Fredriksen, Paula. Ancient Christianities: The First Five Hundred Years. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2024.
Paula Fredriksen begins Ancient Christianities: The First Five Hundred Years with a question: considering the variety of gods and local deities present in both the ancient Mediterranean and the Roman Empire, how did one singular god end up dominating the focus of the late Roman Empire? Ultimately, Fredriksen not only answers this question but also introduces her reader to the numerous intricacies of narrating the history of Christianity. Fredriksen carefully illustrates how different forms of Christianity emerged within the diverse religious and cultural landscape of the ancient Mediterranean. Her historical narrative surveys the diversity of ancient Christian traditions.
Attempting to avoid “the impression of linear development that a single temporal arc can convey,” (p. xiv) Fredriksen organized this book around select themes featured in each of the successive chapters. The themes trace major questions within the field: Christianity’s Jewish origins, the diverse viewpoints within the early Christian movement, martyrdom and persecution, apocalypticism, empire, asceticism, and the Christianization of pagan traditions. Fredriksen pursues each of these themes by analyzing material and literary evidence, including texts and artwork from the first century CE through the fifth century CE. The book also includes a preface, a conclusion, an extensive glossary, a long list of supplementary reading, and multiple comprehensive indexes.
Serving as an introduction, chapter one, “The Idea of Israel,” situates the early Christian movement within the broader landscape of ancient Judaism, emphasizing the complex and often fluid boundaries between Jewish and Christian identities in antiquity. Utilizing a wide variety of literary evidence, historical data, and material culture, Fredriksen engages with several key areas of inquiry, including Second Temple Judaism, the integration of Jews into Greco-Roman culture, the Pauline Epistles, the social anomaly of eschatological gentiles, and anti-Jewish rhetoric. Fredriksen carefully distinguishes the discursive construction of Jews within early Christian writings from the lived realities of historical Jewish communities, ultimately emphasizing the ambiguous and often precarious status of Jewish people within an increasingly Christianized society. This opening chapter not only contextualizes the early Jesus movement within its Jewish roots but also lays the groundwork for the book’s broader investigation into the diverse and contested nature of ancient Christianities.
Chapter Two, “The Dilemmas of Diversity,” highlights one of the greatest strengths of this book: its escape from the orthodoxy-heresy binary. Fredriksen masterfully navigates a discussion of orthodoxy and heresy without falling into or reinforcing ancient discourses of orthodoxy and heresy. Fredriksen makes certain choices to do this, including omitting the word heresy from the chapter title and subtitles, a choice that is also reflected in the title of this work, Ancient Christianities. Within this chapter, Fredriksen examines a variety of early Christian thinkers, such as Valentinus, Marcion, and Justin Martyr, to showcase the diversity of their views. Fredriksen also examines a stunning array of literary examples, including non-canonical and para-canonical works such as the second-century Acts of Paul and Thecla. Far from sticking to the familiar paths for discussing the diversity of early Christianities, Fredriksen pursues new directions, such as her insightful section on gender titled “Neither Male nor Female.” She also includes a discussion on the lack of data and access to the beliefs of “un- or undereducated illiterate members of any Christian group” (p. 35).
In Chapter three, “Martyrdom and Persecution,” Fredriksen masterfully distinguishes between persecution and prosecution. She opens the chapter by noting that religious tolerance was not a policy of the Roman Empire, but rather, religious pluralism was a condition of empire. While noting localized instances of persecution, she points to evidence such as the presence of Christians on city councils to dispel the persecution narrative. Fredriksen goes a step further and asserts that the most extensive and prolonged period of imperial Christian persecution took place after Constantine’s seeming embrace of the Christian movement when different Christian emperors sought to root out different “heretical” sects. Expanding on the second chapter, this section also considers the rhetorical nature of martyrdom and explains how different early Christian groups were able to weaponize discourses of martyrdom to seize the “rhetorical and ideological high ground” (p. 88).
