For a long time, research on early Christianity was shaped by the assumption that the Roman Empire resembled a modern state based on the rule of law in many respects and that the first followers of the Jewish Messiah Jesus had no reason to fear persecution. Correspondingly high, it is claimed, was the opinion of the Roman Empire and its emperor held by, for example, the Apostle Paul when in Romans 13 he seems to call for submission to state authority and dutiful tax payment w

We are currently – once again – in a very intense phase of AI development, where it's difficult to keep a cool head. After the progress...