The Urban World and the First Christians
Restore columns
Exit Fullscreen

The Urban World and the First Christians

Edited by

Steve Walton

Paul R. Trebilco

and

David W. J. Gill

William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company

Grand Rapids, Michigan

Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

2140 Oak Industrial Drive N.E., Grand Rapids, Michigan 49505

www.eerdmans.com

© 2017 Steve Walton, Paul Trebilco, and David W. J. Gill

All rights reserved

Published 2017

isbn 978-0-8028-7451-1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Walton, Steve, 1955- editor.

Title: The urban world and the first Christians / edited by Steve Walton, Paul R. Trebilco, and David W. J. Gill.

Description: Grand Rapids : Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2017. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2017012591 | ISBN 9780802874511 (pbk.)

Subjects: LCSH: Church history—Primitive and early church, ca. 30-600. | Cities and towns—Religious aspects—Christianity.

Classification: LCC BR166 .U73 2017 | DDC 270.1—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017012591

Contents

Contributors

Abbreviations

Cities as More Than “Scenery”

the editors

I. Early Christianity in Its Ancient Urban Setting(s)

Complicating the Category of Ethnos toward Poliscentrism

A Possible Way Forward within Second Temple Ethnography

anthony le donne

Paul, Pentecost, and the Nomosphere

The Final Return to Jerusalem in the Acts of the Apostles

matthew sleeman

Paul’s Caesarea

joan e. taylor

Early Christianity in Its Colonial Contexts in the Provinces of the Eastern Empire

david w. j. gill

Diaspora Jewish Attitudes to Metropoleis

Philo and Paul on Balanced Personalities, Split Loyalties, Jerusalem, and Rome

jutta leonhardt-balzer

Paul’s Mission Strategy in the Urban Landscape of the First-Century Roman Empire

volker rabens

“Outside the City Gate”

Center and Periphery in Paul’s Preaching in Philippi

cédric brélaz

The City as Foil (Not Friend nor Foe)

Conformity and Subversion in 1 Corinthians 12:12–31

helen morris

Engaging—or Not Engaging—the City

Reading 1 and 2 Timothy and the Johannine Letters in the City of Ephesus

paul r. trebilco

Urbanization and Literate Status in Early Christian Rome

Hermas and Justin Martyr as Examples

chris keith

Alexandria ad Aegyptum

The City That Inspired a Polyphony of Early Christian Theologies

piotr ashwin-siejkowski

II. Early Christian Thinking about Cities

City of God or Home of Traitors and Killers?

Jerusalem according to Matthew

anders runesson

Heavenly Citizenship and Earthly Authorities

Philippians 1:27 and 3:20 in Dialogue with Acts 16:11–40

steve walton

Spiritual Geographies of the City

Exploring Spiritual Landscapes in Colossae

paul cloke

Re-Placing 1 Peter

From Place of Origin to Constructions of Space

david g. horrell

Repairing Social Vertigo

Spatial Production and Belonging in 1 Peter

wei hsien wan

Cities of Revelation

A Tale of Two (Kinds of) Cities

ian paul

Conclusion

Research on Urban Christian Communities

Looking Ahead

david w. j. gill and paul r. trebilco

Works Cited

Index of Authors

Index of Subjects

Index of Scripture and Ancient ...

Content not shown in limited preview…
UWFC

About The Urban World and the First Christians

In the tradition of The First Urban Christians by Wayne Meeks, this book explores the relationship between the earliest Christians and the city environment. Experts in classics, early Christianity, and human geography analyze the growth, development, and self-understanding of the early Christian movement in urban settings.

The book’s contributors first look at how the urban physical, cultural, and social environments of the ancient Mediterranean basin affected the ways in which early Christianity progressed. They then turn to how the earliest Christians thought and theologized in their engagement with cities. With a rich variety of expertise and scholarship, The Urban World and the First Christians is an important contribution to the understanding of early Christianity.

Support Info

rbnwrldfchrstns

Table of Contents