The Origins of Christian Morality: the First Two Centuries

New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993. History Book Club. Large octavo in illus black jacket; x, 275 pages; 25 cm; bibliographical references (pages 243-260) and indexes Minor foxing to edges; scholarly notes & marks in light pencil to approx. first 15-20 pages; else about near fine(-) to very good(++) in fine jacket. . Hardcover. ISBN: 9780300056402

"This book describes the formative years-from the crucifixion of Jesus to the end of the second century of the common era-when Christian beliefs and practices shaped their unique moral order. Wayne A. Meeks examines the surviving documents from Christianity's beginnings (some of which became the New Testament) and shows that they are largely concerned with the way converts to the movement should behave. Meeks finds that for these Christians, the formation of morals means the formation of community; the documents are addressed not to individuals but to groups, and they have among their primary aims the maintenance and growth of these groups. Meeks paints a picture of the process of socialization that produced the early forms of Christian morality, discussing many factors that made the Christians feel that they were a single and "chosen" people. He describes, for example, the impact of conversion; the rapid spread of Christian household cult-associations in the cities of the Roman Empire; the language of Christian moral discourse as revealed in letters, testaments, and "moral stories"; the rituals, meetings, and institutionalization of charity; the Christians' feelings about celibacy, sex, and gender roles; and their sense of the end-time and final judgment. In each of these areas Meeks seeks to determine what is distinctive about the Christian viewpoint and what is similar to the moral components of Greco-Roman or Jewish thought."--From publisher's description. Contents: Preface --; Morals and community --; Turning: moral consequences of conversion --; City, household, people of God --; Loving and hating the world --; The language of obligation --; The grammar of Christian practice --; Knowing evil --; The body as sign and problem --; A life worthy of God --; Senses of an ending --; The moral story --; Postscript.; History, pluralism, and Christian morality --; Notes --; Bibliography of secondary works cited --; Index of early Christian literature --; Subject index. Christian ethics -- History -- Early church, ca. 30-600. Ethics in the Bible. Sociology, Biblical. Morale chrétienne -- Histoire -- ca 30-600 (Église primitive) Morale dans la Bible. Christian ethics -- Early church. Ethics in the Bible. Sociology, Biblical. Christliche Ethik Entwicklung Christelijke ethiek. Vroege kerk. Christian ethics -- Early Church, 30-600. Ethics in the New Testament -- Critique, interprétation, etc. Bible -- Sociologie.