>
>Yes, in this context I did mean "very early" church (and had meant to
>follow Ste Croix in saying so). The immediate issue was whether Kautsky's
>point (via Joanna) was correct: that the asceticism of Christianity was a
>reaction to the "extreme overindulgence" of the (core) Roman culture.
>
There is no reason why asceticism had to have one cause. If I remember right, Kautsky focuses on why members of the ruling class were attracted to Xtianity, and one of the reasons was its asceticism, which provided an alternative to the excesses of the Roman masters. In the context of those excesses, it is actually reasonable to suppose that an ascetic creed might promise more real sensual satisfaction than a vomitorium.
It is important to understand this because it explains some of the current attraction of islamic cultural practices.
Joanna