A New History of Early Christianity

408 Pages·2011·11.077 MB·English

by  Charles Freeman

A NEW HISTORY OF EARLY CHRISTIANITY

A NEW HISTORY OF
EARLY
C H R I S T I A N I T Y
CHARLES FREEMAN
YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS
NEW HAVEN AND LONDON
Copyright © 2009 Charles Freeman
The right ofCharles Freeman to be identified as Proprietor ofthis work has been asserted
by him in accordance with the Copyright,Designs and Patents Act 1988.
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(beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S.Copyright Law and
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Set in Minion by IDSUK (DataConnection) Ltd.
Printed in the United States of America by Sheridan Books
Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Freeman,Charles,1947–
A new history ofearly Christianity / Charles Freeman.
p.cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-300-12581-8 (ci :alk.paper)
1. Church history – Primitive and early church,ca.30-600.I.Title.
BR162.3.F732009
270.1–dc22 2009012009
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For Lydia

Contents
List ofIllustrations ix
List ofMaps xi
Preface xiii
PARTONE:BEGINNINGS 1
CHAPTERONE A Trial 3
CHAPTERTWO The Seedbed:Judaism in the
First Century AD 8
CHAPTERTHREE Jesus before the Gospels 19
CHAPTERFOUR Breaking Away:the First Christianities 31
CHAPTERFIVE What Did Paul Achieve? 47
CHAPTERSIX The Letter to the Hebrews 66
CHAPTERSEVEN Fifty Years On:the Gospel
Writers Reflect on Jesus 72
CHAPTEREIGHT John and the Jerusalem Christians 87
CHAPTERNINE Creating a New Testament 97
CHAPTERTEN No Second Coming:the Search for
Stability 111
PARTTWO:BECOMINGCHRISTIAN 121
CHAPTERELEVEN Toeholds in a Wider Empire 123
CHAPTERTWELVE Open Borders:the Overlapping Worlds of
Christians and Jews 132
CHAPTERTHIRTEEN Was There a Gnostic Challenge? 142
CHAPTERFOURTEEN The Idea ofa Church 155
CHAPTERFIFTEEN To Compromise or Reject:Confronting the
Material World 163
viii CONTENTS
INTERLUDEONE The Earliest Christian Art 169
CHAPTERSIXTEEN Celsus Confronts the Christians 171
CHAPTERSEVENTEEN The Challenge ofGreek Philosophy 176
CHAPTEREIGHTEEN Origen and Early Christian Scholarship 186
CHAPTERNINETEEN New Beginnings:the Emergence ofa
Latin Christianity 196
CHAPTERTWENTY Victims or Volunteers:
Christian Martyrs 205
CHAPTERTWENTY-ONE The Spread ofChristian Communities 215
PARTTHREE:THEIMPERIALCHURCH 223
CHAPTERTWENTY-TWO The Motives ofConstantine 225
CHAPTERTWENTY-THREE Debating the Nature ofGod 238
CHAPTERTWENTY-FOUR The Stifling ofChristian Diversity 248
CHAPTERTWENTY-FIVE The Assault on Paganism 254
CHAPTERTWENTY-SIX ‘No one is honoured before him’:
the Rise ofthe Bishop 261
INTERLUDETWO The Art ofImperial Christianity 271
CHAPTERTWENTY-SEVEN An Obsession with the Flesh 274
CHAPTERTWENTY-EIGHT The End ofOptimism:Augustine and the
Consequences ofSin 285
CHAPTERTWENTY-NINE Divine but Human 298
CHAPTERTHIRTY The Closing ofthe Schools 306
CHAPTERTHIRTY-ONE A Fragile Church:Christianity and the
Collapse ofthe Western Empire 313
CHAPTERTHIRTY-TWO Faith,Certainty and the Unknown God 321
Notes 327
Glossary 337
Further Reading 353
Timeline 359
Index 367
Illustrations
1 Selection ofpapyrus fragments from the Gospel ofMatthew,Oxyrhynchus
Papyri (P.Oxy LXIV 4401–6).Courtesy of Imaging Papyri Project,University
