Theology: New Testament and Related Literature: Ancient and Apocryphal Sources

This book reconstructs first-century Galilee from archaeological surveys, excavations, and artifacts, and provides descriptions of the material remains relevant to historical Jesus research and New Testament studies. Drawing on his years of field experience in Galilee, Reed illustrates how the archaeological record has been misused by New Testament scholars, and how synthesis of the material culture is foundational for understanding Christian origins in Galilee and the Jewish culture out of which they arose.Part One shows how settlement patterns and artifacts from Galilee point to close ties between Judean and Galilean Jews at the time of Jesus, and how Herod Antipas' urbanization projects at Sepphoris and Tiberias commercialized and aggravated peasant life in agrarian Galilean society. Part Two focuses on the archaeology of two Galilean sites and their import for historical Jesus research: Sepphoris, Antipas' capital and the largest city in Galilee just north of Nazareth, and Capernaum, Jesus' base of operations on the periphery of Antipas' power. Part Three concludes with studies illustrating the necessity of considering the specifically Galilean local conditions when interpreting New Testament texts.Jonathan L. Reed is Professor of New Testament and Christian Origins at the University of La Verne, California. He is the Field Director at the Sepphoris Acropolis Excavations and is co-author of Excavating Jesus: Beneath the Stones, Behind the Texts.

Did Jesus actually exist? Much has been written recently on this subject, including numerous books examining the New Testament record of Jesus' life. Now Robert Van Voorst presents and critiques the ancient evidence outside the New Testament--the Roman, Jewish, pre-New Testament, and post-New Testament writings that mention Jesus. This fascinating study of the early Christian and non-Christian record includes fresh translations of all the relevant texts. Van Voorst shows how and to what extent these ancient writings can be used to help reconstruct the historical Jesus.

Jesus' birth in a cave, his childhood, escapades, his secret sayings, and his descent to the underworld; the torments in Hell; Saint Paul baptizing a lion; the death of Pontius Pilate and Saint Peter being crucified upside down. These are among the fascinating stories found in this presentselection. They all come from early Christian legends which did not get into the Bible, yet have had a profound influence on art, literature, and theology from the second century through the Middle Ages and even modern times. Some of the stories included here, especially those involoving theVirgin Mary, have affected matters of doctrine; others have influenced the church's teaching on the after life - whilst from the apocryphal Acts there are some of the best examples of accounts of the lives of Christianity's earliest saints. In this book Dr Elliott provides introductions to each ofthe most important and significant of these remarkable and often bizarre apocryphal texts.

Examines the possibility that Jesus' words and actions were committed to writing during his lifetime and what this would mean for the study of Christianity and the origins of the Gospels.