The First Urban Churches 5: Colossae, Hierapolis, and Laodicea (Writings from the Greco-Roman World Supplement Series Book 16)

Testament and classical scholars Volume 5 of The First Urban Churches investigates the urban context of Christian churches in first-century Roman Colossae, Hierapolis, and Laodicea. Building on the methodologies introduced in the first volume and supplementing the in-depth studies of Corinth, Ephesus, and Philippi (vols. 2–4), essays in this volume challenge readers to reexamine preconceived understandings of the early church and to grapple with the meaning and context of Christianity in its first-century Roman colonial context. Features: Analysis of urban evidence found in inscriptions, papyri, archaeological remains, coins, and iconography Proposed reconstructions of the past and its social, religious, and political significance A nuanced, informed portrait of ancient urban life in the cities of the Lycus Valley James Harrison is professor and Research Director at the Sydney College of Divinity. He is the author of Paul and the Imperial Authorities at Thessalonica and Rome: A Study in the Conflict of Ideology (2011) and Paul and the Ancient Celebrity Circuit: The Cross and Moral Transformation (2019). L. L. Welborn is professor at Fordham University and Macquarie University. He is the author of Politics and Rhetoric in Corinth (1997) and An End to Enmity: Paul and the ‘Wrongdoer’ of Second Corinthians (2011). Read more