This year marks the twenty-five anniversary of the publication of The First Urban Christians by Wayne A. Meeks. In this now-classic work Meeks examined the socio-historical context of Pauline Christianity through the lens of Paul's letters. After The First Urban Christians, edited by Todd D. Still and David G. Horrell, is a collection of seven essays written by established scholars, plus an epilog authored by Meeks himself, that revisits and updates Meeks's landmark volume. Furthermore, After The First Urban Christians offers fresh lines of inquiry for the future study of Paul and his churches in their social setting.
Todd D. Still (Ph.D.University of Glasgow) is Associate Professor of Christian Scriptures at the
George W. Truett Theological Seminary of Baylor University in Waco, Texas.
Among other publications, he is the author of Conflict at Thessalonica: A Pauline Church and Its Neighbours and the editor of Jesus and Paul Reconnected: Fresh Pathways into an Old Debate.
David G. Horrell is Professor of New Testament Studies at the University of Exeter, UK. He is the author of several books, including
An Introduction to the Study of Paul (T&T Clark, Second Edition 2006) and
Solidarity and Difference (T&T Clark, 2005). He was the editor of the
Journal for the Study of the New Testament from 2002-2007. He is an active member of the British New Testament Society, having chaired the Social World of the New Testament Seminar from 2001-2006, and is also a member of the Society for Biblical Literature (SBL) and Society for New Testament Studies (SNTS). He completed his PhD at Cambridge on Paul's Corinthian letters and the letter known as 1 Clement.