Cultural Christians in the Early Church: A Historical and Practical Introduction to Christians in the Greco-Roman World

by Nadya Williams

Publisher:

Zondervan Academic

, 2023

Overview

In the middle of the third century CE, one North African bishop wrote a treatise for the women of his church, exhorting them to resist such culturally normalized yet immodest behaviors in their cosmopolitan Roman city as mixed public bathing in the nude, and wearing excessive amounts of jewelry and makeup. The treatise appears even more striking, once we realize that the scandalous virgins to whom it was addressed were single women who had dedicated their virginity to Christ.

Stories like this one challenge the general assumption among Christians today that the earliest Christians were zealous converts who were much more counterculturally devoted to their faith than typical church-goers today. Too often Christians today think of cultural Christianity as a modern concept, and one most likely to occur in areas where Christianity is the majority culture, such as the American “Bible Belt.” The story that this book presents, refutes both of these assumptions.

Cultural Christians in the Early Church, which aims to be both historical and practical, argues that cultural Christians were the rule, rather than the exception, in the early church. Using different categories of sins as its organizing principle, the book considers the challenge of culture to the earliest converts to Christianity, as they struggled to live on mission in the Greco-Roman cultural milieu of the Roman Empire. The blurred and pushed the boundaries of what it meant to be a saint or sinner from the first to the fifth centuries CE, provide the opportunity to get to know the regular people in the early churches. At the same time, their stories provide a fresh perspective for considering the difficult timeless questions that stubbornly persist in our own world and churches: when is it a sin to eat or not eat a particular food? Are women inherently more sinful than men? And why is Christian nationalism a problem and, at times, a sin? Ultimately, recognizing that cultural sins were always a part of the story of the church and its people is a message that is both a source of comfort and a call to action in our pursuit of sanctification today.

Key Features

• Provides a fresh perspective for considering the difficult timeless questions that stubbornly persist in our own world and churches
• Considers the challenge of culture to the earliest converts to Christianity
• Argues that cultural Christians were the rule, rather than the exception, in the early church

Product Details

• Title: Cultural Christians in the Early Church: A Historical and Practical Introduction to Christians in the Greco-Roman World
• Author: Nadya Williams
• Publisher: Zondervan Academic
• Print Publication Date: 2023
• Pages: 240
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Reader Edition
• Resource ID: LLS:CLTRLCHRSTNWRLD
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2023-04-20T18:54:02Z

Benefits of Logos Edition

In the Logos Reader Edition, this volume is enhanced to best fit the content. Scripture references are hand-tagged to integrate with powerful functionality in Logos Bible Software. Page milestones and internal citation tagging provide accurate points of reference. Search important words across resources to find exactly what you’re looking for. Take the discussion with you using tablet and mobile apps. With Logos Bible Software, the most efficient and comprehensive tools for reading digital content are in one place, so you get the most out of your study.

About Nadya Williams

Nadya Williams (PhD, Classics and Program in the Ancient World, Princeton University) is a military historian of the Greco-Roman world and the co-editor of Civilians and Warfare in World History. She is Book Review Editor at Current, where she also edits The Arena blog. She is a regular contributor to the Anxious Bench, and has also written for Plough, Front Porch Republic, Church Life Journal, History Today Magazine, History News Network, and The Conversation.