Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-pftt2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-17T18:55:07.528Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

14 - Early Christians and Their Socioeconomic Contexts

from Part IV - Contested Cultures

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 August 2023

By
James R. Harrison
Edited by
Bruce W. Longenecker  and
David E. Wilhite
Bruce W. Longenecker
Affiliation:
Baylor University, Texas
David E. Wilhite
Affiliation:
Baylor University, Texas
Get access

Summary

This essay will assess scholarship from the last two decades on the socioeconomic profile and diversity of the early Christian communities. Several methodological observations about recent studies on social stratification and its implications for early Christian groups in the Greco-Roman world will also be offered, touching on poverty and the dynamics of rank and status in antiquity.1 The transitions in scholarly consensus prior to twenty-first-century scholarship on social stratification in the early Christian communities are well known and need only be briefly summarized below.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge History of Ancient Christianity , pp. 325 - 346
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Select Bibliography

Aasgaard, Reidar. “My Beloved Brothers and Sisters!” Christian Siblingship in Paul (JSNT Suppl. 265; London: T&T Clark International, 2004).Google Scholar
Aasgaard, Reidar. “Paul as a child: Children and childhood in the letters of the apostle,” Journal of Biblical Literature 126.1 (2007), 129–59.Google Scholar
Alföldy, Geza. The Social History of Rome. Translated by Braund, David and Pollock, Frank (Totowa: Barnes and Noble, 1985).Google Scholar
Ascough, Richard S. Paul’s Macedonian Associations: The Social Context of Philippians and 1 Thessalonians (WUNT 2.161; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2003).Google Scholar
Ascough, Richard S., Harland, Philip A., and Kloppenborg, John S.. Associations in the Greco-Roman World: A Sourcebook (Waco, TX: Baylor University Press; Berlin: De Gruyter, 2012).Google Scholar
Barclay, John M. G. “Early Christianity, mission, and the survival of the poor in the Graeco-Roman world,” Teologisk Tidsskrift 8.4 (2019), 243–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barclay, John M. G. “Manna and the circulation of Grace: A study of 2 Corinthians 8:1–15.” Pages 409–26 in The Word Leaps the Gap: Essays on Scripture and Theology in Honor of Richard B. Hays. Edited by Ross Wagner, J., Kavin Rowe, C., and Katherine Grieb, A. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2008).Google Scholar
Bash, Anthony. Ambassadors for Christ: An Exploration of Ambassadorial Language in the New Testament (WUNT 2.92; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1997).Google Scholar
Bitner, Bradley J. Paul’s Political Strategy in 1 Corinthians 1–4: Constitution and Covenant (SNTSMS 163; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015).Google Scholar
Blanton, Thomas R. IV. A Spiritual Economy: Gift Exchange in the Letters of Paul of Tarsus (Synkrisis; New Haven: Yale University Press, 2017).Google Scholar
Brookins, Timothy A. Corinthian Wisdom, Stoic Philosophy, and the Ancient Economy (SNTSMS 159; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014).Google Scholar
Brookins, Timothy A. “Economic profiling of early Christian communities.” Pages 57–87 in Paul and Economics: A Handbook. Edited by Blanton, Thomas R. and Pickett, Raymond (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2017).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cadwallader, Alan, Harrison, James R., Standhartinger, Angela, and Welborn, L. L. (eds.) The Village in Antiquity and the Rise of Early Christianity (London: T&T Clark, forthcoming).Google Scholar
Davids, Peter. Commentary on James (NIGTC; Exeter: Paternoster, 1982).Google Scholar
Deissmann, Adolf. Light from the Ancient Near East (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1927).Google Scholar
Deissmann, Adolf. Paul: A Study in Social and Religious History (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1957).Google Scholar
Deissmann, Adolf. “Primitive Christianity and the lower classes,” Expositor 7 (1909), 208–24.Google Scholar
