Wyne A. Meeks: Letters And The Book Of Acts

This book, written by Wyne A. Meeks, is very interesting because he enters into the social context of early Christianity, specifically Pauline Christianity. The world has information about Pauline Christianity for the several letters that were written by Paul himself and by his followers. In addition. The Book of Acts, written by Luke, also offers many details about the mission of Paul and his companions. The information that the Letters and the Book of Acts allow us to see that Pauline Christianity was not the work of a single person, but a mission carried by an extended group of associates who accompanied him and helped him to spread Christianity. Although this religion was born in the village culture of Palestine, Pauline Christianity was
At first, when they arrived at a city, they went to the synagogue because of Paul’s condition as a Jewish person. Sometimes they were invited to speak at the synagogue by somebody who already knew them and who was a prominent figure in the city. A second place where they gathered people were the households. People who had converted to Christianity and who had a place for meetings, invited Paul and his companions along with locals to gather together at their households where they listened to the Word of God and share a meal. When Paul and his companions preached in a city, everybody got to know they were around because of the huge density of population that the city had. Meeks highlights that when evangelizers came to a city, they were seen as successful traveling sophists or philosophers because of the way they spoke. Another place that allowed Paul to have connections with people were the clubs or associations of people. For instance, there were clubs of artisan or merchants that invited Paul to speak or simply Paul attended their meetings to be able to speak to them, since he was also an
He makes clear that people cannot apply modern principles of sociology to the context of antiquity because there were different factors that were used to infer or get to know the social status of people in early Christianity. Meeks affirms that scholars are divided at this respect. Some of them consider that most Christians were middle class people. However, an author like Celsus affirms that Christianity was for the poor and illiterate. Thus, Meeks asserts that some factors must be taken into consideration when talking about the social status of Pauline Christians: ethnic origins, prestige, education, citizenship, personal liberty, wealth, occupation, age, and public offices or