The Social Structure of the New Testament Church fulfils a long-standing need for a sociological perspective of early Christianity. Most studies of the New Testament Church have been written by historians or theologians, but this book is different. It brings to life in a new way the leading characters of the church depicted in the Acts of the Apostles, the Epistles, and other documents of the first century in the Christian era. Its scholarly analysis adds significantly to our knowledge of what happened in Jerusalem in the early years after the death and resurrection of Jesus and the missionary movement that took the gospel out into the gentile world. It is written in a style that will appeal to both academics and ordinary readers who want to have a greater understanding of New Testament Christianity.
Background History
The research for this publication was based on a doctoral thesis carried out in the 1970s and used extensively in teaching in ministry since then.