Kommunikation in der Kirche des 3. Jahrhunderts

Eva Baumkamp examines the correspondence between bishops during the persecutions of Christians in the third century within the Roman Empire. In doing so, she works out how conflicts and disputes among communities and bishops were resolved by writing letters. The problems which arose from persecutions, such as how to deal with lapsi, schisms and heretics, were discussed in letters and also during personal meetings of the bishops. Baumkamp shows that the letters of the Alexandrian bishop Dionysius and the Carthaginian bishop Cyprian deliver a lively picture of a church in a process of formation. The written and oral exchange of information built up and strengthened ecclesiastical structures. The institutionalization of correspondence and the synodal structures therefore contributed decisively to the success of Christianity and the establishment of the Church in the Roman Empire.