, and religious forces intensified. Christians – increasingly of pagan rather than Jewish background – struggled to discern whether and how to reject or adapt commonplace greco-Roman philosophical ideas. Conversely, their pagan neighbors were formulating their own judgments regarding Christianity, some more generous than others. meanwhile, Jews and Christians were also reading each other and defining themselves by way of a hermeneutical struggle for the inheritance of the hebrew scriptures. part i of this volume therefore treats the interaction between these overarching, problematic categories: Christian, greco-Roman, Jew. early Christian thought is complex, not amenable to simple description. The era was fraught with conflicting definitions of the pairings catholic and heretic, Christian and Jew, Christian and Roman. enculturated in various social and geographical settings, early Christianity sometimes exhibited dizzying diversity; at other times it demonstrated surprising continuity in thought and practice. sacred writings were being identified and collected; in some cases they were being written.a lways they were being interpreted. These interpretations spawned various rites, ideas, manners of life, and inevitably, additional literature, some of it pastoral, some of it expositional, some of it adversarial, some of it defensive. Within this literature and within their patterns of living, worshipping, and dying, Christians manifested peculiar ways of thinking and formulated distinctive theological ideas. part ii of this book therefore discusses diverse writers and literatures of those early years and their theological concerns, and part iii surveys selected theological topics that are particularly prominent in texts from the whole period. The chapters are written by an international group of experts who aim to serve the needs both of beginners and of those who are continuing their study of early Christian thought. For those who require an initial orientation to understand the cultural context and theological contributions of early Christian literature, these essays will point out the prominent defining features of the period. Those already initiated will find further insight into Christianity’s early complexity and simplicity. Both will find helpful suggestions for further reading. i am very grateful