Early Christians Adapting to the Roman Empire : : Mutual Recognition / / Niko Huttunen.

• Superior document: Novum Testamentum, Supplements Series ; Volume 179
• VerfasserIn: Huttunen, Niko, Th. D.,
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden, The Netherlands : : Koninklijke Brill NV,, [2020]; ©2020
• Year of Publication: 2020
• Edition: First edition.
• Language: English
• Series: Novus series '70 ; Volume 179.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource.

In Early Christians Adapting to the Roman Empire: Mutual Recognition Niko Huttunen challenges the interpretation of early Christian texts as anti-imperial documents. He presents examples of the positive relationship between early Christians and the Roman society. With the concept of “recognition” Huttunen describes a situation in which the parties can come to terms with each other without full agreement. Huttunen provides examples of non-Christian philosophers recognizing early Christians. He claims that recognition was a response to Christians who presented themselves as philosophers. Huttunen reads Romans 13 as a part of the ancient tradition of the law of the stronger. His pioneering study on early Christian soldiers uncovers the practical dimension of recognizing the empire.

Table of Contents

Preface -- 1 Introduction: Recognition between Anti- and Pro-Imperial Readings -- 2 Imperial Recognition in the Intellectual Sphere: Christians and Philosophers -- 1 Almost Philosophers: Pagan Philosophers Recognizing Christians -- 2 Early Christians Seeking Recognition in Greco-Roman Culture -- 3 Imagination Made Real: Paul between Political Realism and Eschatological Hope -- 1 Paul and His Readers -- 2 Paul’s Realism and Imagination -- 4 Brothers in Arms: Soldiers in Early Christianity -- 1 Soldiers in the Gospels Contextualized -- 2 Metaphors, Antimilitarism, and Christian Soldiers -- 5 Conclusions -- Bibliography -- Index --.