Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- A Topic With a Long History -- The Early Ministry and the Household: A House-Church Trajectory -- The Methodology -- The Strategy -- Notes -- Chapter One: The Household in the Ancient World -- The Traditional Graeco-Roman Household -- The Household and Mystery Religions and Foreign Cults, Philosophical Schools, Associations, and Jewish Synagogues -- Summary -- Notes -- Chapter Two: The Pauline Epistles -- Part One: The Genuine Pauline Epistles -- The Early Pauline Church as Sectarian -- The Household Context of the Christian Sect -- House-Church Leadership -- Part Two: The Pseudonymous Pauline Epistles -- Colossians and Ephesians -- The Pastoral Epistles -- Summary -- Notes -- Chapter Three: The Shepherd of Hermas -- Date -- Purpose of the Work -- Relation between the Church and the World -- Ethics and Separation from the World -- Notes -- Chapter Four: 1 Clement -- The Setting of the Corinthian Dispute -- 1 Clement and Sect Development -- Institutionalization -- Legitimation -- Notes -- Chapter Five: Ignatius -- The Social Setting of the Ignatian Epistles -- Charisma in the Ignatian Epistles -- Ignatius and Community-Protecting Charisma -- Legitimation -- Notes -- Chapter Six: Epilogue -- Notes -- Abbreviations -- Bibliography -- Edition of Primary Sources -- Secondary Sources.