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Verbum et Ecclesia

versión On-line ISSN 2074-7705
versión impresa ISSN 1609-9982

Verbum Eccles. (Online) vol.32 no.1 Pretoria  2011

http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/ve.v32i1.422 

ORIGINAL RESEARCH

 

Cities of god in northern Asia minor: Using Stark's social theories to reconstruct Peter's communities

 

 

Mark W. Wilson

Research Fellow, Department of Old Testament and Ancient Near Eastern Studies, University of South Africa, South Africa

Correspondence

 

 


ABSTRACT

This article used seven hypotheses from R. Stark's Cities of God (2007) as a heuristic tool to investigate the rise of Christianity in the five Roman provinces mentioned in 1 Peter 1:1. It affirmed that the Christian communities in these provinces were located in an urban, not rural, setting. Building on the research of Hort and Hemer, seven major cities in these provinces were proposed to test Stark's hypotheses with. These cities are Sinope and Amisus in Pontus, Ancyra in Galatia, Caesarea Mazaca in Cappadocia, Dorylaeum in Asia and Nicea and Nicomedia in Bithynia. An important factor noted in several of these cities was their prominence as a commercial seaport and the presence of a Diaspora Jewish community. Utilising this methodological approach helped to elucidate more fully the audience of 1 Peter's geographic and historical background.


 

 

Full text available only in PDF format.

 

 

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Correspondence:
Mark Wilson
PO Box 64788
Virginia Beach
VA 23467
United States of America
Email: markwilson@sevenchurches.org

Received: 24 July 2010
Accepted: 09 Dec. 2010
Published: 04 Mar. 2011

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