Civilized Piety: The Rhetoric of "Pietas" in the Pastoral Epistles and the Roman Empire

Early Christians in Asia Minor had to navigate the troubled waters of Roman social, political, and economic life while also preserving their faith. The church faced a double threat: Greeks and Romans viewed Christianity as a barbaric and potentially seditious superstition and, at the same moment, wealthy Christian benefactors, and their client teachers, were both perceived to threaten the integrity of the Christian community.

Christopher Hoklotubbe investigates how the author of the Pastoral...