Katherine A. Shaner is Assistant Professor of New Testament at Wake Forest University School of Divinity. She teaches courses across the New Testament and early Christian history that explore the theological, social, political, and ethical implications of biblical interpretation for contemporary communities.

"This book will be of interest to readers drawn to the social world of early Christianity and should be acquired by all seminary libraries." -- John K. Goodrich, Moody Bible Institute, Religious Studies Review

"In taking seriously the need to root Christianity in its Graeco-Roman setting, it takes its place among the best work being produced in early Christian history. Shaner successfully reveals the oft-neglected importance of the enslaved in Graeco-Roman imperial religion, and introduces fresh nuance, ambiguity, and discomfort into some of the most discussed texts in history." -- James Corke-Webster, Greece & Rome

"Katherine Shaner is to be thanked for an engaging study that will generate much scholarly discussion. The book is carefully written, methodologically sophisticated, archaeologically founded, historically complexifying (if I might be allowed to coin such a phrase), and hermeneutically suspicious enough to yield important contributions to our understanding of enslaved persons within imperial Greek cities and among Christ-groups." -- Ralph J. Korner, Taylor Seminary, Review of Biblical Literature

"a groundbreaking contribution to the study of slavery in early Christianity." -- Mary Ann Beavis, Catholic Biblical Quarterly

"The importance of Shaner's topic can hardly be overestimated and Shaner's reluctance to accept entrenched views and interpretations regarding enslaved individuals in early Christianity is well placed, as is her keenness to avoid the language of slavery." --Ulrike Roth, Bryn Mawr Classical Review

"Enslaved Leadership in Early Christianity is a most welcome contribution to a recent effort to see anew the ancient world by focusing on its enslaved inhabitants Shaner insists that we take seriously the presence of enslaved persons in almost every facet of ancient life. Her analysis repopulates our imaginations with their contributions, their influence, their movements, and their expertise-all of which existed alongside their subordination and the use of their bodies by others. Enslaved Leadership in Early Christianity contributes to a richer, messier, fuller depiction of the inhabitants of the Roman world."--Caroline Johnson Hodge, Reading Religion

"Shaner's work has great significance for present-day American church leaders, first because she describes the historical context of the early churches as a time when slaves were present and active everywhere. Second, by analyzing the New Testament texts alongside other evidence, she arrives at a more complex representation of the power dynamics between the enslaved and those who thought of themselves as their masters. Her conclusions challenge not only traditional interpretations of troubling texts, but also debates about leadership, author-ity, and power within contemporary Christian communities." -- Annette Bourland Huizenga, Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology