Religious Studies 135: Christian Origins Selected Bibliography (R.A.Kraft, J.C.Treat) The problem is not in finding books in this area, but in finding suitable books. Many books on the New Testament and Early Christianity are useless for historical study. Some of the following works are in the Religious Studies Seminar in the Van Pelt Library. 1. Basic Research Tools 1.1. English Translations of the New Testament There are numerous translations, by individuals (e.g. Goodspeed, Phillips) or committees. In general, it is recommended that persons who must work from translations consult at least two significantly different translations for key passages (in research papers, etc.). Some of the most widely used are: AV = Authorized Version, also known as KJV = King James Version (1611) RV = Revised (Authorized) Version (1881), which also appeared in an American Standard Version (= ASV, 1901) RSV = Revised Standard Version (1946ff) NRSV = New Revised Standard Version (1989) NAB = New American Bible NEB = New English Bible NIV = New International Version Annotated translations, for purposes of study, also abound: May, Herbert G. and Bruce M. Metzger, ed. The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha, Revised Standard Version. New York: Oxford, 1973. This study bible is a good standard. It is now also available with the NRSV translation. 1.2. Concordance to the English New Testament To do first-hand research one needs either the bible on computer (e.g. at the CCAT Gopher site, through the instructor's homepage) or a concordance. The following concordances are most useful: Ellison, John W. Nelson's Complete Concordance of the Revised Standard Version Bible. New York: Nelson, 1957. [Reference] Strong, J. Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. Nashville: Abingdon, 1890; Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1977. Indexes the King James Version (AV). Wigram, George V. Englishman's Greek Concordance of the New Testament. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1970 (reprint). Organized according to the Greek words (with AV translations), with useful English to Greek and Greek to English lists (with page numbers). Young, Robert. Analytical Concordance to the Holy Bible. 1879; 8th ed., thoroughly revised. Guildford and London: United Society for Christian Literature, 1939. [Reference] This indexes the King James Version, and gives the Greek or Hebrew word behind each English word. 1.3. Reference Encyclopedias, Bible Dictionaries See the reference section in the Library. Among the best and most recent encyclopedic references are the Anchor Bible Dictionary (ABD in 6 volumes; 1992), Harper's Bible Dictionary (one volume; 1985), Encyclopedia Judaica (1971) and The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible (1963) with its excellent 1976 Supplementary Volume. 1.4. Commentaries As a general rule, one should not begin research from a commentary, but should use commentaries (if at all) to supplement what has already been learned through reading the text and using other research tools. There are numerous commentaries of varying quality. Many are of little value for historical research. The following commentary series are relatively recent and adequate: Harper's (One Volume), Interpreter's Bible, Anchor Bible, and Hermeneia. 1.5. Atlases Aharoni, Y. The Land of the Bible: A Historical Geography. Trans. A. F. Rainey. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1967. May, H. (revised by John Day). The Oxford Bible Atlas. New York: Oxford University Press, 1984 (third edition). Pritchard, James B. The Harper Atlas of the Bible. New York: Harper and Row, 1987. Wright, George Ernest and Floyd V. Filson. The Westminster Historical Atlas to the Bible. rev. ed. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1956. 2. The Environment of Early Christianity 2.1. General Barrett, C. K. ed. The New Testament Background: Selected Documents. London: S.P.C.K., 1956; reprint, New York: Harper & Row, 1961; revised edition 1987). Cartlidge, David R. and David L. Dungan, Documents for the Study of the Gospels. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1980. Kee, Howard Clark, ed. The Origins of Christianity: Sources and Documents. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1973. 2.2. Hellenistic and Roman Grant, F. C. Roman Hellenism and the New Testament. Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd, 1962. Grant, F. C. Hellenistic Religions. The Age of Syncretism. New York: Liberal Arts Press, 1953. Nock, A. D. Conversion: The Old and New in Religion from Alexander the Great to Augustine of Hippo. New York: Oxford University Press, 1933. Rice, David G. and John E. Stambaugh. Sources for the Study of Greek Religion. Missoula, Montana: Scholars Press, 1979. Tarn, William W. and G. T. Griffith. Hellenistic Civilization. 3rd ed. rev. London: E. Arnold, 1927, 1959. 2.3. Jewish [see also Religious Studies 525 (Kraft)] Charlesworth, James H., ed. The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha. 2 vols. Garden City: Doubleday, 1983 Gowan, D. Bridge Between the Testaments: A Reappraisal of Judaism from the Exile to the Birth of Christianity. Pittsburgh: Pickwick Press, 1976. Moore, George Foot Judaism in the First Three Centuries of the Christian Era: the Age of the Tannaim. Three volumes. