"A very interesting study of the public life of early Christians." — Catholic Biblical Quarterly
"A major sociological-theological study of early Christian activism." — Choice
"Winter has provided a notable service to historians of earliest Christianity by collecting a wide variety of Greco-Roman evidence relating to civic activity…. The straightforward manner in which Winter makes his case should stimulate fruitful debate on this important topic." — Journal of Biblical Literature
"This important book breaks new ground and repeatedly drives the reader back to the NT text." — Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
"A stimulating study, raising interesting issues." — Journal of Theological Studies
"This notable work represents a great deal of research into the manner Christians behaved in their civil relationships and public life…. An excellent work, well deserving a place in the church library." — Librarian's World (Evangelical Church Library Association)
"The sheet wealth of information and its synthesis places this firmly as a valuable work of (fascinating) social history and minimises the risk of imposing an arbitrary sociological model on the early church." — Reformed Theological Review
"A thorough, professional, stimulating compendium of the social history of the "apostolic" period of the church." — Stimulus (New Zealand)
"This excellent work studies pertinent texts from Paul's writings and 1 Peter in the light of Greco-Roman traditions about good citizenship." — The Bible Today
"Careful and well-documented discussion of public life in the first century….
This is a useful book, since the author has absorbed a good deal of literature on euergetism in the Greco-Roman world and has used it to illuminate the Christian conception of altruism in the civic sphere." — The Journal of Religion
"Winter's knowledge of the classical world and his expertise in handling Graeco-Roman literature, papyri and inscriptions are highly impressive….
A significant contribution to the ongoing discussion of the place of first-century Christians in their social environment…. A helpful corrective to the view that early Christian communities maintained a low profile and withdrew from wider social involvement. There is a great deal to be learnt from this book. I warmly recommend it not merely to those interested in the social world of the NT, but to anyone concerned with NT social ethics in general." — Themelios
