The Formation of the Early Church

This book presents a selection of adapted papers originally read at the 7th Nordic New Testament conference in Stavanger in 2003. The 14 essays expose different aspects of the conference theme »the formation of the early church«. To these belong considerations about how the primitive church developed and defined its own identity over against (other) Jews, both historically and with regard to how recent research has treated this theme methodologically. Further, early developments within and between different church communities and congregations are discussed as well as aspects of authority and power structures within them. Three essays deal with questions relating to the New Testament canon. For obvious thematic reasons the volume moves beyond the 1st century A.D.; two essays address issues related to the letters of Ignatius of Antioch, and one patristic contribution focuses predominantly on Cyprian.Jostein Ådna: The Formation of the Early Church: An Introduction - Mikael Tellbe: The Temple Tax as a Pre-70 CE Identity Marker - Anders Klostergaard Petersen: At the End of the Road: Reflections on a Popular Scholarly Metaphor - Hanna Stenström: New Voices in Biblical Exegesis: New Views on the Formation of the Church - Jon Ma. Asgeirsson: Complex and Community: From the Prophets of Q to the Scribe(s) of St. Matthew or Vice Versa - Reidar Hvalvik: All Those Who in Every Place Call on the Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ: The Unity of the Pauline Churches - Hans Kvalbein: The Authorization of Peter in Matthew 16:17-19: A Reconsideration of the Power to Bind and Loose - Lone Fatum: Christ Domesticated: The Household Theology of the Pastorals as Political Strategy - Outi Leppä: Debates within the New Testament Canon - Antti Marjanen: Montanism and the Formation of the New Testament Canon - Petri Luomanen: On the Fringes of Canon: Eusebius' View of the »Gospel of the Hebrews« - Reidar Aasgaard: Brothers and Sisters in the Faith: Christian Siblingship as an Ecclesiological Mirror in the First Two Centuries - Mikael Isacson: Follow Your Bishop! Rhetorical Strategies in the Letters of Ignatius of Antioch - Matti Myllykoski: Wild Beasts and Rabid Dogs: The Riddle of the Heretics in the Letters of Ignatius - Odd Magne Bakke: The Episcopal Ministry and the Unity of the Church from the Apostolic Fathers to Cyprian -