Economic Profiling of Early Christian Communities

Brookins, Timothy A.

doi:10.2307/j.ctt1kgqtgr.8

Cited by 3 publications

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“… 1. Deissmann 1908, 1910, 1957; Kautsky 1908: 338-73; Theissen 1982, 1993; 2001: 65-84; 2003: 371-91; Meggitt 1998; 2001: 85-94; Longenecker 2009: 36-59; 2010; Friesen 2004: 323-61; Meeks 2003: 51-73; Malherbe 1977; Brookins 2017: 57-87; Scheidel and Friesen 2009: 61-91. …”

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“…Barclay, however, points out that ‘the main difficulty, as Friesen acknowledges, is that outside the top 3% we are plucking percentages out of the air, with the aid of (very generalized) conclusions drawn from (only slightly better known) “pre-industrial” societies’ (2004: 365). See Friesen 2004: 323-61; Longenecker 2010: 53; Scheidel and Friesen 2009: 61-91; Brookins 2017: 57-87; contra Barclay 2004: 363-66; Oakes 2004: 367-71; 2009: 61.…”

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Paul’s Letter to Free(d) Casual Workers: Profiling the Thessalonians in Light of the Roman Economy

Jung

2020

Journal for the Study of the New Testament

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There is a long history of dissonance between the (so-called) Old and New Consensuses with regard to the early Christians’ socio-economic status. The composition of the Thessalonian congregation, however, has been barely explored. Not only has some valuable evidence in 1 Thessalonians been neglected or underplayed, but also the Thessalonians’ socio-economic status has been deemed the same as that of the Corinthians or other Pauline Christians. In this regard, this article explores clues in the Pauline letters for the membership of the Thessalonian church in light of the Roman economy, while keeping open the possibility of its difference from other Pauline communities. It concludes that the Thessalonian church was a fairly homogeneous community of free/freed casual workers who lived around subsistence level (mostly PS6 and partly PS5 or PS7).

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Paul’s Letter to Free(d) Casual Workers: Profiling the Thessalonians in Light of the Roman Economy

Jung

2020

Journal for the Study of the New Testament

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Physical Weakness, Illness and Death in 1 Corinthians 11.30: Deprivation and Overconsumption in Pauline and Early Christianity

Downs

2019

New Testam. Stud.

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In 1 Cor 11.17–34, Paul attempts to correct the practice of a communal meal in Corinth. He notes that consumption of this meal without discernment of ‘the body’ has had disastrous consequences within the community of Christ-followers: ‘For this reason, many among you are weak and sick, and quite a few are dying’ (11.30). This essay offers a physical interpretation of 1 Cor 11.30, contending that Paul presents the bodies of both the ‘have-nots’ and those who shame them as suffering because of the practice of the Lord's Supper, the former from dietary deprivation and the latter from overconsumption.

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Wealth, Poverty, Economy

Blanton

2023

The Oxford Handbook of the Synoptic Gospels

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In this essay, the usage of the term “economy” is discussed and a working definition proposed; the current state of the discussion of the “ancient economy” in classical studies of Rome is briefly surveyed; and the Synoptic Gospels are situated within that context. Because the terms “wealth” and “poverty” and their Greek and Latin equivalents are imprecise and are used to indicate a wide range of economic situations, this essay utilizes the Friesen-Longenecker economic scale to measure differences in resources attributed to various groups and persons depicted or addressed in the Synoptic Gospels and Q. The Q source presupposes addressees situated slightly lower (i.e., less wealthy) on the economic scale than does the Gospel of Luke, whose addressees are imagined as slightly more affluent. The Gospel of Matthew tends to portray counterfactual economic scenarios in parables that advance theological agendas. The essay identifies issues for further research.

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Economic Profiling of Early Christian Communities

Cited by 3 publications

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Paul’s Letter to Free(d) Casual Workers: Profiling the Thessalonians in Light of the Roman Economy

Paul’s Letter to Free(d) Casual Workers: Profiling the Thessalonians in Light of the Roman Economy

Physical Weakness, Illness and Death in 1 Corinthians 11.30: Deprivation and Overconsumption in Pauline and Early Christianity

Wealth, Poverty, Economy

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