Christ Groups and Associations
Foundational Essays
Published on 15. August 2022
Book
Hardback
432 pages
978-1-4813-1821-1 (ISBN)
Description
The use of voluntary associations as a way to begin understanding Christ groups has become accepted practice in much of modern New Testament scholarship. This consensus has been decades in the making, building on work from the previous century. Easy access to influential works in this field enables students and scholars to expand our horizons for studying Christian origins.
The chapters in this volume represent some of the key figures and their arguments across three major periods of interest in the development of using associations as a model for understanding early Christ groups. A new introduction orients the reader to the important contributions of each essay and to where the essays fit within broader attempts at reconstructing the development of Christianity.
While much work remains in this field, Christ Groups and Associations serves to demonstrate the breadth of existing research and past discoveries on Christ groups enmeshed within the Greco-Roman cultural and social milieu and also the communal patterns that preceded and surrounded such groups. Modern scholars can build on these essays to join in the lively debate about the relevance of associations for understanding the claims and practices of the earliest Christ groups.
The chapters in this volume represent some of the key figures and their arguments across three major periods of interest in the development of using associations as a model for understanding early Christ groups. A new introduction orients the reader to the important contributions of each essay and to where the essays fit within broader attempts at reconstructing the development of Christianity.
While much work remains in this field, Christ Groups and Associations serves to demonstrate the breadth of existing research and past discoveries on Christ groups enmeshed within the Greco-Roman cultural and social milieu and also the communal patterns that preceded and surrounded such groups. Modern scholars can build on these essays to join in the lively debate about the relevance of associations for understanding the claims and practices of the earliest Christ groups.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Waco
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 30 mm
Weight
851 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4813-1821-1 (9781481318211)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Richard S. Ascough is a Professor in the School of Religion at Queen's University in Kingston, Canada. He has published widely in the field of New Testament with more than fifty articles and essays and ten books, including Paul's Macedonian Associations (2003), 1 and 2 Thessalonians (2014), Lydia (2009), and Associations in the Greco-Roman World (with John Kloppenborg and Philip Harland, 2012).
Content
Introducing the Conversation, by Richard S. Ascough
Part One: Initiating the Conversation (1866-1927)
1 St. Paul and the Pagan Guilds (1927), by Thomas Wilson
2 Religious Legislation of the Period (1905), by Ernest Renan
3 Bishops and Deacons (1881), by Edwin Hatch
4 Christianity and the Collegia (1906), E. G. Hardy
5 Edwin Hatch, Churches, and Collegia (1993), by John S. Kloppenborg
6 On the Exegetical Interest in Ancient Associations in the 19th and 20th Centures (2006), by Thomas Schmeller
Part Two: Reanimating the Conversation (1960-1984)
7 Unofficial Associations: Koinonia (1960), by E. A. Judge
8 Patrons and Officers in Club and Church (1977), by William L. Countryman
9 Christianity as a Burial Society (1984), by Robert L. Wilken
10 A Hellenistic Cult Group and the New Testament Churches (1981), by S. C. Barton and G. H. R. Horsley
11 The Formation of the Ekklesia (1983), by Wayne A. Meeks
Part Three: Moving the Conversation Forward (1999-2013)
12 Paul's House Churches and the Cultic Associations (1999), by James Harrison
13 Voluntary Associations and the Formation of Pauline Churches: Overcoming the Objections (2006), by Richard S. Ascough
14 Roman Legislation on Associations and Christian Communities (2002), by Markus OEhler
15 Christ-Bearers and Fellow-Initiates: Local Cultural Life and Christian Identity in Ignatius' Letters (2003), by Philip A. Harland
16 Membership Practices in Pauline Christ Groups (2013), by John S. Kloppenborg
Part One: Initiating the Conversation (1866-1927)
1 St. Paul and the Pagan Guilds (1927), by Thomas Wilson
2 Religious Legislation of the Period (1905), by Ernest Renan
3 Bishops and Deacons (1881), by Edwin Hatch
4 Christianity and the Collegia (1906), E. G. Hardy
5 Edwin Hatch, Churches, and Collegia (1993), by John S. Kloppenborg
6 On the Exegetical Interest in Ancient Associations in the 19th and 20th Centures (2006), by Thomas Schmeller
Part Two: Reanimating the Conversation (1960-1984)
7 Unofficial Associations: Koinonia (1960), by E. A. Judge
8 Patrons and Officers in Club and Church (1977), by William L. Countryman
9 Christianity as a Burial Society (1984), by Robert L. Wilken
10 A Hellenistic Cult Group and the New Testament Churches (1981), by S. C. Barton and G. H. R. Horsley
11 The Formation of the Ekklesia (1983), by Wayne A. Meeks
Part Three: Moving the Conversation Forward (1999-2013)
12 Paul's House Churches and the Cultic Associations (1999), by James Harrison
13 Voluntary Associations and the Formation of Pauline Churches: Overcoming the Objections (2006), by Richard S. Ascough
14 Roman Legislation on Associations and Christian Communities (2002), by Markus OEhler
15 Christ-Bearers and Fellow-Initiates: Local Cultural Life and Christian Identity in Ignatius' Letters (2003), by Philip A. Harland
16 Membership Practices in Pauline Christ Groups (2013), by John S. Kloppenborg