ARTICLES
Πέτρος Παρθένης
Δρ. Αρχαίας Ιστορίας
Abstract: The second Christian century is presented in the article as preeminently an “age of diversity,” that is, as a period during which the Christian movement had not yet acquired a unified doctrinal or institutional form but was instead constituted by a multitude of fluid, overlapping, and often competing versions. Taking the Parable of the Weeds as its point of departure, the author shows that the coexistence of different tendencies was not merely a historical fact but also an interpretive key for understanding the period. He criticizes older interpretive models that described the second century as an era of “unification,” “consolidation of orthodoxy,” or “struggle against heresies,” emphasizing that these rely mainly on apologetic and anti-heretical sources marked by strong polemical agendas. Modern scholarship, influenced by methodological breakthroughs such as those of Walter Bauer and by discoveries like the Nag Hammadi library, highlights a Christianity with fluid boundaries, weak authority structures, diverse theologies, varied liturgical practices, and an unclear distinction both from Judaism and within its own ranks. To substantiate his thesis, the author presents evidence of diversity within a single version of Christianity—the one best documented in the available sources, the so-called “catholic congregation”—arguing that a similar picture should be expected in the movement’s other versions as well. Overall, the second century emerges not as a linear progression toward unity but as a colorful, dynamic, and complex spectrum of early Christian expressions. Finally, the author stresses the need for a comprehensive and, above all, objective presentation of early Christian history in Greek scholarship, free from apologetic tendencies and “traditional” interpretive models that have been shown to be inadequate decades ago.
O χριστιανικός δεύτερος αιώνας: η εποχή της ποικιλομορφίας – Πέτρος Παρθένης.pdf
