The Early Christians
From the Beginnings to Constantine

Reveals the diversity and strangeness of early Christianity as seen by non-Christian contemporaries and by the modern world.

Hartmut Leppin (Author), Kathrin Luddecke (Translated by), Jan N. Bremmer (Preface by)

9781316517239, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 26 October 2023

484 pages, 8 b/w illus. 11 colour illus. 2 maps
23.5 x 16.1 x 3.1 cm, 0.86 kg

'I have learned considerably from the book. It witnesses immense erudition and is a genuinely inspiring read.' Anders Klostergaard Petersen, Bryn Mawr Classical Review

The early Christians were by no means a homogeneous group, let alone a church. This is the fascinating story of the beliefs, practices and experience of individual Christians of antiquity, their relationships to Jewish tradition and the wider Roman world, and the shockwaves they caused among their contemporaries. Ancient Christians are closely connected to today's world through a living memory and a common textual heritage - the Bible - even for those who maintain a distance from Christianity. Yet, paradoxically, much about the early Christians is foreign to us and far removed from what passes for this faith as it currently stands. The distinguished historian Hartmut Leppin explores this paradox, and considers how such a small, diverse band of followers originating on the edge of the Roman Empire was able within less than three centuries to grow and become its dominant force under Emperor Constantine and his successors.

Introduction
Prologue: a dead body is lost to the world
1. Neither Jewish nor pagan?
2. Christian authorities
3. (Not) of this world: caring for self and others
4. Citizens of two worlds
Looking back and ahead
Postscript.

Subject Areas: Ancient history: to c 500 CE [HBLA]