Journal: Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
Volume: JETS 67:2 (Jun 2024)
Article: Christianity, The Poor, And The "Collegia": Identity And Distinction Between Christians And Pagans In The Early Church
Author: Jeremiah Mutie

JETS 67:2 (June 2024) p. 307

Christianity, The Poor, And The Collegia: Identity And Distinction Between Christians And Pagans In The Early Church

Jeremiah Mutie*

* Jeremiah Mutie is a professor of theology and church history at Southern California Seminary. He may be contacted at [email protected]. An earlier version of this article was presented at the Annual ETS Meeting at Fort Worth, Texas, on November 18, 2021.

Abstract: Students of early Christianity have debated the question of how Christians organized themselves in taking care of the poor who died, in comparison with their Greco-Roman cultural counterparts. The question has centered specifically on the place of the collegia in early Christianity. On the one hand, some argue that Christians formed their own collegia akin to Christian churches in order to skirt the pre-Constantinian legal status of the church. On the other hand, some hold that Christians could not participate in the secular setting of the collegia. This article argues that not only did early Christians participate in the collegia, but, significantly, this participation helped them prepare to deal with future plagues such as the one that took place between ca. 251 and 266. Additionally, while earlier scholarship on the issue tended to emphasize those associations that were mainly organized by official Roman law, later scholarship has recognized the more private ones as well.

Key words: collegia, funeraticia, sodalicia, ἑκκλησία, funerary, poor, societies, dead, burial, membership

The New Testament contains multiple references to the poor, including specific exhortations to Christians to take care of the poor among them. These include (but are not limited to) Matt 5:42; 19:21; 25:31–46; Luke 6:20–21; 12:33; 14:12–14; 21:1–4; Acts 20:35; 2 Cor 8:9; Eph 4:28; Phil 2:4; Jas 1:27 and 1 John 3:17. However, how the body of Christ would go about meeting these exhortations is not always clearly prescribed. Indeed, in scholarship, even the meaning of the term “poor” is contested.1 Even less prescribed is ...