The use of voluntary associations as a way to begin understanding Christ groups has become accepted practice in much of modern New Testament scholarship. This consensus has been decades in the making, building on work from the previous century. Easy access to influential works in this field enables students and scholars to expand our horizons for studying Christian origins.
The chapters in this volume represent some of the most influential figures and their arguments across three major periods of interest in the development of using associations as a model for understanding early Christ groups. A fresh introduction orients the reader to the important contributions of each essay and to where the essays fit within broader attempts at reconstructing the development of Christianity.
While much work remains to be done in this field, Christ Groups and Associations serves to demonstrate the breadth of existing research and past discoveries on Christ groups enmeshed within the Greco-Roman social and cultural milieu and the communal patterns that preceded and surrounded such groups. Having the essays collected here in one volume provides easy access to the influential works that started, sustained, and continue the conversation.
Introducing the Conversation, by Richard S. AscoughPart One: Initiating the Conversation (1866-1927)1 St. Paul and the Pagan Guilds (1927), by Thomas Wilson2 Religious Legislation of the Period (1905), by Ernest Renan3 Bishops and Deacons (1881), by Edwin Hatch4 Christianity and the Collegia (1906), E. G. Hardy5 Edwin Hatch, Churches, and Collegia (1993), by John S. Kloppenborg6 On the Exegetical Interest in Ancient Associations in the 19th and 20th Centures (2006), by Thomas SchmellerPart Two: Reanimating the Conversation (1960-1984)7 Unofficial Associations: Koinonia (1960), by E. A. Judge8 Patrons and Officers in Club and Church (1977), by William L. Countryman9 Christianity as a Burial Society (1984), by Robert L. Wilken10 A Hellenistic Cult Group and the New Testament Churches (1981), by S. C. Barton and G. H. R. Horsley11 The Formation of the Ekklēsia (1983), by Wayne A. MeeksPart Three: Moving the Conversation Forward (1999-2013)12 Paul's House Churches and the Cultic Associations (1999), by James Harrison13 Voluntary Associations and the Formation of Pauline Churches: Overcoming the Objections (2006), by Richard S. Ascough14 Roman Legislation on Associations and Christian Communities (2002), by Markus Öhler15 Christ-Bearers and Fellow-Initiates: Local Cultural Life and Christian Identity in Ignatius' Letters (2003), by Philip A. Harland16 Membership Practices in Pauline Christ Groups (2013), by John S. Kloppenborg
