Theissen discusses the development of early Christianity in its social context. Theissen describes how early Christianity was a movement dominated by wandering charismatics, whose mission was largely concentrated on the rural area of Palestine, and how, with Paul's mission, it entered a new phase which would ultimately qualify it to become the religion of the Empire. He suggests that Paul resolved conflicts within the community at Corinth through a form of 'love-patriarchalism': a hierarchical pattern of social relation was softened by his emphasis on the unity of all in the body of Christianity.