Early Christian Encounters with Town and Countryside: Essays on the Urban and Rural Worlds of Early Christianity

"Against the background of ongoing research on the diversity of social environments during the Early Roman Empire, this volume focuses on various early Christian 'worlds' as they appear in canonical and non-canonical writings. How did Early Christians experience 'rural' and 'urban' life? How did they react to them? Starting with methodological reflections on urbanity and early Christian beginnings, special attention is devoted to the Jesus-tradition. In what sense did the perception of Jesus, the 'Galilean village Jew', change when his message was carried into the cities of the Mediterranean world from Jerusalem to Athens or Rome? Subsequent articles deal with various personalities or literary works whose attitudes towards urban life shaped nascent Christianity. In 18 interdisciplinary articles the book explores the great diversity of local Christian milieus in their Mediterranean contexts and demonstrates the wide range of Christian cultural perspectives." --