Craig A. Evans

David L. Petersen

Joel N. Lohr

Drawing on the latest in Genesis scholarship, this volume offers twenty-nine essays on a wide range of topics related to Genesis, written by leading experts in the field. Topics include its formation, reception, textual history and translation, themes, theologies, and place within Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Composition, Reception, and Interpretation

The Book of Genesis

the archaeological evidence

Jesus and his world

Nicholas Thomas Wright

What do history and archaeology have to say about Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection? In this superb general-reader book, two of the world's most celebrated writers on the historical Jesus share their greatest findings. Together, Craig A. Evans and N. T. Wright concisely and compellingly convey the drama and the world-shattering significance of Jesus' final days on earth. Certain to be a best seller during the Lent/Easter season and beyond!

What Really Happened

Jesus, the Final Days

Jesus and the Manuscripts, by popular author and Bible scholar Craig A. Evans, introduces readers to the diversity and complexity of the ancient literature that records the words and deeds of Jesus. This diverse literature includes the familiar Gospels of the New Testament, the much less familiar literature of the Rabbis and of the Qur’an, and the extracanonical narratives and brief snippets of material found in fragments and inscriptions. This book critically analyzes important texts and quotations in their original languages and engages the current scholarly discussion. Evans argues that the Gospel of Thomas is not early or independent of the New Testament Gospels but that it should be dated to the late second century. He also argues that Secret Mark, like the recently published Gospel of Jesus’ Wife, is probably a modern forgery. Of special interest is the question of how long the autographs of New Testament writings remained in circulation. Evans argues that the evidence suggests that most of these autographs remained available for copying and study for more than one hundred years and thus stabilized the text. Key points and features: Written by popular author and Bible scholar Craig A. Evans Includes 20+ pages of high-quality color photos Walks readers through the various works of ancient literature, both biblical and non-biblical, that mention Jesus Critically analyzes important texts and quotations in their original languages and engages the current scholarly discussion

What We Can Learn from the Oldest Texts

Jesus and the Manuscripts

This volume assembles several important studies that examine the role of language in meaning and interpretation. The various contributions investigate interpretation in the versions, in intertestamental traditions, in the New Testament, and in the rabbis and the targumim. The authors, who include well-known veterans as well as younger scholars, explore the differing ways in which the language of Scripture stimulates the understanding of the sacred text in late antiquity and gives rise to important theological themes. This book is a significant resource for any scholar interested in the interpretation of Scripture in and just after the biblical period.

Studies in Language and Tradition

The Interpretation of Scripture in Early Judaism and Christianity

Jeremiah J. Johnston

Scribes and Their Remains begins with an introductory essay by Stanley Porter which addresses the principal theme of the book: the text as artifact. The rest of the volume is then split into two major sections. In the first, five studies appear on the theme of 'Scribes, Letters, and Literacy.' In the first of these Craig A. Evans offers a lengthy piece that argues that the archaeological, artifactual, and historical evidence suggests that New Testament autographs and first copies may well have remained in circulation for one century or more, having the effect of stabilizing the text. Other pieces in the section address literacy, orality and paleography of early Christian papyri. In the second section there are five pieces on 'Writing, Reading, and Abbreviating Christian Scripture.' These range across numerous topics, including an examination of the stauros (cross) as a nomen sacrum.

Scribes and Their Remains

James A. Sanders

The studies that make up this book explore in what ways Israel's sacred tradition developed into canonical scripture and in what ways this sacred tradition was interpreted in early Judaism and Christianity. This collection will stimulate continuing investigation into the growth and interpretation of scripture in the context of the Jewish and Christian communities of faith, and will serve well as a reader for graduate courses with its focus on early exegesis and intertextuality.

The Function of Scripture in Early Jewish and Christian Tradition

Stanley E. Porter

The Sheffield Reader series collects the best articles on a specific topic from the Journal for the Study of the New Testament. The range of each volume reflects the breadth of the journal itself. Hence the reader will find groundbreaking studies that introduce new critical questions and move into fresh areas of enquiry, surveys of the state of play in a particular topic, and articles that engage with each other in specific debates. For undergraduates these books offer an invaluable critical introduction to a particular subject. More advanced students and scholars can use the volumes to find background material for their own area of interest, or to gain an overview of the research in an area outside their speciality.

A Sheffield Reader

New Testament Text and Language

H. Daniel Zacharias

This collection of essays focuses on the function of Scripture in the New Testament Gospels and the letters of the apostle Paul.

Volume 1: The Synoptic Gospels

'What Does the Scripture Say?' Studies in the Function of Scripture in Early Judaism and Christianit

Why are scholars so prone to fabricate a new Jesus? Why is the public so eager to accept such claims without question? What methods and assumptions predispose scholars to distort the record? Is there a more sober approach to finding the real Jesus? Craig Evans offers a sane approach to examining the sources for understanding the historical Jesus.

