Citifying Jesus

Religion and urban life are the most successful strategies of handling, enhancing, and capitalizing on human sociability. By integrating religious studies, archaeology, and spatial theory, Emiliano Rubens Urciuoli aims to re-describe the formation of Christ religion as urban religion. Spanning almost four centuries of Christian literature from Paul to Augustine, the author shows that several characteristics commonly attributed to Christ religion are, in fact, outcomes of the distinct ways in which religious agents enact urbanity and interact with the urban space. The study brings the urbanity of religious agents into focus, shedding light on significant elements of religious transformation, innovation, institutionalization, empowerment, and resistance to power. Simultaneously, it explores the key urban features that shaped the emergence and development of Christ religion.

Born 1983; PhD in History and Theology from the University of Turin and Geneva; PhD in Science of Culture at the Fondazione Collegio San Carlo di Modena; 2015-22 associate researcher at the Max Weber Center for Advanced Cultural and Social Studies in Erfurt; Senior Assistant Professor in the History of Religions at the Department of History, Cultures, and Civilizations at the University of Bologna.