Overview

This book provides a new appraisal of religious change in the Roman Empire, focusing on the rise of Christianity in Northern Italy. It challenges the conventional view that the church expanded by means of co-ordinated apostolic missions (a view which has its origins in medieval legends). By careful consideration of archaeological evidence, as well as traditional literary sources, Dr Humphries builds up a picture of Christian origins that is sensitive to the patchy and uneven nature of the phenomenon. In particular, he emphasizes how the competing interests of bishops, emperors, and laity were to have far-reaching implications for the political, institutional, cultural, and theological development of the church.

Full Product Details

9780198269830

Table of Contents

Reviews

'This is a stimulating study, steering its way sensitively in waters almost as controversial now as in the third and fourth centuries. It deserves to be widely read and its methodology adopted into the armoury of scholarship in early Christianity' Church Times

Author Information

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available