Resisting, negotiating and imitating the empire: the complexities of empire as context for early Christians

Abstract

In recent years, empire has become a major field of research among New Testament scholars. In this article, after a brief review of two of the major exponents, I raise a number of critical issues. I make the point that early Christianities were not only caught in the web of Roman power, but eventually also adopted and developed imperial practices themselves. This means that empire must be central to exegetical and hermeneutical efforts.