Markus Kirchner: "The Greatest Example of Endurance" - Paul's Death in Early Christian Memory

From a modern perspective, the significance of the apostle Paul for early church history is based particularly on his contribution to the expansion of Christianity and his theology of justification through faith instead of law, whereas the circumstances of his death appear to be a less important issue. However, a close look at the deutero-Pauline writings, but also at the Apostolic Fathers (especially 1 Clement and the Ignatian letters) suggests a different view: The first generations after Paul seem to have considered the death of the apostle as a key to understanding his life and work. It will be examined, on the one hand, how the images of the apostle’s death influenced the early church’s view on the apostle himself, on the other hand which function the memory of Paul’s death might have had for early Christian communities in constructing their collective identity.

• In this workshop, speakers will only give brief summaries of their papers. The draft papers will be circulated in advance to all participants. Please contact the organiser to have the PDFs sent to you by late July/early August.