How Modern Scholars Distort the Gospels

Fabricating Jesus

Talmon

This collection of studies is in honor of Professor James A. Sanders, a leading scholar in the fields of canon of Scripture, textual criticism, and intertextuality. Contributors include leading scholars in these and related fields of study.

Studies in Biblical Intertextuality in Honor of James A. Sanders

The Quest for Context and Meaning

Including a range of materials dating from the nineteenth century to the present, this comprehensive collection brings together the essential research into the historical reality of Jesus the man, his teachings, and the acts and events ascribed to him that comprise the foundational story of one of the world's central religions. br br The set features a substantial new introduction by the editor in the first volume and a full index in the last, and provides work covering all of the key aspects of the field, including the recent discussions concerning anti-Semitism in early Christianity, and the political and ideological filtering of the Jesus story through the Roman empire and beyond.

The Historical Jesus

Bruce D. Chilton

The Missions of James, Peter, and Paul comprises studies that investigate in what ways the missions of the three most important interpreters of Jesus agreed or differed in matters of ideology, theology, and practice. Of great importance is the question of how closely aligned these figures were to the Jewish matrix out of which their faith and theology emerged. These studies investigate every aspect of this difficult and complex question, including aspects of archaeology, literary sources, and social context.

Tensions in Early Christianity

The Missions of James, Peter, and Paul

Collects entries tracing the study of the life of Jesus Christ discussing topics that include authenticating historical records, examination of the sources, and the events in the life of Jesus.

Encyclopedia of the Historical Jesus

This Encyclopedia brings together the vast array of historical research into the reality of the man, the teachings, the acts, and the events ascribed to him that have served as the foundational story of one of the world's central religions. This kind of historiography is not biography. The historical study of the Jesus stories and the transmission of these stories through time have been of seminal importance to historians of religion. Critical historical examination has provided a way for scholars of Christianity for centuries to analyze the roots of legend and religion in a way that allows scholars an escape from the confines of dogma, belief, and theological interpretation. In recent years, historical Jesus studies have opened up important discussions concerning anti-Semitism and early Christianity and the political and ideological filtering of the Jesus story of early Christianity through the Roman empire and beyond. Entries will cover the classical studies that initiated the new historiography, the theoretical discussions about authenticating the historical record, the examination of sources that have led to the western understanding of Jesus' teachings and disseminated myth of the events concerning Jesus' birth and death. Subject areas include: the history of the historical study of the New Testament: major contributors and their works theoretical issues and concepts methodologies and criteria historical genres and rhetorical styles in the story of Jesus historical and rhetorical context of martyrdom and messianism historical teachings of Jesus teachings within historical context of ethics titles of Jesus historical events in the life of Jesus historical figures in the life of Jesus historical use of Biblical figures referenced in the Gospels places and regions institutions the history of the New Testament within the culture, politics, and law of the Roman Empire.

The Routledge Encyclopedia of the Historical Jesus

Examines the environment of the New Testament in an attempt to analyze the scriptures more accurately and apply the correct interpretation.

Matthew-Luke

The Bible Knowledge Background Commentary

John J. Collins

Lee Martin McDonald

Ancient Jewish and Christian Scriptures examines the writings included in and excluded from the Jewish and Christian canons of Scripture and explores the social settings in which some of this literature was viewed as authoritative and some was viewed either as uninspired or as heretical. John J. Collins, Craig A. Evans, and Lee Martin McDonald examine how those noncanonical writings demonstrate the historical, literary, and religious aspects of the culture that gave rise to the writings. They also show how literature excluded from the Jewish and Christian canons of Scripture remains valuable today for understanding the questions and conflicts that early Jewish and Christian faith communities faced. Through this discussion, contemporary readers acquire a broader understanding of biblical Scripture and of Jewish and Christian faith inspired by Scripture.

New Developments in Canon Controversy

Ancient Jewish and Christian Scriptures

The Understanding the Bible Commentary Series helps readers navigate the strange and sometimes intimidating literary terrain of the Bible. These accessible volumes break down the barriers between the ancient and modern worlds so that the power and meaning of the biblical texts become transparent to contemporary readers. The contributors tackle the task of interpretation using the full range of critical methodologies and practices, yet they do so as people of faith who hold the text in the highest regard. Pastors, teachers, and lay people alike will cherish the truth found in this commentary series.

Luke (Understanding the Bible Commentary Series)

Craig A Evans helps all readers, expert and layperson alike to understand the importance this recent find might have for the quest for the historical Jesus and any historical reconstruction of early Christianity. Evans does this by providing an overview of the most important archaeological discoveries, before examining nine other inscriptions (six on ossuaries, three on stone slabs) that pertain in one way or another to the historical Jesus. He then surveys the arguments for and against the authenticity and identification of the recently discovered James Ossuary. Evans concludes his volume with a measured consideration of the historical value of the archaeological data afforded by the several inscriptions.

Craig A. Evans

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