A Handbook to Second-Century Christianity
The second century of the Common Era was a time of significant transition, innovation, and upheaval for the Greco-Roman world. In the midst of great societal changes the relatively new religious movement of Christianity began to find its footing as a coherent body—though undeniably marked by incredible diversity of thought, expression, and practice—as it moved beyond its Judaic roots and took on a more Hellenistic tenor, albeit unevenly. This formative era for the church has unfortunately received little attention from a comprehensive scholarly perspective; research is sporadic, fragmented, and often focused on the major texts of the early apologists, hardly representative of the full swath of the various forms of Christianity around the Mediterranean.

A Handbook to Second-Century Christianity aims to fill that gap and provide a wide-ranging guide to the key features of the early church in the context of the Roman Empire at its height. Leading international scholars bring to light material evidence, neglected sources, apologists and theologians, heretical groups, apocryphal writings, persecution and martyrdom traditions, formation of the biblical canon, and ecclesiastical growth. Taken together, these essays present a rich and dynamic portrait of Christianity in this pivotal time period, one that takes seriously the variegated contours of the developing faith. A Handbook to Second-Century Christianity will prove an authoritative resource for researchers as well as teachers of Christian history and historical theology.

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A Handbook to Second-Century Christianity
The second century of the Common Era was a time of significant transition, innovation, and upheaval for the Greco-Roman world. In the midst of great societal changes the relatively new religious movement of Christianity began to find its footing as a coherent body—though undeniably marked by incredible diversity of thought, expression, and practice—as it moved beyond its Judaic roots and took on a more Hellenistic tenor, albeit unevenly. This formative era for the church has unfortunately received little attention from a comprehensive scholarly perspective; research is sporadic, fragmented, and often focused on the major texts of the early apologists, hardly representative of the full swath of the various forms of Christianity around the Mediterranean.

A Handbook to Second-Century Christianity aims to fill that gap and provide a wide-ranging guide to the key features of the early church in the context of the Roman Empire at its height. Leading international scholars bring to light material evidence, neglected sources, apologists and theologians, heretical groups, apocryphal writings, persecution and martyrdom traditions, formation of the biblical canon, and ecclesiastical growth. Taken together, these essays present a rich and dynamic portrait of Christianity in this pivotal time period, one that takes seriously the variegated contours of the developing faith. A Handbook to Second-Century Christianity will prove an authoritative resource for researchers as well as teachers of Christian history and historical theology.

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A Handbook to Second-Century Christianity

A Handbook to Second-Century Christianity

A Handbook to Second-Century Christianity
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A Handbook to Second-Century Christianity

A Handbook to Second-Century Christianity

Overview

The second century of the Common Era was a time of significant transition, innovation, and upheaval for the Greco-Roman world. In the midst of great societal changes the relatively new religious movement of Christianity began to find its footing as a coherent body—though undeniably marked by incredible diversity of thought, expression, and practice—as it moved beyond its Judaic roots and took on a more Hellenistic tenor, albeit unevenly. This formative era for the church has unfortunately received little attention from a comprehensive scholarly perspective; research is sporadic, fragmented, and often focused on the major texts of the early apologists, hardly representative of the full swath of the various forms of Christianity around the Mediterranean.

A Handbook to Second-Century Christianity aims to fill that gap and provide a wide-ranging guide to the key features of the early church in the context of the Roman Empire at its height. Leading international scholars bring to light material evidence, neglected sources, apologists and theologians, heretical groups, apocryphal writings, persecution and martyrdom traditions, formation of the biblical canon, and ecclesiastical growth. Taken together, these essays present a rich and dynamic portrait of Christianity in this pivotal time period, one that takes seriously the variegated contours of the developing faith. A Handbook to Second-Century Christianity will prove an authoritative resource for researchers as well as teachers of Christian history and historical theology.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781481314152
Publisher: Baylor University Press
Publication date: 10/15/2025
Pages: 744
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Michael F. Bird is Deputy Principal and Lecturer in Theology at Ridley College.

Scott Harrower is Lecturer in Christian Thought at Ridley College.

Table of Contents

Introduction: The Christian Second Century: Energetic Innovations and Legacies
Scott Harrower

Part 1: Defining and Writing Early Christianity
1 A Literary Faith: Reading God, Reading Books, and Reading Each Other
D. Jeffrey Bingham
2 Second-Century Christian Women
Edwina Murphy
3 Gallic, Greek, Asian, and Unknown Texts: Regional Diversity, Common Themes
Kirsten H. Mackerras and Jonathon Lookadoo
4 Apologists, Heresiologists, and First Theologians I: Preliminary Issues, the City of Rome
Scott Harrower
5 Apologists, Heresiologists, and First Theologians II: Antioch, Smyrna, Alexandria
Scott Harrower
6 Emerging Diversity: "Other" Christianities
David A. Evans and Paul McKechnie
7 Jewish Responses and Pagan References to Christianity
Warren Campbell and David Lincicum

Part 2: The Christian Second Century in Retrospect
8 The Second Century in the Fourth: Eusebius and the Codification of Christian History
Michael J. Svigel
9 The New Testament in the Second Century: Chronology and the Emergence of Christian Scripture
Michael F. Bird

Part 3: The Spectrum of Early Christian Texts
10 Early Christian Letters: Building Community, Building Faith
Janelle Peters
11 The Nag Hammadi Codices: A Window into the Plurality of Early Christianity
Christine Jacobi
12 Jesus Books, Gospel Fragments, and Gospel Harmonies: Rewriting the Jesus Tradition
Markus Bockmuehl and Jacob A. Rodriguez
13 Second-Century Apocalypses: The Proliferation of a Contested Genre
Jörg Frey
14 Early Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles: Remembered Origins
Tobias Nicklas
15 Martyrologies: A Witness to Theological Formation
Lynn H. Cohick and Samuel S. Cho
16 Didactic and Pastoral Writings: The Pedagogy of Faith
Jonathon Lookadoo

Part 4: Producing the Christian Culture
17 Apostolic Texts as Scripture in the Second Century: Their Significance and Authority
Eckhard J. Schnabel
18 Christian Papyri and Literary Culture
Paul Foster
19 New Testament Manuscripts (Possibly) from the Second Century
Michael J. Kruger
20 Lost (and Found) Second-Century Christian Writings
Stephen C. Carlson

Part 5: Practicing the Christian Life
21 The Rule of Faith and Emerging Symbolum Apostolorum: Origin, Function, Structure
Tomas Bokedal
22 Sources of Second-Century Worship: Initiation, Ritual, Participation
Daniel Cardó and Elizabeth Klein

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Bibles & Christianity
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History of Christianity
General & Miscellaneous Church History

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