ABSTRACT
In the previous chapter, we moved in the great world of the Roman empire. We have glimpsed a variety of religions, listened to writers who mocked the traditional gods and ridiculed each others’ beliefs, and caught echoes of the laughing audience. In this chapter, we remain in the Roman empire, but our focus now turns to the complexity of early Christianity. In Christianity from the first to the fourth century, we meet the first attempts to create a theology of laughter. We encounter the question of whether the historical Jesus ever laughed, and find monks and virgins urged to keep a serious face. We will also become acquainted with the laughing saviour of the challengers to mainstream Christianity, the Gnostics, and the role laughter played within their texts. Above all, we find that in Christianity laughter becomes a spiritual phenomenon.
