Space and Flourishing in Early Christianity and its Ancient Contexts

This volume brings together experts in ancient Mediterranean societies to explore ways in which space (real and imagined, lived and projected) contributed to conceptualizations of communal "flourishing" in early Christianity and its broad ancient context.How to live well, or "flourish," has long been an object of theorization; this volume approaches the issue of flourishing in early Christianity from an historical perspective, exploring constructions of and conditions for flourishing in ancient literary, visual and material culture. An introductory chapter offers a theoretical and methodological framework for the book, while subsequent chapters examine the production of spaces ("ethnic," urban, liturgical, and religio-political) in ancient sources from the fifth century BCE to the eighth century CE, illuminating how they shape, enable, or interrupt aspects of flourishing. By bringing flourishing and space together with the ancient sources, this volume offers an historically grounded account of flourishing which has the ability to clarify and balance these contemporary discussions.Balancing theory with detailed historiographical work, this book offers a crucial intervention in the field of early Christian studies, suitable for students and scholars working on space and the spatial turn in late antiquity and early Christianity.

About the Author

Benjamin A. Edsall is Associate Professor of Biblical and Early Christian Studies in the Institute for Religion and Critical Inquiry, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, Australia.

Sarah Gador-Whyte is Senior Research Fellow of Biblical and Early Christian Studies in the Institute for Religion and Critical Inquiry, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, Australia.