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  • From: "Jeffrey B. Gibson" <jgibson000 AT mailhost.chi.ameritech.net>
  • To: Corpus-paul <corpus-paul AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Christianity in Rome
  • Date: Wed, 14 Jul 1999 00:22:14 -0500

Jon Peter wrote:

[much snipped]

 
...  I am interested in how and when the Roman
Christian Church began. Nanos and Gibson were arguing that no evidence for
it pre-dated 64.  But the Suetonius reference to events in 49 counts as
evidence, NOT because of who Chrestus might be, but because the author of
Acts knows that Pricilla and Aquila were refugees of the expulsion (Acts
18.2).  Regardless of who "Chrestus" was, and regardless of why the
expulsion occurred, here are two Christians who were in Rome during the 40s.
If you'd care to go back to my post of Wed. July 7 entitled "the occasion of Romans" and to Mark Nanos' post of the same date (with the heading Re:Neil Elliott, Liberating Paul"), you would see that what you claim above regarding our views of when there were Christ believers in Rome, let alone that there is any evidence for the existence of Christians in Rome prior to 64)  is a gross misrepresentation of what we hold to be the case; As evidence for this I quote my post:
What you are ignoring here, Jon, is that the issue is *not* the fact that Christians
were called Christians before Claudius (if that is indeed what the Acts text
indicates), or even that they existed in Rome and elsewhere before 64, but whether
there was **knowldege** of the existence of this group called Christians on the part
of Nero and the elites of Rome before 64.:


Along these same lines Mark noted that

There is no evidence contemporary with Paul for Rome that this label was in use. (emphasis added)


Please note that the only issue that we were dealing with was not whether we believed there were Christians in Rome prior to 64 or -- even 49 (I for one do believe this, and though I do not wish to speak for Mark, I think it's safe to say that he does too). Rather it was whether there was any knowledge of their existence in Rome on the part of Roman elites prior to 64.

Yours,

Jeffrey
--
Jeffrey B. Gibson
7423 N. Sheridan Road #2A
Chicago, Illinois 60626
e-mail jgibson000 AT ameritech.net
 



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