ABSTRACT

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book addresses the engagement of a number of pre-Nicene Church Fathers with the surrounding culture. David Rankin considers the historical and social context of the Fathers, grouped in cities and regions, their writings and theological reflections, and discusses how the particular engagement of each with major aspects of the surrounding culture influences, informs and shapes their thought and the articulation of that thought. Brown declares that 'what makes the second century significant is the frequency with which the domestic concord associated with the nuclear family was played up symbolically, as part of a public desire to emphasise the effortless harmony of the Roman order'. In the first century BCE 'Atticism' referred to the imitation of the old Attic orators and 'Asianism' was a pejorative term which suggested excesses of ornamentation in delivery.