This title discusses the history, topography, and urban development of Corinth with a focus on civic and private religious practices. Analysis of the latest archaeological data is coupled with consideration of what can be known about the emergence and evolution of religions in Corinth.

Investigate the challenges and opportunities experienced by the early church This fourth installment of The First Urban Churches, edited by James R. Harrison and L. L. Welborn, focuses on the urban context of Christian churches in first-century Roman Philippi. The international team of New Testament and classical scholars contributing to the volume present essays that use inscriptions, papyri, archaeological remains, coins, and iconography to examine the rivalries, imperial context, and ecclesial setting of the Philippian church. Features: Analysis of the material and epigraphic evidence relating to first- and second-century CE Roman Philippi Examination of important passages from Philippians within their ancient urban context Investigation of the social composition and membership of the Philippian church from the archaeological and documentary evidence

Investigate the challenges, threats, and opportunities experienced by the early church Volume two of The First Urban Churches focuses on the urban context of Christian churches in first-century Roman Corinth. An investigation of the material evidence of Corinth helps readers today understand properly the challenges, threats, and opportunities that the early Corinthian believers faced in the city. The essays demonstrate decisively the difference that such an approach makes in grappling with the meaning and context of the Corinthian epistles in the New Testament. Features: Analysis of urban evidence of the inscriptions, papyri, archaeological remains, coins, and iconography Proposed reeconstructions of the past and its social, religious, and political significance A nuanced, informed portrait of ancient urban life in Corinth

In this book, archaeologists, classicists, and specialists in Christian origins examine the social and religious life of ancient Corinth. The interdisciplinary contributions present new materials and findings on the themes of Greek and Roman identities, social stratification, and local religion.

This book addresses cult and religion in the city of Corinth from the 4th to 7th centuries of our era. The work incorporates and synthesizes all available evidence, literary, archaeological and other. The interaction and conflict between Christian and non-Christian activity is placed into its urban context and seen as simultaneously existing and overlapping cultural activity. Late antique religion is defined as cult-based rather than doctrinally-based, and thus this volume focuses not on what people believed, but rather what they did. An emphasis on cult activity reveals a variety of types of interaction between groups, ranging from confrontational events at dilapidated polytheist cult sites, to full polysemous and shared cult activity at the so-called "Fountain of the Lamps". Non-Christian traditions are shown to have been recognized and viable through the sixth century. The tentative conclusion is drawn that a clear definition of "pagan" and "Christian" begins at an urban level with the Christian re-monumentalization of Corinth with basilicas. The disappearance of "pagan" cult is best attributed to the development of a new city socially and physically based in Christianity, rather than any purely "religious" development.

A fresh look at early urban churches This collection of essays examines the urban context of early Christian churches in the first-century Roman world. A city-by-city investigation of the early churches in the New Testament clarifies the challenges, threats, and opportunities that urban living provided for early Christians. Readers will come away with a better understanding of how scholars assemble an accurate picture of the cities in which the first Christians flourished. Features: Analysis of urban evidence of the inscriptions, papyri, archaeological remains, coins, and iconography Discussion of how to use different types of evidence responsibly Outline of what constitutes proper methodological use for establishing a nuanced, informed portrait of ancient urban life

In Corinth in Contrast, archaeologists, historians, art historians, classicists, and New Testament scholars examine the stratified nature of socio-economic, political, and religious interactions in the city from the Hellenistic period to Late Antiquity. The volume challenges standard social histories of Corinth by focusing on the unequal distribution of material, cultural, and spiritual resources. Specialists investigate specific aspects of cultural and material stratification such as commerce, slavery, religion, marriage and family, gender, and art, analyzing both the ruling elite of Corinth and the non-elite Corinthians who made up the majority of the population. This approach provides insight into the complex networks that characterized every ancient urban center and sets an agenda for future studies of Corinth and other cities rule by Rome.