Downs, David J. “Is God Paul’s patron?” Pages 129–56 in Engaging Economics: New Testament Scenarios and Early Christian Reception. Edited by Longenecker, Bruce W. and Liebengood, Kelly D. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2009).Google Scholar
Downs, David J. The Offering of the Gentiles: Paul’s Collection for Jerusalem in Its Chronological, Cultural, and Cultic Contexts (WUNT 2.248; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2008).Google Scholar
Esser, J. J. “De Pauperum cura apud Romanos” (Ph.D. diss., Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, 1902).Google Scholar
Flexsenhar, Michael III. Christians in Caesar’s Household: The Emperor’s Slaves in the Makings of Christianity (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2019).Google Scholar
Friesen, Steven. “Injustice or God’s will? Early Christian explanations of poverty.” Pages 17–36 in Wealth and Poverty in Early Church and Society and Society. Edited by Holman, Susan R. (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2008).Google Scholar
Friesen, Steven. “Paul and economics: The Jerusalem collection as an alternative to patronage.” Pages 27–54 in Paul Unbound: Other Perspectives on the Apostle. Edited by Given, Mark D. (Peabody: Hendrickson, 2010).Google Scholar
Friesen, Steven. “Poverty in Pauline studies: Beyond the so-called new consensus,” Journal for the Study of the New Testament 26.3 (2004), 323–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gill, David W. J. “Acts and the urban elites.” Pages 105–18 in The Book of Acts in Its First Century Setting, vol. 2, The Book of Acts in Its Graeco-Roman Setting. Edited by Gill, David W. J. and Gempf, Conrad (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1994).Google Scholar
Goodrich, John K. Paul as an Administrator of God in 1 Corinthians (SNTSMS 152; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gosbell, Louise A. “The Poor, the Crippled, the Blind, and the Lame”: Physical and Sensory Ability in the Gospels and the New Testament (WUNT 2.469; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2018).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hamel, Gildas H. Poverty and Charity in Roman Palestine, First Three Centuries ce (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1990).Google Scholar
Harland, P. A. Associations, Synagogues and Congregations: Claiming a Place in Ancient Mediterranean Society (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2003; 2nd ed., 2013).Google Scholar
Harrill, J. Albert. Slavery in the New Testament: Literary, Social, and Moral Dimensions (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2006).Google Scholar
Harris, W. V. “Poverty and destitution in the Roman empire.” Pages 27–54 in Rome’s Imperial Economy: Twelve Essays (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011).Google Scholar
Harrison, James R. “From Rome to the colony of Philippi: Roman boasting in Philippians 3:4–6 in its Latin West and Philippian epigraphic context.” Pages 307–70 in The First Urban Churches 4: Roman Philippi. Edited by Harrison, James R. and Welborn, L. L. (Atlanta: SBL Press, 2018).Google Scholar
Harrison, James R. “The historical Jesus as ‘social critic’: An investigation of Luke 6:27–36,” Journal of the Gospels and Acts Research 2 (2018), 55–76.Google Scholar
Harrison, James R. Paul and the Ancient Celebrity Circuit: The Cross and Moral Transformation (WUNT 430; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2019).Google Scholar
Harrison, James R. Paul’s Language of Grace in Its Graeco-Roman Context (WUNT 2.172; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2003).Google Scholar
Harrison, James R. Reading Romans with Roman Eyes: Studies on the Social Perspective of Paul (Paul in Critical Contexts; London: Fortress Academic, 2020).Google Scholar
Harrison, James R. “Social stratification and poverty studies in first-century Roman Palestine: An evaluation of recent research on the economic context of the first disciples.” Pages 7–49 in The Future of Gospels and Acts Research. Edited by Bolt, Peter G. (Macquarie Park: SCD Press, 2021).Google Scholar
Hellerman, Joseph H. Reconstructing Honor in Roman Philippi: Carmen Christi as Cursus Pudorum (SNTSMS 132; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005).Google Scholar
