After the First Urban Christians

This is a fine volume, well-researched and more than adequately fulfilling the aim of the contributors to evaluate the contribution of Meek's volume to subsequent social-scientific criticism. Every chapter not only succinctly surveys relevant subsequent scholarship, but offers a substantial contribution to the ongoing debate. -- Journal for the Study of The New Testament, Volume 33 Number 5
'Wayne A. Meek's groundbreaking book The First Urban Christians was the first sociological analysis of Early Christianity covering systematically all aspects of community life. Twenty-five years later it is still the best reference point for a survey of all that has been accomplished so far in this field of research. I highly recommend this survey by very competent younger scholars to all those who want to be informed about the present state and the future of social-scientific studies of Early Christianity. The book looks at urban environment, socio-economic composition, analogies to Christian congregations in antiquity, their internal authority structures, and the correlation between ritual performance and symbolic worlds on the one hand and patterns of life on the other hand. The contributors share with Meeks a preference for balanced, fair, and common-sense judgements avoiding default presumptions and polarisations. The book demonstrates that an approach that was disputed some decades ago is now an essential part of established scholarship with a high potential for new insights in the future.' - Gerd Theissen, Faculty of Theology, University of Heidelberg, Germany -- Gerd Theissen
‘If Meeks' work remains a milestone in scholarship, here seven experts, together with Meeks, survey the terrain from this vantage-point and identify numerous new routes for future research.  Brimful of intelligent discussion and fresh ideas, this is an indispensable volume for all social historians of earliest Christianity.' - John Barclay, Department of Theology and Religion, Durham University, UK. -- John Barclay
‘Meeks' ground-breaking First Urban Christians remains required reading for all students of the NT and early Christianity.  This welcome volume provides an able field guide to the debates it has generated in the last 25 years and keen pointers to where future study of the social realities of the Pauline assemblies must go.' - Margaret M. Mitchell, Divinity School, University of Chicago, IL, USA. -- Margaret M. Mitchell
"The editors of this book have assembled an impressive bunch of contributors. ... [This book] has a great deal to offer the general reader."  The Catholic Herald, 21st May 2010.
"The eight essays in this volume seek to reassess the contribution made by W.A. Meeks's The First Urban Christians (1983).  After the editor's five-page introduction, it presents papers by Horrell on Whither social-scientific approaches to NT interpretation?--contested methodologies and the future; P. Oakes on contours of the urban environment; b.W. Longenecker on socioeconomic profiling of the first urban Christians; E. Adams on 1st-century models for Paul's churches--selected scholarly developments since Meeks; Still on organizational structures and relational struggles among the saints--the establishment and exercise of authority within Pauline assemblies; L.J. Lawrence on ritual and the first urban Christians--boundary crossings of life and death; D.B. Martin on patterns of belief and patterns of life--correlations in The First Urban Christians and since; and Meeks on taking stock and moving on. -New Testament Abstracts, Vol. 54
'This volume, the value of which far exceeds its length, is a 'must-read' and 'must-own' for anybody and every library that recognizes the importance of studying Paul's letters in their social-historical context.' - John K Goodrich, University of Durham -- John K Goodrich * Theological Book Review *
Assessing After the First Urban Christians one should say that its value is intrinsically connected with Meeks groundbreaking work. It is a worthy effort of bringing to light the volume that marked the landscape of New Testament social studies and inspired so many scholars. After the First Urban Christians presents the reader with an interesting selection of the issues raised by Meeks, offers their critical survey, and shows the directions in which they developed … After the First Urban Christians is an impressive and most welcome project of synthetizing the ideas and issues advanced by Meeks in 1983 … Every scholar and student working in this field should be definitely equipped with this valuable publication. -- Marcin Kowalski * The Biblical Annals *