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1927-1939; two volumes reprinted, New York: Schocken Books, 1971. Classic treatment of early Rabbinic Judaism, from a liberal Protestant point of view. Nickelsburg, George W. E. Jewish LIterature Between the Bible and the Mishnah. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1981. Ringgren, Helmer. The Faith of Qumran: Theology of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Trans. Emilie T. Sander. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1963. Russell, David Syme. The Method and Message of Jewish Apocalyptic: 200 BC-AD 100. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1964. Schu%rer, Emil. A History of the Jewish People in the Time of Jesus. New York: Schocken Books, 1961 (reprint). Simon, Marcel Jewish Sects at the Time of Jesus. Trans. James H. Farley. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1967. Excellent introduction and survey. Sparks, H. F. D. The Apocryphal Old Testament. Oxford: Clarendon, 1984. Stern, M. and S. Safrai, ed. The Jewish People in the First Century: Historical Geography, Political History, Social, Cultural and Religious Life and Institutions. 2 vols. Assen: Van Gorcum, 1974, 1976. Stone, Michael Jewish Writings of the Second Temple Period: Apocrypha, Pseudepigrapha, Qumran, Sectarian Writing, Philo, Josephus. Assen: Van Gorcum, and Philadelphia: Fortress, 1984. Stone, Michael Scriptures, Sects and Visions: A Profile of Judaism from Ezra to the Jewish Revolts. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1980. Tcherikover, V. Hellenistic Civilization and the Jews. Trans. S. Applebaum. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America, 1959. VanderKam, James The Dead Sea Scrolls Today. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1994. See further RelSt 225 (Kraft). Vermes, G. The Dead Sea Scrolls in English. Baltimore: Penguin, 1962, 1965 (updated 4th edition 1995). For further biblography on Dead Sea Scrolls, see Religious Studies 225 (Kraft). 3. General Treatment of the New Testament and Christian Origins 3.1. Primarily Oriented toward General Historical Synthesis Danie/lou, Jean and Henri Marrou. The Christian Centuries. Volume I: The First Six Hundred Years. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1964. Ehrman, Bart D. The New Testament: a Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings. New York: Oxford, 1997. Eusebius Pamphili. The Ecclesiastical History. Trans. Kirsopp Lake and others. The Loeb Classical Library. 2 vols. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1926, 1932. [231C F268 EU.ED and Religious Studies Seminar PA 3612 E85 1926 v.1, c.3] Eusebius's Church History provides much of the primary material. It is available in several translations, including the following. Eusebius Pamphili. The History of the Church. Trans. G. A. Williamson. Baltimore: Penguin, 1965. [BR 160ES E6]. Frend, W. H. C. The Rise of Christianity. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1984. Lebreton, J. and J. Zeiller. The History of the Early Church. 4 vols. Trans. Ernest C. Messenger. New York: Macmillan, 1944-1947; repr. New York: Collier, 1962. Lietzmann, Hans. A History of the Early Church. Trans. B. L. Woolf. Cleveland: World, 1937-8, revised 1953. Volume I, The Beginnings of the Christian Church. Volume II, The Founding of the Church Universal. 3.2. Primarily Oriented toward Sociological Perspectives Gager, John. Kingdom and Community: The Social World of Early Christianity. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1975. Meeks, Wayne A. The First Urban Christians: The Social World of the Apostle Paul. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1983. Theissen, Gerd. The Social Setting of Pauline Christianity: Essays on Corinth. Trans. John H. Schu%tz. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1982. Theissen, Gerd. Sociology of Early Palestinian Christianity. Trans. J. Bowden. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1977. 3.3. Primarily Oriented toward Survey of Early Christian Literature Dibelius, Martin. A Fresh Approach to the New Testament and Early Christian Literature. London: I. Nicholson & Watson, 1936. Enslin, Morton S. Christian Beginnings. New York and London, Harper & Brothers, 1938. Fully competent and delightfully written. Feine, Paul, Johannes Behm, and Werner Georg Ku%mmel. Introduction to the New Testament. Trans. A. J. Mattill, Jr. 14th rev. ed. Nashville: Abingdon, 1966. Goodspeed, Edgar J. History of Early Christian Literature. Rev. & enl. by Robert M. Grant. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1966. Kee, Howard Clark. Understanding the New Testament. 4th ed. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1983. This is a standard introductory textbook, newly revised. Very helpful. Koester, Helmut. Introduction to the New Testament. Volume One: History, Culture, and Religion of the Hellenistic Age. Volume Two: History and Literature of Early Christianity. Philadelphia: Fortress; New York: Walter de Gruyter; 1982. This a recent, comprehensive, and excellent introduction. McNeile, A. H. An Introduction to the Study of the New Testament. 