Translation of: Luchas de poder en los or�igenes de Cristianismo.

Includes bibliography and indexes.

Foreword by Juan Jose Tamayo -- Preface to the English edition -- Introduction -- The rich and the struggles for power in the Christian community -- Rich women and the struggles for power -- The text: 1 Timothy 2: 8; 3:1a -- Against expensive clothing -- An attack against wealthy women -- The system of patronage -- The wealthy should not expect to be rewarded for their favors -- The text: 1 Timothy 6:17-19 -- Associations and the christian community in 1 Timothy -- Godliness is not a means of gain -- The text: 1 Timothy 6:3-10 -- Money, godliness and other teachings? -- The wealthy, godliness and the struggle for power -- The patriarchal household and power relations between genders -- The cultural background of the imperial patriarchal Roman society -- The family in the time of the empire -- The domestic codes -- The houses where families lived -- The cultural values of honor and shame -- The patriarchal household as an ideal for the concept of family -- Against women who teach and have authority over men -- The text: 1 Timothy 2: 8-12 -- The salvation of women through childbearing -- The text: 1 Timothy 2: 13-3:1a -- The option for poor but obedient widows -- The text: 1 Timothy 5:3-16 -- Widows in antiquity -- An order of widows -- Rules for donations for the widows and for the order of widows -- Theological positions and the struggles for power -- The diversity of theological positions in the midst of the struggles for power -- The shaping of society by the Roman empire -- The theological response of the letter to the internal and external conflicts -- God and Jesus Christ are the Saviors -- Godliness as a condition for salvation -- The church leaders as the guarantee of the knowledge of the truth for salvation -- An opening that excludes and an option for the poor conditioned on obedience -- Between intolerance and useless divergences -- Criteria for leadership and the struggles for power -- Leadership positions in the beginnings of the Christian communities -- The supervisor, the college of presbyters, and the struggles for power -- Requirements to be a supervisor: who are excluded? -- The text: 1 Timothy 3:1-7 -- Requirements to be deacons and deaconesses : who are excluded? -- The text: 1 Timothy 3:8-12 -- The socio-economic structure of the Roman Empire -- Acts of Paul and Thecla -- Plurality in early Christianity -- The first letter of Paul to Timothy (complete text).