Name: DAVI TAYLOR POMPERMAYER
Publication date: 25/07/2025
Examining board:
Name |
Role |
|---|---|
| ERICA CRISTHYANE MORAIS DA SILVA | Examinador Interno |
| GILVAN VENTURA DA SILVA | Presidente |
| ROBERTA ALEXANDRINA DA SILVA | Examinador Externo |
Summary: In this dissertation, we intend to address the missionary activity of the self-proclaimed apostle Paul of Tarsus, as founder and instructor of the first Christian communities in the cities of the East where he passed. Although his intention was to spread the Good News, it is important to recognize that the Roman cities visited by Paul were marked by diverse religious experiences and power struggles between the groups established there. Therefore, the focus of our study was to analyze the way in which Paul presents himself, infiltrates and develops his evangelistic tactics with the aim of giving greater visibility to the Christian faith among Jews and Gentiles in the Eastern cities he visited. In this study, we start from the assumption that the ancient city was a field of conflict between old and new groups, and it was within this contentious environment that Paul developed his mission. Thus, our investigative work is based on two hypotheses: the first is that, under the Principate, the cities were the place where the main political, administrative and cultural activities took place. The second is that the Greco-Roman city was marked by remarkable religious diversity, expressed in a multiplicity of pagan cults and rites, as well as by the presence of long-established Jewish communities in urban areas. The empirical basis of this work is constituted by the Acts of the Apostles and the following Pauline epistles: 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Philemon, 1 Thessalonians, Galatians and Romans. As for the theoretical framework, we followed the guidelines of Urban History, as well as employing the concepts of "city" by Assunção Barros (2007); "representation" by Roger Chartier (1990); "identity" by Tomaz Tadeu da Silva (2004); "conflict" by Pasquino (1988); and "tactics" by Michel de Certeau (1990).
