A People's History of Christianity Christian Origins

Transcription

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2 PART ONE: Not Your Mama's Church!

3 Another View of History One of the premises of this series is to look at the history of Christianity from a fresh perspective Typically, the narrative of Christian history has been told by the most dominant voices of the time This series seeks to trace a wider narrative

4 Inspiration for the Series The inspiration for this forum series is an academic collaboration headed by Denis Janz of Loyola University and joined by academics from across the area of Christian history and New Testament studies The project has resulted in a sevenvolume series that represents one of the most signifcant collaborations of its sort

5 'Time Lords' for a season! How the sessions will work: I will offer a skeleton look at that session's period of Christian history Then we will drop in at a particular point in history when something interesting is happening

6 60 SECOND QUIZ! What do know about the history Christianity?

7 PART ONE: A Short Tour of

8 In the beginning...were the people At its origins, the Way of Jesus was nothing but a people's movement There was no hierarchy, no institutional claim on the narrative Furthermore, they lived most often on the underbelly of Roman history, a movement that was writing history as it went along

9 The Historical Backdrop If you think we pay too much tax... In 63 BCE, Rome took over Palestine and in 40BCE imposed Herod as king This meant Galilean, Samaritan, and Judean peasants paid three levels of taxes: tribute to Rome, taxes to Herod, tithes and offerings to Temple

10 Destruction and Dispersion In 70CE, In 66CE, around 30 years after Jesus' death, the Jews revolted The revolt was brutally crushed and the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed The setting, therefore, of the earliest Jesus movements, was of profound destruction of life and theological symbol

11 Multiple Histories During the 20 or so years prior to 70CE, Paul establishes multiple communities Each is uniquely shaped by their circumstances as much as the gospel of Jesus The Corinthian community offers a colorful insight into how varied the origins of Christianity were Temple of Apollo, Corinth

12 REFLECTION: What do you imagine the frst Christian communities were like?

13 PART TWO: The Church in Corinth and the Counter-Cultural Way of Jesus

14 The Letters to Corinth: Records of Confict A common assumption we can have is that the record we have in the Bible is an accurate description of how the early church was That is: Paul was head of the household of the church which accepted his teachings about Jesus and the Christian life as authoritative However, the picture is most likely messier than that

15 From Paul to the People If we read between the lines of Paul's Corinthian correspondence again, we may see the people's perspective Corinth: 90% of population in poverty; as a port city, many people from other places; large number of ex-slaves sent by Julius Caesar since founding of rebuilt Corinth in 44BCE Thus, vast population of people lacking common identity other than poverty

16 Paul's Communitarian Teaching and Corinthian Personal Transcendence Clear tension in biblical letters of Paul's new identity in Christ emphasizing community and the Corinthian identity of personal transcendence and spiritual gifts The theological agenda of the Corinthian church was concerned with forming a new identity that might enrich their impoverished social standing

17 IN A NUTSHELL The Corinthian Church was like the UC Berkley in the 60's of their day...kind of

18 Corinthian Sexual and Ritual Freedom It appears that women particularly were renouncing sexual relations (1 Cor 7), similar to women portrayed by Philo who 'regained their virginity' through exclusive devotion to Sophia For women to be sexually abstinent was a challenge to imperial order, where the woman's subjugation was enshrined by patriarchal system

19 A Corinthian Picture of Multiple Authorities Similar tensions are evident between Paul and the Corinthians related to eating food offered to idols (1 Cor 8), and struggles over Paul's refusal to be fnancially supported by them (2 Cor 11) Women were particularly prominent in leadership of Corinthian ekklesia such as of Prisca and Chloe Even the authority of the slavery system was challenged by a practice of the ekklesia buying members out of slavery

20 Corinth: A Postmodern Ancient Church? The sum of this picture of defance both of Paul and cultural norms among the Corinthian church is of a movement characterized by freedom of thought At end of the 1st century the letter 1 Clement written from Rome pushes back against the Corinthian church whom the letter states were 'creating danger' for themselves of a Roman backlash against rebellion, urging the acceptance of overseers and ministers, and the subordination of women

21 REFLECTION: How much would you like to see the st 21 century church refect the st character of the 1 century church in Corinth?

22 Next Week: Byzantium Christianity Martyrs or Madmen?