This thesis argues that the origins and evolution of Christian communities in Northern Italy between c. 250 and 381 are comprehensible only within the region's social environment. Whereas previous studies of early Christianity in Italy have sought to explain its origins in terms of modern diocesan structures, this thesis shows that the evidence for this view is untrustworthy and that a new methodology is needed to explain the rise of the church. To this end, the thesis describes the 'north Italian human environment', which consists not just of the physical landscape, but of the social networks within it. This environment allows an understanding of why Christian communities had developed in some places and not in others by c. 300. The development of the church continued to be influenced by this human environment in the fourth century. Christian diffusion remained a partial and variable phenomenon. In the cities Christians found themselves confronted by the adherents of other religions, notably Judaism. Thus, in the fourth century, Christians did not yet dominate the communities in which they lived. Moreover, the active participation in ecclesiastical affairs of emperors after Constantine - particularly the intervention of Constantius II in Italy during the 350s - added a new dimension to the human environment. Such interventions defined how north Italian Christianity came into contact with ecclesiastical and theological affairs throughout the empire. In sum, the history of early Christianity in northern Italy is circumscribed by the social environment within which it developed. This thesis argues that for northern Italy - indeed for the rest of the Mediterranean - a proper understanding of Christian growth can only come from an appreciation of the particular social context of the region within which it occurred.

In the late antique West, every individual becoming Christian first entered the community as a catechumen (catechumenus). Many spent several years in this status called the catechumenate, only ending with baptism and the acquisition of the membership of the faithful (fideles). This thesis considers the catechumenate not only as an initiation but as a peculiar way of being Christian. It demonstrates the fluid nature of Christian membership and shows how clerics strove to develop their authority over catechumens to build a cohesive community in a context of rivalry between churches and polemical controversies. The catechumenate both enabled converts to adhere progressively to the community and constituted an opportunity for clerics to set a standard path of progression, enforce discipline and define what it meant to be a Christian. This thesis opens up new avenues to study the process of Christianisation by stressing the continuous significance of the catechumenate for the formation of Christian communities in late antiquity. After an introduction, Chapter Two focuses on Augustine's recollections of his time as a catechumen. Chapter Three looks at Augustine to investigate more broadly the practices of catechumeni, shedding light on the pervasive polemical context in which they are discussed. Chapter Four provides case studies on the cross put on the forehead to manifest Christian membership and the treatise De fide et operibus, exploring how Augustine aimed at shaping practices and ideas. Chapter Five investigates contemporary evidence: first an African canon regulating the ritual participation of catechumeni, then sermons describing unique rituals of the baptismal preparation and demonstrating that practices often varied locally. Chapter Six compares the sixth-century letter exchanges between Ferrandus and Fulgentius with John the Deacon's letter to Senarius, showing the enduring importance of the catechumenate in the West and the creative reception of earlier African sources addressing recurrent pastoral problems.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

The subject of this thesis is the relationship between eschatology and history in the Christian community for which Luke-Acts was written. Chapter 1 formulates the problem in terms of Luke's eschatology. It argues that Luke and his community thought of the End as 'near' and that Luke's historical perspective affected his eschatology. Luke-Acts represents a community that held a relevant eschatological hope and was aware of continuing history. This is the interpretive problem this thesis seeks to enlighten. The perspective to be used in approaching this problem is that of sociological analysis. Chapter 2 explores the use of sociological perspectives in New Testament study and the benefits to be achieved by the use of the sociology of knowledge. Chapter 3 is a sociological analysis of the community in terms of date, location, stratification, racial composition, boundaries, social institutions, and charismatic roles and functions. This material suggests that mission was an important community task. Chapter 4 establishes a sociology of mission for the community, investigating commitment as the mechanism that motivated community members to pursue mission, the importance of mission to the community, the motivation of converts, and the problems encountered in mission. Chapter 5 investigates the social functions of eschatology in the community and finds that it functioned in legitimating numerous aspects of the community's mission experience. Chapter 6 investigates the social functions of history in the community and finds that it functioned in legitimating various aspects of the community's mission experience. In the conclusion it is shown that history and eschatology were functionally related to one another in legitimating aspects of the community's mission experience. This functionality also provided a meaningful relationship in helping the community to make sense of its world. This further prepares us to try and understand these ideas theologically by placing them in a social context.

This study examines the changing patterns of authority both within and between the local Christian communities at the end of the second century and during the third. Amid the general tightening of Church discipline, the most significant development is the expansion and consolidation of a "monarchical" episcopate rather than the monepiseopate. A monarchical bishop is distinguished from one of the latter type by a greater control over the local congregation, a universal acceptance within his community of his position as chief teacher, having the last word on questions of orthodoxy, and the ability to act without the approval of his clergy and laity. The activities and writings of the chief Christian writers during the period under review are considered separately, and there is a section devoted to the relationships between the local Churches. The period commences as the Church begins to emerge from the crisis tfce variegated and largely heretical movement called Gnosticism inflicted upon her. Among the Gnostics, only the Valentinians and the Marcionites formed Churches, as the remainder were gathered (around their teachers) in little groups, usually compared to the philosophical schools, tut also having some similarities with the mystery religion groupings. The general aim was the acquisition of saving knowledge, and the movement was generally characterised by rigid internal divisions, a passionate subjectivity and objection to community discipline, and a belief in secret traditions. Eventually the orthodox communities rejected this entire authority pattern, although the process took longer in Alexandria, where a more refined philosophical Gnosticism exerted considerable influence on Clement, and to some extent on Origen. The organization of the Marcionites was roughly the same as that in the orthodox community at Rome around the middle of the second century, and was quickly bypassed and rejected.

No description available.