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Chapter 6 - Missionaries, Pious Merchants, Freelance Religious Experts, and the Spread of Christianity

from Part II - Religion

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 August 2021

By
Éric Rebillard
Edited by
Harriet I. Flower
Harriet I. Flower
Affiliation:
Princeton University, New Jersey
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Summary

This chapter reviews the networks that made possible the diffusion of the beliefs and practices associated with the figure of Christ during the first and second centuries and concludes that the missionary, the pious merchant, and the occasional Christian traveler should definitively be discarded as likely agents of religious change. Complex contagions such as the diffusion of religious beliefs and practices require as agents individuals who have strong ties, and therefore social capital, in the different networks among which they circulate. In turn, the local networks of diffusion must be both strong-tie and sufficiently open. These findings invite a reopening of the question of the role of the Jewish Diaspora in the spread of Christianity beyond the first century.

Keywords

early Christianitymissionmobilityconversionnetworksstrong/weak tiescomplex contagions
Type
Chapter
Information
Empire and Religion in the Roman World , pp. 139 - 160
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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