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Abstract
This chapter focuses on the continuity as a historical and theological issues towards a research paradigm. The question of continuity as the theme of Jesus research.
Abstract
On the one hand, the article deals with the development of religiosity in early Christianity within households, with a special focus on the pagan context. On the other hand, the question of how and whether individual piety was possible at all is addressed. On the basis of 1Cor 7:12–16 it is shown which problems could arise for Christ believers in non-Christian households, both within the household community and in the Christian assembly. Paul’s approaches to solving these problems range from peaceful coexistence to a departure from enslaving conditions, with the salvation of non-believers being, up to a certain point, an essential movement of action. The author of Acts, however, focused more clearly on the collective worship of Christ by narrating, on several occasions and in detail, group conversions of entire households. His account is thus part of a call for uniformity at the level of the family or household, which has been more clearly expressed since the early 2nd century. Finally, in the Acts of John, a story about the strategist Lycomedes and his wife Cleopatra shows how, on the one hand, faith of an individual becomes a starting point for the conversion of an entire household. On the other hand, it also tells of an individual form of worship in the private sphere, which is criticised.