Die Entwicklung von Ämtern und Abhängigkeitsstrukturen im Frühchristentum

Abstract

This Working Paper provides a window on Christian Hornung’s current research as part of the Cluster of Excellence “Dependency and Slavery Studies.” His research focuses on the history of early Christian offices and institutions in the third century AD in terms of structures of asymmetrical dependency. Representative texts and authors to be analysed are the so-called Syriac Didascalia and Cyprian of Carthage. This selection of texts offers insights into the origins and theological rationales of the ecclesiastical dependency structures that developed with the emergence of different offices and lifestyles. Central to the analysis are not so much the practical aspects of how ecclesiastical offices developed, but rather processes of legitimation and derivation. The Working Paper concludes by pointing to further fields of research and current research gaps.