From Paul to Valentinus: Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries

I’m enjoying every bit of this fascinating book! It sheds light on the formation of early urban Christian communities and how they developed out of Jewish communities. The author provides insight into the lives of lower class, everyday Romans, enslaved and free, in the first and second centuries—the very people from whose communities sprang the Roman church.True, this book certainly has a scholarly bent and may be too dense for some but for those who enjoy a dive underground it is just the ticket.

This was a groundbreaking study of early Roman Christianity when it was released several years ago, and it's still important and worth a read. Lampe is extremely knowledgeable and thorough, and his research and presentation is everything that you'd expect from German scholarship.It does get a bit speculative in places (such as hypothetical reconstructions of imperial edicts), but for the most part his conclusions seem plausible enough...just keep in mind that a good deal of it is hypothetical. And where he's dealing with pure facts as opposed to speculative reconstruction, it's an amazing marshalling of disparate evidence—archaeological data, obscure inscriptions, literary evidence, and more all combined to present a coherent picture of early Roman Christianity. That's really what makes the work shine; it rare to find a book that successfully masters so many different fields of study.The one word of caution I would give is that Lampe makes frequent use of primary sources in both Latin and Greek. About half the time a translation is included, and half the time it is not. If you're interested in a book like this, it's likely that you have the scholarly chops to handle Greek and Latin. But a few readers might find themselves in a position like mine—my Greek is very good, but my Latin is very poor. So be prepared to handle both languages to get the most out of this excellent work.

Was recommended this book by Mike Winger. However, reading it and trying to take notes, it was difficult to find the implications of what the book was talking about or understand the significance of the facts. I didn't make it through the first chapter. I will try again though... someday. I'm not much of a reader. I did pass the AP English test with a 4 and am attending university, so I think my ability to understand this book should be up there. Idk.

Rich with information, but seems to be coming from a veiled Christian apologetic viewpoint, and occasionally reaches conclusions that aren't really justified by the evidence he presents.

A scholarly approach to the history of Christians in Rome around Paul's day. A little laborious read, but interesting.

Being fairly ignorant of the early history of Roman Christianity, (or any early Christian history for that matter), "From Paul to Valentinus: Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries" was just begging to be read. The book did not fail to impress or keep me interested.Let me just say to begin with that Peter Lampe is very thorough in his approach and the scope of his study. Through this book, he looks into a variety of aspects within the Roman Christian community, using many different sources. Lampe looks at the locations within Rome where Christians tended to live, using a few different criteria. He also covers aspects of economic well-being within the Christian groups, and also what he calls "social stratification". Lampe also traces the origins of Christians, and tries to show where they tended to come from in terms of background and geographical origins. Lampe additionally looks at individuals, and how indicative they are of the community as a whole.Lampe's use of different sources is impressive, and he is very thorough in this respect. Sources include literary sources, (Jewish, Christian, pagan, philosophical, etc), along with archealogical sources from the catacombs to quite detailed discussions on grave sites around Rome and more. Lampe also uses computer-compiled lists of names found in the region, as well as other scholar's work. Lampe also makes use of the New Testament, though is is far from uncritical, and he is quite cautious and careful in his application of its data. Overall, I have found Lampe to be a careful and methodical scholar in his use of sources.Lampe also uses a lot of sources from Latin, Koine Greek and some other languages, (including French). While laudable, Lampe does not always provide translations in English, which can be somewhat frustrating at times. His quotations in Greek can be a paragraph long, and if you can't understand the language, you may miss out on some of the details.Peter Lampe also has some interesting chapters on individual people, including Marcion, the woman in Justin's "Apology", (some interesting theories here from Lampe), the author of "The Shepherd of Hermas" and others. I personally enjoyed these aspects of Lampe's study immensely, as he was able to throw some light onto the more individual and personal aspects of early Roman Christian life.Apart from the point about untranslated languages above, I found this book to be both informative and dynamic. At times, it can get a little swamped in the details, (such as tracing phrases and common motifs through various sources), but this is a rare thing. Usually, the book covers a lot of ground with flair and skill.For a look at Roman Christianity as the evidence seems to point, Peter Lampe's book is very good and it is very thorough, with lots of references and good, generous helpings of footnotes. I am rather glad that I read it, and I recommend it wholeheartedly.

I have only read the chapter on Valentinus, who is an interest of mine. What disturbs me is the speculation which completes the chapter, that Valentinus was an example of a politically powerless intellectual whose power drive was frustrated and so he created a form of religious ideology where his displaced drive could have a kind of imaginative revenge. Well, Nietzsche made a very similar case about all of Christianity. There's a kind of ad hominem politico-material reductiveness about this, as well as the enormous speculative leap involved, which makes me question the whole enterprise. Shall we apply the same criteria to the authors and suggest that they are projecting their own professorial power drive and political powerlessness onto Valentinus? I have degrees and experience both in theology and psychology. Both are noble disciplines, but if not carefully watched, they can start to sound like the opinions of wine-tasters and astrologists, making me wonder: "Is there less to this than meets the eye?" As I say, I read only one chapter. I hope the rest of the work is better.