This work gives a detailed survey of the rise and expansion of Christianity in ancient Lycaonia and adjacent areas, from Paul the apostle until the late 4th-century bishop of Iconium, Amphilochius. It is essentially based on hundreds of funerary inscriptions from Lycaonia, but takes into account all available literary evidence. It maps the expansion of Christianity in the region and describes the practice of name-giving among Christians, their household and family structures, occupations, and use of verse inscriptions. It gives special attention to forms of charity, the reception of biblical tradition, the authority and leadership of the clergy, popular theology and forms of ascetic Christianity in Lycaonia.
Cilliers Breytenbach (Dr. theol., Munich 1984) is professor for the history, literature and religion of Early Christianity at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, professor extraordinary for New Testament and Ancient Studies at Stellenbosch University and the author and editor of numerous books including
Paulus und Barnabas in der Provinz Galatien (Leiden, 1996) and
Grace, Reconciliation, Concord (Leiden, 2010).
Christiane Zimmermann (Dr. phil. in Classics, Munich 1991) is professor for the history, theology and literature of the New Testament at the Christian-Albrechts-Universität in Kiel. She has been working especially on New Testament theology and published
Die Namen des Vaters (Leiden, 2007) and
Gott und seine Söhne: Das Gottesbild des Galaterbriefs (Neukirchen-Vluyn, 2013).
'
This is an outstanding, landmark book. It displays meticulous scholarship and fills a lacuna in work on the area. It [...] will be a classic for all further study on early Christianity in Asia Minor. We are hugely in debt to the authors for this amazing work.'
Paul Trebilco, Department of Theology and Religion, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand, 2018
In a history from below, crossing thedisciplines between New Testament studies, church history, social history, and Greek epigraphy, Breytenbach and Zimmerman are investigating the spread and expansion of Christianity in Lycaonia (…) The synthesis of recently compiled epigraphic evidence and literary and archeological material makes this book invaluable to early church historians and ancient historians alike. (…) One can only congratulate the authors for this significant project, and for completing it so well. Sabine Huebner, Journal of Early Christian Studies, 2019
Die Autoren präsentieren … in einigen streng regional orientierten Partien praktisch jedes bekannte Quellenstück, das sich mit mehr oder weniger Sicherheit mit Christen in Verbindung bringen lässt. Dass sie dabei en passant auch noch eine Art von Landeskunde Lycaoniens erstellt haben, sei ausdrücklich als positives Nebenergebnis ihrer Arbeit angemerkt. Ebenso wohltuend ist die wissenschaftliche Redlichkeit der Autoren, die ihre Einordnungen in fast allen Fällen für den Nutzer gut nachvollziehbar gemacht haben, da sie in vielen Fällen die kompletten Texte der von ihnen ausgewerteten griechischen Inschriften samt einer verlässlichen Übersetzung in den Fußnoten beigefügt haben. Peter Herz, Theologische Literaturzeitung, 2019
The authors have given us an excellent regional study of the expansion of Christianity, which will be a model for future scholarship in this area. Jan Bremmer, Vigiliae Christianae, 2019
This volume has the hallmarks of a monumental work. With 977 pages, its seven chapters are intricately divided to give comprehensive attention to the development of Christianity in Lycaonia.... Most specifically the authors address Lycaonia and adjacent areas, yet their study connects and interacts with areas further afield and models an approach that is rich in information and insight.
Rosemary Canavan, RBL, 2020
New Testament scholars and historians of Christianity and of the Later Roman Empire interested in the rise and expansion of Christianity in ancient Asia Minor.