The Pauline Church and the Corinthian Ekklesia
Greco-Roman Associations in Comparative Context

This innovative volume is the first English-language monograph to compare Paul's Corinthian church with contemporary cult groups from Mediterranean antiquity.

Richard Last (Author)

9781107100633, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 18 November 2015

282 pages, 4 tables
22.6 x 14.7 x 2.1 cm, 0.48 kg

Moving past earlier descriptions of first-century Christ groups that were based on examining the New Testament in isolation from extant sources produced by analogous cult groups throughout Mediterranean antiquity, this book engages with underexplored epigraphic and papyrological records and situates the behaviour of Paul's Corinthian ekkl?sia within broader patterns of behaviour practised by Greco-Roman associations. Richard Last's comparative analysis generates highly original contributions to our understanding of the social history of the Jesus movement: he shows that the Corinthians were a small group who had no fixed meeting place, who depended on financial contributions from all ten members in order to survive, and who attracted recruits by offering social benefits such as crowns and office-holding that made other ancient cult groups successful. This volume provides a much-needed robust alternative to the traditional portrayal of Pauline Christ groups as ecclesiastically egalitarian, devoid of normative honorific practices, and free for the poor.

Introduction
1. Greco-Roman associations as an analytic category
2. House and ekkl?sia
3. Two economically modest associations
4. The costs of ekkl?sia survival
5. Keeping up with the ????????
6. Strengthening the weak
7. The election and crowning of officers
Conclusion
Appendix: a reply to Timothy Brookins.

Subject Areas: Theology [HRLB], Judaism [HRJ], Biblical studies & exegesis [HRCG], New Testaments [HRCF2], The Early Church [HRCC1], Christianity [HRC], Religion: general [HRA], Social & cultural history [HBTB], Ancient history: to c 500 CE [HBLA], Literary studies: classical, early & medieval [DSBB]