Corpus-Paul

[Edgar Krentz <ekrentz AT lstc.edu>]

At 4:23 PM -0500 11/19/01, David C. Hindley wrote:
> List,
>
> I light of the events of Sept. 11th, and the subsequent media interest
> in Osama BinLaden's Al Qaida organization, including its various front
> organizations (charities, money exchanges, banking, etc), I am
> reminded of Mike Conley's* not-so-recent posts in which he expressed
> the opinion that early Christianity had assumed the form of a
> subversive organization intent upon toppling the Roman state and
> replacing it with one of its own making.
>
> It seems to me that the relatively rapid dissemination of Christianity
> (albeit in a multitude of forms) through the empire, and the
> organizational structures mentioned or alluded to in the NT and early
> Christian literature, bear a closer look.
>
> Are listmembers aware of serious research on resistance movements and
> subversive movements in the Roman empire (especially in the 1st
> century CE)? I would also be interested in books or articles that deal
> with dissemination of propaganda in connection with the advancement of
> an agenda (political, religious or philosophical). They do not have to
> bear directly on Christianity, and it might actually be better if the
> critic does *not* attempt to draw (or refute) such a connection.
>
> While I am not saying that Christianity was the kind of movement that
> Mike portrays it as (almost like the Communist party in modern times
> before the dissolution of the Soviet Union, but if the shoe fits ...),
> I do suspect that more complex organizational, financial and
> propaganda structures were present (varying, of course, with time and
> place) than is usually assumed.
>
> Respectfully,
>
> Dave Hindley
> Cleveland, Ohio, USA

Try
Ramsay MacMullen, Enemies of the Roman Order. London and New York: 
Routledge, 2000.



--
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Edgar Krentz
Christ Seminary--Seminex Professor of New Testament, Emeritus
Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago
1100 East 55th Street, Chicago, IL 60615
Tel: 773-256-0773; home phone 773-947-8105
e-mail: ekrentz AT lstc.edu
home e-mail: ekrentz AT earthlink.net
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GERASKO D' AEI POLLA DIDASKOMENOS
"I grow old, constantly learning many things." [Solon of Athens]
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