Hock, Ronald F. The Social Context of Paul’s Ministry: Tentmaking and Apostleship (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1980).Google Scholar
Horsley, G. H. R. “Joining the household of Caesar,” New Documents Illustrating Early Christianity 3 (1983), 7–9.Google Scholar
Joubert, Stephan. Paul as Benefactor: Reciprocity, Strategy and Theological Reflection in Paul’s Collection (WUNT 2.124; Tubingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2000).Google Scholar
Judge, E. A. “The mark of the beast, Revelation 13:16.” Pages 424–6 in The First Christians in the Roman World: Augustan and New Testament Essays. Edited by Harrison, James R. (WUNT 229; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2008).Google Scholar
Judge, E. A. “Moral terms in the eulogistic tradition,” New Documents Illustrating Early Christianity 2 (1987), 105–6.Google Scholar
Judge, E. A. “The origin of the church at Rome: A new solution?” Pages 442–62 in The First Christians in the Roman World: Augustan and New Testament Essays. Edited by Harrison, James R. (WUNT 229; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2008).Google Scholar
Judge, E. A. “The Roman base of Paul’s mission.” Pages 553–67 in The First Christians in the Roman World: Augustan and New Testament Essays. Edited by Harrison, James R. (WUNT 229; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2008).Google Scholar
Judge, E. A. The Social Pattern of Christian Groups in the First Century (London: Tyndale Press, 1960).Google Scholar
Kautsky, Karl. The Foundations of Christianity (New York: Russell and Russell, 1953).Google Scholar
Kloppenborg, John S. Christ’s Associations: Connecting and Belonging in the Ancient City (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2019).Google Scholar
Kloppenborg, John S. “Gaius the Roman guest,” New Testament Studies 63.4 (2017), 534–49.Google Scholar
Lampe, Peter. From Paul to Valentinus: Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries. Translated by Steinhauser, Michael (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2003).Google Scholar
Last, Richard. The Pauline Church and the Corinthian Ekklêsia: Greco-Roman Associations in Comparative Context (SNTSMS 164; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016).Google Scholar
Last, Richard, and Harland, Philip A.. Group Survival in the Ancient Mediterranean: Rethinking Material Conditions in the Landscape of Jews and Christians (London: T&T Clark, 2020).Google Scholar
Lewis, Richard B. Paul’s “Spirit of Adoption” in Its Roman Imperial Context (LNTS 545; London: Bloomsbury, 2016).Google Scholar
Longenecker, Bruce W. “Exposing the economic middle: A revised economy scale for the study of early urban Christianity,” Journal for the Study of the New Testament 31 (2009), 243–78.Google Scholar
Longenecker, Bruce W. “Paul, poverty, and the powers: The eschatological Body of Christ in the present evil age.” Pages 363–87 in One God, One People, One Future: Essays in Honour of N. T. Wright. Edited by Dunne, John Anthony and Lewellen, Eric (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2018).Google Scholar
Longenecker, Bruce W. Remember the Poor: Paul, Poverty, and the Greco-Roman World (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2010).Google Scholar
Malherbe, Abraham J. Social Aspects of Early Christianity (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1977; 2nd ed., 1983).Google Scholar
Martin, Dale B. “Review essay: Justin J. Meggitt, Paul, Poverty and Survival,” Journal for the Study of the New Testament 84 (2001), 51–64.Google Scholar
Meeks, Wayne A. The First Urban Christians: The Social World of the Apostle Paul (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1983).Google Scholar
Meggitt, Justin J. Paul, Poverty and Survival (SNTW; Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1998).Google Scholar
Mongstad-Kvammen, Ingebord. Toward a Postcolonial Reading of the Epistle of James: James 2:2–13 in Its Roman Imperial Context (Biblical Interpretation Series 119; Leiden: Brill, 2013).Google Scholar
Oakes, Peter. Reading Romans in Pompeii: Paul’s Letter at Ground Level (Minneapolis: Fortress Press; London: SPCK, 2009).Google Scholar