2nd ed. Rev. by C. S. C. Williams. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1953. Perrin, Norman. The New Testament: An Introduction. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1974. Quasten, Johannes. Patrology. Volume One: The Beginnings of Patristic Literature. Utrecht: Spectrum, 1950. Spivey, Robert A. and D. Moody Smith, Jr. Anatomy of the New Testament: A Guide to its Structures and Meaning. New York: Macmillan, 1969. Tyson, Joseph B. The New Testament and Early Christianity. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1984. Wikenhauser, A. New Testament Introduction. Trans. J. Cunningham. New York: Herder and Herder, 1958. 3.4. Primarily Oriented towards Early Christian Thought Bultmann, Rudolf. Theology of the New Testament. 2 vols. Trans. Kendrick Grobel. New York: Scribner's, 1951, 1955. Excellent modern, existentially-oriented approach. Danie/lou, J. The Theology of Jewish Christianity. Trans. John A. Baker. London: Darton, Longman, & Todd, 1964. A French Roman Catholic survey of early Christian thought against its Jewish background. Danie/lou, J. The Gospel Message and Hellenistic Culture. Trans. John A. Baker. London: Darton, Longman, & Todd, 1964. Henry, Patrick, New Directions in New Testament Study. 1st ed. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1979. Moule, C. F. D. The Birth of the New Testament. 3rd ed. New York: Harper & Row, 1962. 4. Jesus and the Traditions about Him [see also Religious Studies 435 (Kraft)] Anderson, Hugh, ed. Jesus. Great Lives Observed. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Printice-Hall, 1967. Selections from representative scholars of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Beare, F. W. The Earliest Records of Jesus. New York: Abingdon, 1962. Bornkamm, Gu%nther. Jesus of Nazareth. Trans. Irene and Fraser McLuskey and James M. Robinson. New York: Harper & Row, 1960. Readable up-to-date treatment by an exponent of the new quest for the historical Jesus. Bultmann, Rudolf. Jesus and the Word. Trans. Louise Pettibone Smith and Erminie Huntress Lantero. Students' ed. New York: Scribner, 1934, 1958. Form-critical classic. Bruce, F. F. Jesus and Christian Origins Outside the New Testament. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1974. Jeremias, Joachim. New Testament Theology: The Proclamation of Jesus. Trans. John Bowden. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1971. Kee, Howard Clark. Jesus in History: An Approach to the Study of the Gospels. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1970. Klausner, Joseph. Jesus of Nazareth: His Life, Times, and Teaching. Trans. Herbert Danby. New York: Macmillan, 1925. A well-known Jewish treatment. Pagels, Elaine The Gnostic Gospels. 1st ed. New York: Random House, 1979. Perrin, Norman. Rediscovering the Teaching of Jesus. New York: Harper & Row, 1976. Reumann, J. Jesus in the Church's Gospels: Modern Scholarship and the Earliest Sources. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1968. Robinson, James M. A New Quest of the Historical Jesus and Other Essays. 1st ed. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1983. Sandmel, Samuel. We Jews and Jesus. New York: Oxford University Press, 1965. Written for fellow Jews by a scholar of first-century Judaism and Christianity. Schweitzer, Albert. The Quest of the Historical Jesus: A Critical Study of its Progress from Reimarus to Wrede. Trans. W. Montgomery. New York: Macmillan, 1948. The classic examination of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century scholarly interpretations. Schweizer, Eduard. Jesus. Trans. David Green. Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1971. Smith, Morton. Jesus the Magician. 1st ed. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1978. Throckmorton, Burton H., Jr., ed. Gospel Parallels: A Synopsis of the First Three Gospels. 4th ed. New York: Nelson, 1979. 5. Paul [see also Religious Studies 436 (Kraft)] Barrett, C. K. From First Adam to Last: A Study in Pauline Theology. New York: Scribner, 1962. Bornkamm, Gu%nther. Paul: Paulus. 1st U.S. ed. New York: Harper & Row, 1971. Good survey of the issues. Davies, W. D. Paul and Rabbinic Judaism: Some Rabbinic Elements in Pauline Theology. New York: Harper & Row Torchbooks, 1967. Deissmann, G. Adolf. Paul: A Study in Social and Religious History. Trans. William B. Wilson. New York, Harper, 1957. Dibelius, Martin and W. G. Ku%mmel. Paul. Trans. Frank Clarke. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1953. Ellis, E. E. Paul and His Recent Interpreters. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1961. Enslin, M. S. Reapproaching Paul. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1972. Basic introduction. Fitzmyer, Joseph A. Pauline Theology: A Brief Sketch. