Welcome to the August 2015 Newsletter. Since our last newsletter members have attended many wonderful events. On 20 April 2015, it was my honour and pleasure to give a talk on the topic: Christian Responses to Persecution in the Late Roman Empire.

At the end of April, SSEC held a “conference curtain raiser” with Professor Paul Trebilco (Otago) who is the SSEC Visiting Fellow for 2015. His topic was The Artemis Cult in Ephesus and the Johannine Letters. The evening was chaired by Professor James Harrison, (Sydney College of Divinity). This was followed on 2 May by the annual SSEC day conference, with the theme The Early Church: Cults and Controversies. We wish to sincerely thank all the wonderful speakers…