Requiring Apologia? Merchants and Artisans in Acts of the Apostles

Christian merchants, artisans, and service providers were explicitly targeted by early critics of the movement, who felt, in line with contemporary prejudices, that such people were dirty, ignorant, and prone to the vices of greed and deceit. Detractors hoped to attack Christianity on two intersecting fronts: that the faith was morally bankrupt and that its faithful were the lowest members of society. Apologists of the 2nd and 3rd centuries denied that Christianity welcomed these workers, emphasizing the virtue of their brothers and sisters. Yet this rejection of commercial and artisanal workers runs counter to the attitudes displayed in the New Testament, especially the letters of Paul and Acts of the Apostles, which largely embraces working people as foundational supporters of the early Jesus movement. This article examines why and how attitudes toward commercial and artisanal workers changed so that a faith that once welcomed professionals later denied them.