Early Christians Adapting to the Roman Empire: Mutual Recognition

Description

In Early Christians Adapting to the Roman Empire: Mutual Recognition Niko Huttunen challenges the interpretation of early Christian texts as anti-imperial documents. He presents examples of the positive relationship between early Christians and the Roman society. With the concept of “recognition” Huttunen describes a situation in which the parties can come to terms with each other without full agreement. Huttunen provides examples of non-Christian philosophers recognizing early Christians. He claims that recognition was a response to Christians who presented themselves as philosophers. Huttunen reads Romans 13 as a part of the ancient tradition of the law of the stronger. His pioneering study on early Christian soldiers uncovers the practical dimension of recognizing the empire. Contents Chapter 1 Introduction: Recognition between Anti- and Pro-imperial Readings Chapter 2 Imperial Recognition in the Intellectual Sphere: Christians and Philosophers 1 Almost Philosophers: Pagan Philosophers Recognizing Christians 1.1 Epictetus: Fearless People in Sympathy with Their Words 1.2 Christians and Philosophers at the End of the Second Century 1.3 Conclusions 2 Early Christians Seeking Recognition in Greco-Roman Culture 2.1 Athens and Jerusalem—Still Something in Common 2.2 Paul, Philosophy and the Torah 2.3 Mutual Recognition Becomes Mainstream Chapter 3 Imagination Made Real: Paul between Political Realism and Eschatological Hope 1 Paul and His Readers 1.1 Paul’s Openness toward Roman Society 1.2 Avoiding Offense: Exegetical Attempts 1.3 The Unease of the Christian Tradition 2 Paul’s Realism and Imagination 2.1 Paul’s Political Realism and the Law of the Stronger 2.2 Coping Strategies and the Ethics of the Stronger 2.3 The Imagination Made Real Chapter 4 Brothers in Arms: Soldiers in Early Christianity 1 Soldiers in the Gospels Contextualized 1.1 The Army in Roman Society 1.2 Soldiers in the Gospels 1.3 Conclusions 2 Metaphors, Antimilitarism, and Christian Soldiers 2.1 Military Metaphors 2.2 The Antimilitarism of Christian Intellectuals and the Christian in the Ranks of the Roman Army 2.3 Conclusions Chapter 5 Conclusions Bibliography Index of Ancient Sources Index of Modern Authors