In this pathbreaking study of the rise and shape of the earliest churches in Rome, Lampe integrates history, archaeology, theology, and social analysis. He also takes a close look at inscriptional evidence to complement the reading of the great literary texts: from Paul's Letter to the Romans to the writings of Clement of Rome, Justin Martyr, Montanus, and Valentinus. Thoroughly reworked and updated by the author for this English-language edition, this study is a groundbreaking work, broad in scope and closely detailed. Lampe deals with the shape of leadership and the Christians' relation to...

No book in the Western world has evoked more diverse interpretations than the Bible. One reason for this multiplicity of interpretation is the vast historical gap lying between the writing of the Scriptures and our own time. Can ordinary persons today really make sense of this body of ancient literature?
In Making Sense of the Bible Marshall Johnson gives readers the tools needed to better understand Scripture by teaching them to recognize and handle the diverse kinds of literature that make up the Bible. Focusing on the eight major literary forms in the Bible -- wisdom literature,...

Johnson takes a unique approach to church history. He examines twelve crises that motivated the evolution of Christianity. In his survey of Church history, he chronicles the story from the first century and the "birth and adolescence" of Christianity to postmodernism, a feat which no other introduction can claim. His chapters examine the basic conflicts that gave permanent shape to Christian theology, and, to a lesser degree, church institutions.