Introduction

This chapter discusses the intellectual worldview of Greek philosophers that formed part of the education of Christian leaders. It addresses the fascinating web of interlocking relationships among leaders in the early Christian movement, a topic so well presented in the work of Peter Brown and Elizabeth Clark. The chapter examines the Hebrew Scriptures, the one constant ingredient in the Christian worldview. They, of course, became the Old Testament for Christians. Certainly the letter of James in the Christian Scriptures, while not completely antithetical to Jacques-Paul Migne's position, modified it: "A person is justified by works and not by faith alone". The figure of Paul became a flashpoint in the growing Christian tradition: For the Jewish-Christian author of the Clementine Recognitions, Paul was an arch-heretic who had to be expelled from church, whereas for some second-century Christians with strong anti-Jewish tendencies, Paul was the apostle par excellence. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.