The Jerusalem collection as Koivwvíα : Paul's global politics of socio-economic equality and solidarity

This article endeavours to look at the Jerusalem collection from a fresh perspective by examining the language of Koivwvíα Paul employs to describe the project in Romans 15.26 and in 2 Corinthians 8.4 and 9.13. After adducing oft-neglected literary and documentary evidence, this essay argues that Paul's audience must have understood Koivwvíα to bear significant political and socio-economic implications. This article concludes that the collection was aimed at establishing a new order of socio-economic equality and solidarity among the emergent Christ-believing communities, at both a local and global level, and across socio-cultural and ethnic divides.19 page(s

Paul's koinonia with the Philippians : a socio-historical investigation of a Pauline economic partnership

Julien M. Ogereau explores the socio-economic dimension of Paul's koinonia with the Philippians from a Graeco-Roman perspective. After conducting a rigorous philological study of the business terminology Paul employs in Philippians in the light of documentary sources (papyri and inscriptions), he offers a thorough socio-economic reading of the letter that is informed by ancient cultural conventions. Challenging recent scholarship, Ogereau concludes that Paul's relationship with the Philippians followed the well-established pattern of economic partnerships ( koinonia/societas ), whereby Paul supplied the ars and opera (skill and labour), while the Philippians contributed the pecunia (funds).592 page(s

La plus ancienne référence comptable chrétienne : la signification de l’expression εἰς λόγον δόσεως καὶ λήμψεως (Phil 4 :15)

This paper endeavours to elucidate the phrase εἰς λόγον δόσεως καὶ λήμψεως found in the letter of the apostle Paul to the Christian community at Philippi, Macedonia (Phil 4 :15). By means of a detailed philological survey of each of these terms as they are appear in isolation or in collocation in ancient literary and documentary sources, it is demonstrated that the expression pertains to ancient accounting terminology. It is argued that, contrary to the communis opinio in New Testament scholarship, it should be understood literally, and not figuratively. It is finally concluded that the expression refers to the account of a missionary fund set up by Paul and his Philippian companions to finance his missionary activities. Thus, it constitutes the earliest piece of evidence of Christian financial accounting and organization.16 page(s

Paul's κοινωνία with the Philippians : societas as a missionary funding strategy

This article endeavours to illuminate the socio-economic dimension of Paul’s κοινωνία with the Philippians. It initially adduces a representative sample of philological evidence which demonstrates that κοινωνία and its cognates (κοινωνός, κοινωνέω) frequently convey the sense of partnership in some economic enterprise, and establishes a semantic equivalence between κοινωνία and societas (partnership). It is then argued that, from a Roman socio-economic and legal perspective, Paul’s κοινωνία consisted of a societas unius rei (i.e. societas evangelii), whereby Paul supplied the ars and opera (skill and labour), while the Philippians contributed the pecunia (funds) to ensure the progress of his mission.19 page(s

A Survey of Koινωνια and its cognates in documentary sources

This article consists of the summary of a comprehensive survey of the terms χoινωνια, χoινωνóζ and χoινωνεω, in documentary sources (i.e., inscriptions and papyri). Moving beyond basic semantic questions, it focuses on the usages and pragmatic connotations of these cognates in a wide range of documentary contexts dating between ca. V BC and AD VII. Thereby it purports to broaden current understandings of the terms, draw attention to unsuspected or overlooked connotations, and highlight potentially relevant examples vis-à-vis the NT.20 page(s

Methodological considerations in using epigraphic evidence to determine the socioeconomic context of the early Christians

31 page(s

The Inscriptiones Christianae Graecae Database. Towards a Digital Corpus of Early Christian Inscriptions from Greece and Asia Minor

This paper offers a report on the completion and publication of the first version of a database of early Christian Greek inscriptions from Asia Minor and Greece, which was developed by the research groups B-III-2 and B-5-3 of the Excellence Cluster 264 Topoi, Berlin, from 2008 to 2016. It explains the rationale, structure, and content of the database, and announces anticipated publication outputs made possible by this new research tool. &nbsp