Christian Identity in the Jewish and Graeco-Roman World

by Judith M. Lieu

Overview

'I am a Christian' is the confession of the martyrs of early Christian texts and, no doubt, of many others; but what did this confession mean, and how was early Christian identity constructed? This book is a highly original exploration of how a sense of being 'a Christian', or of 'Christian identity', was shaped within the setting of the Jewish and Graeco-Roman world. Contemporary discussions of identity provide the background to a careful study of early Christian texts from the first two centuries. Judith Lieu shows that there were similarities and differences in the ways Jews and others were thinking about themselves, and asks what made early Christianity distinctive.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199262892
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	07/29/2004
Pages:	384
Product dimensions:	8.60(w) x 5.60(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Judith Lieu is Professor of New Testament Studies at King's College London.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction: The Emergence of Christian Identity2. Text and Identity3. History, Memory, and the Invention of Tradition4. Boundaries5. The Grammar of Practice6. Embodiment and Gender7. Space and Place8. The Christian Race9. ‘The Other'10. Made Not Born: Conclusions