Over the last hundred years there has been a great deal of interest in the nature of religious diversity in the Graeco-Roman World and a variety of scholars have attempted to untangle the complexities of reliogious interaction and conflict. For students of this period there is a need for an introduction to this vast field of scholarship. This book makes a comprehensive survey of this field of enquiry.
The first three chapters deal with Judaism: Palestinian Judaism, Diaspora Judaism and Essenes. Philip Esler's account of Palestinian Judaism draws particular attention to the...
Over the last hundred years there has been a great deal of interest in the nature of religious diversity in the Graeco-Roman World and a variety of sc...
Freed's highly accessible introduction, directed at students and interested non-specialists as well as scholars, explains and examines these well-known stories from a critical perspective. "Critical" is taken in the sense of judging among alternative answers to problems that arise from such study and arguing for the preferred solution. The aim of this book is to draw the reader to the gospel accounts for the purpose of evoking critical thought rather than to persuade of a particular interpretation. In pursuit of this goal, the author shows how many diverse factors, including earlier...
Freed's highly accessible introduction, directed at students and interested non-specialists as well as scholars, explains and examines these well-know...
This work provides a survey of the history of the earliest Christian church in the period up to the fall of Jerusalem. It concentrates on: the figure of Paul; judicious and critical use of information in the Book of Acts; Judaizing versions of Christianity; and the Johannine tradition. The approach steers a middle way between an over-simplified account which fails to warn students where scholarly opinion is divided, and an in-depth academic study which attempts to document and discuss every hypothesis. Wedderburn focuses on aspects of central importance: the changing shape of church life and...
This work provides a survey of the history of the earliest Christian church in the period up to the fall of Jerusalem. It concentrates on: the figure ...
Jennifer Dines provides an introductory survey of current scholarship on the Greek Bible - the Septuagint. She outlines its origins in the third to first centuries BCE, going on to trace its subsequent history to the fifth century CE. The Septuagint's relationship with the standard Hebrew text and its translational characteristics are examined, as is its value as a collection with its own literary and exegetical character. The Septuagint is shown to be an important source for biblical studies (both Old and New Testament), to make a distinctive contribution to the history of biblical...
Jennifer Dines provides an introductory survey of current scholarship on the Greek Bible - the Septuagint. She outlines its origins in the third to fi...
This book is a short introduction to the Old Testament for undergraduates, students on diocesan ministry courses, study groups and the general reader. James Atwell explains the main ideas to be found in the Old Testament in their own context, interpreting them in the light of the religion and culture of the Ancient Near East from which they emerged. One of the aspects in this world of ideas, which he draws out, and which is of particular contemporary interest, is the significance of creation and the Creator. It was this same interest that formed the broad horizon of biblical theology,...
This book is a short introduction to the Old Testament for undergraduates, students on diocesan ministry courses, study groups and the general read...
For centuries Christians have referred to the New Testament for guidance on moral conduct. But did the writers of the New Testament themselves agree on such questions as divorce, political obedience, wealth and the toleration of other religions? And have their often inconsistent views any relevance today? In Ethics and the New Testament, the author applies strict critical standards to the Gospels, epistles and other writings, which he examines in historical perspective. His explanation of contemporary attitudes--including gnosticism--helps to clarify the striking moral differences between...
For centuries Christians have referred to the New Testament for guidance on moral conduct. But did the writers of the New Testament themselves agre...
This book is a readable and analytical survey of those important but little-known Christian documents of the second and third centuries which are collectively referred to as the New Testament Apocrypha, and is intended to serve both as an introductory guide for interested clergy and laity, but also as a useful reference for those pursuing higher research. Questions of the manufacture of the codices, the transmission of the texts, the discovery of the lost and hidden books, and of the classification of the documents are considered, and the books are placed and critically examined in their...
This book is a readable and analytical survey of those important but little-known Christian documents of the second and third centuries which are coll...
Jonathan Knight takes a radically apocalyptic view of Jesus, arguing that he journeyed to Jerusalem with resolute eschatological purpose and endowed his circle of friends with the same secrecy that befits an apocalyptic movement. The book begins by considering the substantial twentieth-century debate about Jesus and moves from there to fit the words and works of Jesus in context.
Jonathan Knight takes a radically apocalyptic view of Jesus, arguing that he journeyed to Jerusalem with resolute eschatological purpose and endowe...
Jesus never wrote a book. Most scholars assume that information about Jesus was preserved only orally up until the writing of the Gospels, allowing ample time for the stories of Jesus to grow and diversify. Alan Millard here argues that written reports about Jesus could have been made during his lifetime and that some among his audiences and followers may very well have kept notes, first-hand documents that the Evangelists could weave into their narratives.
Jesus never wrote a book. Most scholars assume that information about Jesus was preserved only orally up until the writing of the Gospels, allowing...