When turning to apocalyptic beliefs, in chapter four (“The Future of the End”), Fredriksen notes: “Followers of Jesus in his own generation - like Jesus himself and, before him, like John the Baptizer - had expected the Kingdom of God to arrive in their own lifetimes,” (p. 91). Indeed, the chapter navigates early Christian apocalypticism, attending to how these beliefs shifted over time. Fredriksen thoughtfully traces how these eschatological expectations were subsequently reinterpreted by writers such as Paul, Origen, and Augustine. One particularly interesting part of this chapter is Fredriksen’s discussion regarding the conception of heaven and hell. Her discussion enables readers to picture how adherents might have visualized hell and the punishments they thought might await them. This chapter concludes with a brief yet important section on how those outside the early Jesus movement responded to these early Christian conceptions of hell.
In Chapter Five, “Christ and Empire,” Fredriksen explores formative debates surrounding theological concepts, such as the divinity of Jesus and simultaneously traces the rise of “imperial Christianity.” Fredriksen offers a multifaceted historical narrative of the ancient Mediterranean world, introducing her readers to Roman religion, Roman civil wars, and imperial politics. She also grapples with questions such as, “how did Christianity affect empire” and “how did empire affect Christianity” (p. 138). Within this chapter, the reader is exposed to pivotal councils and synods of the period, the emergence of church hierarchy, and ecclesiastical structures.
I found Fredriksen’s analysis of asceticism in chapter six (“The Redemption of the Flesh”) especially insightful as it not only situated asceticism in Greco-Roman and Jewish practices but also juxtaposed early Christian ascetic practices with the wide variety of sources that showcase wealthy Christians and bishops. While some early Christians emphasized voluntary poverty, other Christians were very wealthy. In some instances, wealthy Christian women would even participate in ascetic practices while also retaining control over the administration of their wealth. Fredriksen’s account encompasses early Christian writings on asceticism, the desert fathers, marriage, celibacy, and the rise of episcopal regulation of ascetic practices. As Fredriksen demonstrates, ascetic practices were highly esteemed in early Christianity; however, the charismatic leadership of ascetic figures frequently posed challenges to episcopal authority. This chapter skillfully navigates this tension and underscores that despite the dominance of asceticism within written records, the silent majority of early Christians continued to marry, have kids, and hold property.
The final chapter, “Pagan and Christian,” begins with a brief discussion of how the term ‘pagan’ was an invention of the fourth century. Posing a framing question for the chapter, Fredriksen states: “As Christianity emerged and developed within Mediterranean culture, what did it retain, what did it alter, and what did it leave behind?” (p. 172). Fredriksen addresses these complex questions by discussing what she labels as the “Mediterranean matrix,” namely, the intricate web of religious and cultural exchanges that characterized Roman antiquity. Ultimately, she concludes that elite Christian culture was formed by adopting ideas considered to be non-Christian, such as Greek philosophy and paideia. Here, Fredriksen also touches upon the role of demons, magic, and the cult of saints within our historical accounts. The concluding section cautions the reader against conflating elite forms of Christianity and the local everyday experience of ancient Christians.
Ancient Christianities will be a valuable resource for undergraduate and possibly graduate courses on various themes, including the history of Christianity, the origins of Christianity, and literary surveys. In addition to being accessible and covering a large amount of content spanning five hundred years, the chapters can be easily read independently. For example, chapter three: “Persecution and Martyrdom,” illuminates the differences between persecution and prosecution while providing a concise survey of existing scholarship on these themes. Furthermore, Fredriksen includes numerous timelines, maps, and framing questions throughout, a useful feature for undergraduate audiences. Ancient Christianities strikes a balance between scholarly depth and accessibility and will undoubtedly become an essential text for those teaching or engaging with the history of early Christianity.
Joseph Foltz is a Ph.D. student at the University of Denver. His research primarily explores the historical reception of the Apocryphal Acts in late antique and early medieval Christian art.