Early Christianity in Rome

Literary, Historical, and Archaeological Traditions

Jens Schröter, Konrad Schwarz

• Publisher: De Gruyter
• Year: 2025
• eBook ISBN: 9783111656458
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Criticism & Interpretation

The volume explores the beginnings of Christianity in Rome, the political and religious center of the Roman empire. Early Christian writings such as Paul's letters to the Romans, the Acts of the Apostles, First Clement and the Shepherd of Hermas demonstrate that Rome became an important place for early Christians by the end of the first/beginning of the second century. In this period, one can also detect a early separation of Jewish and Christian communities in Rome. In the second century, several prominent philosophical teachers came to Rome and taught the Christian message from their respective viewpoints. To these belong Marcion, Valentinus, Justin Martyr and Tatian. The diverse interpretations of the Christian message resulted in the formation of different communities, e.g. the Marcionites, the Valentinians and the "main church" to which apparently Justin belonged. The book also examines the archaeological remains of the early Christians. Although the evidence is sparse, some things can be said about the burial places of Peter and Paul and about the so-called "house churches" of early Christians. Taken together, the articles in this volume will advance the discussion about Christianity in Rome in the first three centuries.

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Frontmatter
• Contents
• Abbreviations
• Introduction
• Rome in the New Testament: Early Traces of the Significance of the urbs in Christian History
• The Weak and the Strong in Rom 14:1–15:13
• A First Step Towards Reading 1 Clement in its Roman Context: Re-assessing the Patristic Evidence on the Date and Authorship of the Letter
• The Shepherd of Hermas in Its Roman Context: A Fresh Look at the First Three Visions
• The Relationship between the Writings of the New Testament and the Roman Empire
• The Application of the Lex Iulia de collegiis in the Early Imperial Context: Remarks for New Testament Exegesis
• The Mystery of the Woman or the Mystery of the Beast? Looking for Rome in the Book of Revelation
• Jews and Christians in First Century Rome: Fragmentary Evidence
• The Cult-Sites of Peter and Paul at Rome in the First Centuries of Christianity: From the Written Sources to the Monumental Remains
• Four “Prophecies from the Event” (vaticinia ex eventu): On Paul, Peter, and Rome
• Encounters of Christian Faith and Philosophy in Second and Third Century Rome
• The Impact of Cerdo, Marcion and Gnostic Teachers on Roman Christianity in the Second and Third Centuries
• Justin Martyr and Tatian the Syrian in their Roman Context
• Hippolytus, Gaius and the Alogi in Second and Third Century Rome
• Index of Ancient Sources
• Index of Names and Subjects