His works focus on the
social history of early Christianity (groundbreaking studies on, for example, early Christianity in Rome in the 1st/2nd centuries, and on Paul's correspondence with Philemon; his work also contributed decisively to the paradigm shift toward a more contextual reading of the
Letter to the Romans); on the
Hellenistic background of early Christianity; on
Pauline studies (including
rhetorical studies); on early Christian
archaeology and
epigraphy; as well as on methodological and hermeneutical questions. He pioneered applying
constructivist categories to New Testament exegesis and hermeneutics. Furthermore, he was one of the first to explore the potential of
psychological interpretation in his field. From 2001 to 2008, he directed annual archaeological campaigns in
Phrygia, Turkey. During these interdisciplinary campaigns, together with William Tabbernee of Tulsa, numerous unknown ancient settlements were discovered and archaeologically documented. Two of them are the best candidates in the search for the identification of the two holy centers of ancient
Montanism,
Pepouza and
Tymion. Historians such as W. Weiss, T. Gnoli, S. Destephen, M. Ritter, C.M. Robeck, T.D. Barnes, M. Mazza, and the renown classical historian and epigrapher Stephen Mitchell (2023) affirm that Lampe and his team can “claim credit for identifying the location of the Montanist centres Pepuza and Tymion". Scholars had searched for these lost sites since the 19th century. The Montanist patriarch resided at Pepouza, and the Montanists expected the
heavenly Jerusalem to descend to earth at
Pepouza and
Tymion. In late antiquity, both places attracted crowds of pilgrims from all over the Roman Empire. ==Books==