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1967. Very useful. Furnish, Victor P. Theology and Ethics in Paul. Nashville: Abingdon, 1968. Holmberg, B. Paul and Power: The Structure of Authority in the Primitive Church as Reflected in the Pauline Epistles. Lund: Liber Laromedel/Gleerup, 1978. Meeks, Wayne, ed. The Writings of St. Paul: A Norton Critical Edition. New York: W. W. Norton, 1972. Good collection. Munck, Johannes. Paul and the Salvation of Mankind. Trans. Frank Clarke. Richmond: John Knox Press, 1959. Nock, A. D. St. Paul. New York and London: Harper & Brothers, 1938. Pagels, Elaine. The Gnostic Paul: Gnostic Exegesis of the Pauline Letters. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1975. Rubenstein, R. My Brother Paul. New York: Harper & Row, 1972. Sanders, E. P. Paul and Palestinian Judaism: A Comparison of Patterns of Religion. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1977. Extensive discussion of Paul in his Jewish setting. Sandmel, Samuel. The Genius of Paul: A Study in History. New intro. by the author. New York: Schocken Books, 1958, 1970. Schoeps, Hans Joachim. Paul: The Theology of the Apostle in the Light of Jewish Religious History. Trans. Harold Knight. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1961. Extensive treatment. Schweitzer, Albert. The Mysticism of Paul the Apostle. Trans. William Montgomery. New York: Macmillan, 1931. Schweitzer, Albert. Paul and His Interpreters: A Critical History. Trans. William Montgomery. New York: Macmillan, 1912, 1951. Stendahl, Krister. Paul Among Jews and Gentiles: And Other Essays. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1975. [available at Temple, not yet in Van Pelt] Important essays on how to read Paul without filtering him through Augustine. 6. "New Testament Apocrypha" [see also Religious Studies 535 (Kraft)] Elliott, J.K. The Apocryphal New Testament. Oxford: Clarendon, 199?. Hennecke, Edgar and Wilhelm Schneemelcher, ed. New Testament Apocrypha. 2 vols. Trans. R. McL. Wilson. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1963, 1965. James, M. R. The Apocryphal New Testament being the Apocryphal Gospels, Acts, Epistles, and Apocalypses with Other Narratives and Fragments Newly Translated. Oxford: Clarendon, 1924; repr. 1953 with appendixes by J. W. B. Barns. [BS 2832 J3 1953 and 225.7V EJ] Cameron, Ron. The Other Gospels. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1982. Crossan, John Dominic. Four Other Gospels: Shadows on the Contours of Canon. Minneapolis: Winston Press, 1985. 7. Apostolic Fathers [see also Religious Studies 535 (Kraft)] Grant, Robert M., ed. The Apostolic Fathers: A New Translation and Commentary. 6 vols. New York: Nelson, 1964-1968. Richardson, Cyril C., ed. Early Christian Fathers. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1970. Roberts, Alexander, James Donaldson, and A. C. Coxe, ed. The Ante-Nicene Fathers: Translations of the Writings of the Fathers down to A.D. 325. Vol. 1. The Apostolic Fathers--Justin Martyr--Iranĉus. Edinburgh: 1885; reprint, Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1953. [Religious Studies Seminar] Also available in electronic form (WWW and CD-ROM). 8. Apologists and Heresiologists [see also Religious Studies 535 (Kraft)] Translations of the various writings can be found conveniently in The Ante-Nicene Fathers series. See especially Justin Martyr, Tatian, Theophilus, Irenaeus, Tertullian. Bauer, Walter. Orthodoxy and Heresy in Earliest Christianity. English edition edited by G. Krodel and R. A. Kraft. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1971. A highly stimulating study. Grant, Robert M. Second Century Christianity: A Collection of Fragments. London: S.P.C.K., 1946. Stevenson, J., ed. A New Eusebius: Documents Illustrative of the History of the Church to A.D. 337. London: SPCK, 1957. [246.1D ST49 and BR 160 A2 N49 1983] Revised ed 198?. 9. Gnostic Literature and Thought [see also Religious Studies 535 (Kraft)] Robinson, James M. The Nag Hammadi Library: In English. New York: Harper & Row, 1977. Jonas, Hans. The Gnostic Religion: The Message of the Alien God and the Beginnings of Christianity. Boston: Beacon Press, 1958. Doresse, Jean. The Secret Books of the Egyptian Gnostics: An Introduction to the Gnostic Coptic Manuscripts Discovered at Chenoboskion. New York: Viking Press, 1960. Foerster, W. Gnosis: A Selection of Gnostic Texts. Trans. R. McL. Wilson. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972-1974. Grant, Robert M. Gnosticism: A Source Book of Heretical Writings from the Early Christian Period. New York: AMS Press, 1961. Logan, A. H. B. and A. J. M. Wedderburn, ed. The New Testament and Gnosis: Essays in Honour of Robert McL. Wilson. Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1983. Wilson, R. McL. The Gnostic Problem. New York: AMS Press, 1958, 1980. 10. Additional Bibliography For additional bibliography, consult the textbooks and the bibliographical notes in many of the works above, especially the encyclopedias and Koester's Introduction. Also consult: Scholer, David M. A Basic Bibliographic Guide for New Testament Exegesis. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1973. //end; needs further updating 9-97//