Set readings for my essay (only read if it interests you).
Patterns of Authority In Early Christian Communities.
Compare and contrast the various patterns of authority in (a) the Pauline churches of the "congregational letters", (b) the "Pastoral Letters" (1 & 2 Timothy and Titus), (c) the Didache and (d) the seven genuine letters of Ignatius.
Feel free to suggest modifications. In the meantime here are places to start your reading:
Paul's "congregational letters":
J.D.G. Dunn, Jesus and the Spirit, London, 1975, sections 47-49.
- "The Responsible Congregation (1 Corinthians 14:26-40)", (in Charisma und Agape (1 Ko. 10-14), ed. L. De Lorenzi (Rome, 1983), 201-236, now reprinted in The Christ and the Spirit, vol. 2, Pneumatology (Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 1998), 260-290: attached as a PDF)
B. Holmberg, Paul and Power: the structure of authority in the primitive church as reflected in the Pauline Epistles, Philadelphia, 1980
W.A. Meeks, The First Urban Christians, New Haven, 1983 (2nd edition 2003), chs. 3-5.
R.J. Banks, Paul's Idea of Community, Sydney, 1979 (revised edition, 1994),
M. MacDonald, The Pauline Churches: a socio-historical study of institutionalization in the Pauline and Deutero-Pauline writings, Cambridge, 1988
The "Pastoral Letters"
M. MacDonald, above.
Commentaries on the three letters
M. Harding, "The Pastoral Epistles", in M. Harding & A. Nobbs, eds., All Things to All Cultures: Paul among Jews, Greeks, and Romans, Grand Rapids, 2013.
J.D.G. Dunn, Unity and Diversity in the New Testament, 3rd ed., 2006, sections 29-30.
D. Horrell, "Leadership Patterns and the Development of Ideology in Early Christianity", Sociology of Religion 58.4, 1997, 323-341.
The Didache:
See the bibliography in the main Unit Booklet, p. 59, esp.
J.A. Draper, “The Apostolic Fathers: the Didache”, Exp.T. 117.5, 2006, 177-181.
J.A. Draper, “Torah and Troublesome Apostles in the Didache Community”, Nov.T. 33.4, 1991, 347ff.,
A. Milavec, “Distinguishing True and False Prophets: The Protective Wisdom of the Didache,” J.E.C.S. 2, 1994, 117-136,
J.A. Draper, “Weber, Theissen, and ‘Wandering Charismatics’ in the Didache”, J.E.C.S. 6.4, 1998, 541-576
Ignatius of Antioch:
See the bibliography in the main Unit Booklet, p. 55, esp.
P. Foster, “The Epistles of Ignatius of Antioch (Part 1)”, Exp.T. 117.12, 2006, 487-495, and “The Epistles of Ignatius of Antioch (Part 2)”, Exp.T. 118.1, 2006, 2-11.
H.O. Maier, “The Charismatic Authority of Ignatius of Antioch: a sociological analysis”, S.R. 18.2, 1989, 185-199
A. Pettersen, “The Laity – Bishop’s Pawn?”, S.J.Th. 44, 1991, 39-56,
H.O. Maier, The Social Setting of the Ministry as reflected in the writings of Hermas, Clement, and Ignatius, Ontario, Toronto, 1991,
A. Brent, “The Ignatian Epistles and the Threefold Ecclesiatical Order”, Journal of Religious History 17.1, 1992, 18-32
I'm only half way through the readings (SO I've got to get down to some hard reading), and some of the books are out on loan at MU Library, so I've got to run around other libraries. So I'd better not even visit here for a week.