Synopses & Reviews
The capital city of the province of Asia in the first century CE, Ephesus played a key role in the development of early Christianity. In this book Paul Trebilco examines the early Christians from Paul to Ignatius, seen in the context of our knowledge of the city as a whole. Drawing on Paul's letters and the Acts of the Apostles, Trebilco looks at the foundations of the church, both before and during the Pauline mission. He shows that in the period from around 80 to 100 CE there were a number of different communities in Ephesus that regarded themselves as Christians ? the Pauline and Johannine groups, Nicolaitans, and others ? testifying to the diversity of that time and place. Including further discussions on the Ephesus addresses of the apostle John and Ignatius, this scholarly study of the early Ephesian Christians and their community is without peer.
Table of Contents
The context -- Paul in Ephesus : the evidence of his letters -- Acts and the early Christians in Ephesus : beginnings and success -- Acts and the early Christians in Ephesus : endings and departure -- What do the Pastoral Epistles tell us about the early Christians in Ephesus? -- What do the Johannine Letters tell us about the early Christians in Ephesus? -- Revelation 2:1-7 : the proclamation to the church in Ephesus and the Nicolaitans -- The wider culture and the readers of the Pastorals, the Johannine Letters and Revelation : acculturation, assimilation and accommodation -- Material possessions and the readers of the Pastorals, the Johannine Letters and Revelation -- Leadership and authority and the readers of the Pastoral Epistles, the Johannine Letters and Revelation -- The role of women among the readers of the Pastoral Epistles, the Johannine Letters and Revelation -- What shall we call each other? The issue of self-designation in the Pastoral Epistles, the Johannine Letters and Revelation -- The relationships between traditions and communities in Ephesus -- Who are the addressees of Ignatius' letter to Ephesus? -- Ignatius and additional facets of the life of the Christians in Ephesus.