Ogereau, Julien M. Paul’s Koinonia with the Philippians: A Socio-Historical Investigation of a Pauline Economic Partnership (WUNT 2.377; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2014).Google Scholar
Økland, Jorunn. Women in Their Place: Paul and the Corinthian Discourse of Gender and Sanctuary Space (JSNT Suppl. 269; London: T&T Clark, 2004).Google Scholar
Osiek, Carolyn and MacDonald, Margaret, with Tulloch, Janet H.. A Woman’s Place: House Churches in Earliest Christianity (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2006).Google Scholar
Robinson, Thomas A. Who Were the First Christians? Dismantling the Urban Thesis (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rosenfeld, Ben-Zion, and Perlmutter, Haim. “The poor as a stratum of Jewish society in Roman Palestine 70–250 ce: An analysis,” Historia 60.3 (2011), 273–300.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scheidel, Walter. “Stratification, deprivation, and quality of life.” Pages 40–59 in Poverty in the Roman World. Edited by Atkins, Margaret and Osborn, Robin (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006).Google Scholar
Scheidel, Walter and Friesen, Steven. “The size of the economy and the distribution of income in the Roman empire,” Journal of Roman Studies 99 (2009), 61–91.Google Scholar
Shaner,  Katherine Ann Enslaved Leadership in Early Christianity (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018).Google Scholar
Still, Todd D. “Did Paul loathe labor? Revisiting the work of Ronald F. Hock on the apostle’s tentmaking and social class,” Journal of Biblical Literature 125.4 (2006), 781–95.Google Scholar
Tennant, Peter, and Tennant, P. M. W.. “Poets and poverty: The case of Martial,” Acta Classica 43 (2000), 139–56.Google Scholar
Theissen, Gerd. The Social Setting of Pauline Christianity (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1982).Google Scholar
Trebilco, Paul. “Epigraphy and the study of polis and ekklēsia in the Greco-Roman world.” Pages 89–109 in The First Urban Churches 1: Methodological Foundations. Edited by Harrison, James R. and Welborn, L. L. (Atlanta: SBL Press, 2015).Google Scholar
Weiß, Alexander. Soziale Elite und Christentum: Studien zu ordo-Angehörigen unter den frühen Christen (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2015).Google Scholar
Welborn, L. L. An End to Enmity: Paul and the “Wrongdoer” of Second Corinthians (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2011).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Welborn, L. L. “Inequality in Roman Corinth: Evidence from diverse sources evaluated by a Neo-Ricardian model.” Pages 47–84 in The First Urban Churches 2: Roman Corinth. Edited by Harrison, James R. and Welborn, L. L. (Atlanta: SBL Press, 2016).Google Scholar
Welborn, L. L. Paul, the Fool of Christ: A Study of 1 Corinthians 1–4 in the Comic-Philosophic Tradition (JSNT Suppl. 293; London: T&T Clark, 2005).Google Scholar
Welborn, L. L. “Paul’s place in a first-century revival of the discourse of ‘equality,’” Harvard Theological Review 110 (2017), 541–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Welborn, L. L. “The polis and the poor: Reconstructing social relations from different genres of evidence.” Pages 189–243 in The First Urban Churches 1: Methodological Foundations. Edited by Harrison, James R. and Welborn, L. L. (Atlanta: SBL Press, 2015).Google Scholar
Welborn, L. L. “‘That there may be equality’: The contexts and consequences of a Pauline ideal,” New Testament Studies 59 (2013), 73–90.Google Scholar
Williams, Travis B. “Benefiting the community through good works? The economic feasibility of civic benefaction in 1 Peter,” Journal of Greco-Roman Christianity and Judaism 9 (2013), 147–95.Google Scholar
Williams, Travis B. Good Works in 1 Peter: Negotiating Social Conflict and Christian Identity in the Greco-Roman World (WUNT 337; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2014).Google Scholar
Winter, Bruce W. After Paul Left Corinth: The Influence of Secular Ethics and Social Change (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2001).Google Scholar
Winter, Bruce W. Seek the Welfare of the City: Christians as Benefactors and Citizens (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1994).Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×