ofOxford and Egypt Exploration Society.
2 Luke 16:9–21,early third-century papyrus (P75).
3 Codices ofthe Nag Hammadi library.Photo by Jean Doresse/© Institute for
Antiquity and Christianity,Claremont,California.
4 Funerary stele of Licinia Amias, late third-century. Museo Nazionale
Romano – Terme di Diocleziano, Rome. Photo courtesy of the Ministero
per i Beni Culturali Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici
di Roma.
5 Fresco of Eucharistic scene from the catacomb of Saint Callistus, late
second-century. From Joseph Wilpert,Die Malereien der Katakomben Roms
Freiburg im Breisgau,1903.Heidelberg University Library.
6 Christ as a sun god,Vatican,St Peter’s Basilica (Necropolis).© 1990.Photo
Scala,Florence.
7 The Good Shepherd,Asia Minor,c.270–80.The Cleveland Museum ofArt,
John L.Severance Fund 1965.241.
8 The Good Shepherd,panel in the mosaic floor at the Basilica of Aquileia.
Photo by Mario Zanette.
9 The Good Shepherd,mosaic lunette from above the entrance of the fifth-
century Mausoleum of Galla Placidia. Mausoleo di Galla Placidia, Ravenna,
Italy/Giraudon/The Bridgeman Art Library.
10 Saints Peter and Paul saying goodbye (two men kissing), ivory buckle,
third- or fourth-century.The Art Archive/Antiquarium Castellamare di Stabia
Italy/Gianni Dagli Orti.
11 Vault mosaic with the traditio legis,Santa Costanza,Rome,c.350.Courtesy
ofSaskia Ltd.,© Dr Ron Wiedenhoeft.
12 Jonah being swallowed by a sea monster,panel in the mosaic floor at the
Basilica ofAquileia.Photo by Mario Zanette.
x ILLUSTRATIONS
13 Jonah Cast Up, Asia Minor,c.270–280. The Cleveland Museum of Art,
John L.Severance Fund 1965.238.
14 Detail of the Crucifixion,from the door depicting scenes from the Old and
New Testaments,fifth-century.Santa Sabina,Rome,Italy/Alinari/The Bridgeman
Art Library.
15 Ivory pyxis, early fifth-century. bpk/Skulpturensammlung und Museum
für Byzantinische Kunst,Staatliche Museen zu Berlin.Photo:Jürgen Liepe.
16 Christ enthroned among the apostles,mosaic apse ofSan Pudenziana,Rome,
c.400.Copyright Johannes G.Deckers,photo Franz Schlechter/Heidelberg.
17 Christus militans, mosaic in Archiepiscopal Chapel, Ravenna, late fifth-
century.akg-images /Erich Lessing.
18 Sarcophagus showing scenes from the Bible,Santa Maria Antique,Rome,
late third-century.Hirmer Verlag,München.
19 Sarcophagus showing scenes from the Passion,mid-third-century.© Allan
T.Kohl/Art Images for College Teaching (AICT)
20 Three Women at the Tomb and the Resurrection of Christ, ivory panel,
early fifth-century.Bayerisches Nationalmuseum München.
21 Detail ofthe ascension ofElijah,from the door depicting scenes from the
Old and New Testaments, Santa Sabina, Rome, fifth-century. Photo by
Graydon Snyder.
22 Interior view of basilica of Santa Sabina, Rome. akg-images/Bildarchiv
Monheim.
23 Detail of Virgin and Child, mosaic in Sant’Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna,
sixth-century.akg-images/Erich Lessing.
24 Ivory gospel book covers from the Dittico delle Cinque Parti, late fifth-
century.Copyright © Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo di Milano.
25 Ivory throne of Saint Maximinian, sixth-century. The Art Archive/
Archbishops Palace Ravenna Italy/Alfredo Dagli Orti.
26 Cross of Justin II.Vatican,St Peter’s Basilica (Treasury Museum).© 1990.
Photo Scala,Florence.