The Early Christian Mind

How did the literary cultures of early Christianity emerge from, transform, and preserve the world of classical antiquity? This volume explores the remarkable creativity with which late antique and early Byzantine Christians engaged both their literary inheritance and their religious past. Moving across the eastern Mediterranean and beyond, it examines a multilingual Christian world in which Greek functioned not simply as a literary language but as a marker of education, identity, and cultural authority. Throughout, the volume challenges sharp divisions between classical and Christian, canonical and apocryphal, and ancient and medieval literature. The chapters explore language, narrative, biblical interpretation, pilgrimage, apocrypha, and historiography from early Christianity through Byzantium. They trace the adaptation of classical literary forms in Christian narrative; the transformation of scripture through poetic paraphrase and interpretation; and the relationship between sacred texts and the landscapes encountered by pilgrims. Particular attention is given to Christian apocrypha and to the ways stories about Jesus, Mary, and the apostles were rewritten, transmitted, and incorporated into later Christian memory. Together, these studies reveal a literary culture characterized not by the passive preservation of an authoritative past, but by its continual reinterpretation. Bringing literary history into conversation with the study of language, religion, and cultural memory, this volume will be of particular interest to scholars and students of Late Antiquity, early Christianity, Byzantine studies, Classics, and the history of Christianity. It will also appeal to readers interested in the transmission and transformation of texts across languages, cultures, and historical periods