The first three centuries were the formative period of Christianity. The developments during this time led to the distinction of canonical and non-canonical writings, to organizational structures of the Christian church, and to the establishment of the Christian creed.
In The Reception of the Jesus in the First Three Centuries Chris Keith, Helen K. Bond, Christine Jacobi and Jens Schröter have collated a methodologically sophisticated resource. These volumes focus upon the diversity of reception of the Jesus tradition in this time period, highlighting the complex interactions between the inherited past and the present in which it is received. Rather than address texts specifically as canonical or non-canonical, the volumes show the more complex reality of attitudes towards and within early Christianity. Core literary texts such as Gospels and other early Christian writings are discussed in detail, but the volumes also highlight the importance of Jesus tradition in literary and non-literary contexts outside the gospel genre; including the Apostolic Fathers, patristic writers, traditions such as the Abgar Legend, and modifications to the gospel genre such as the Diatesseron. Evidence from material culture, such as pictographic representations of Jesus in the staurogram and Alexamenos Graffito, as well as visual presentations of gospel tradition in sarcophagi carvings, are also included in order to fully reflect the transmission and reception of the Jesus tradition.
Volume 1 provides an extensive introduction and, in 18 chapters, covers literary representations of Jesus in the first century, featuring gospel literature and other early Christian writings.
Methodologically the volumes draw on new approaches to history, memory, and tradition, to provide a cutting-edge approach that focuses upon reception-history rather than the putative actual past. This cutting-edge reference resource provides a fresh and comprehensive account of the complex development of early Christian thought about Jesus. It will fuel future discussions of early Christian history, the historical Jesus, the development of the New Testament canon, and non-canonical Jesus traditions for years to come.
Volume One: From Paul to Josephus: Literary Receptions of Jesus in the First Century CE
Introduction to Volume One - Helen K. Bond, University of Edinburgh, UK
Earliest Pauline Literature
1. Pauline Epistles - Christine Jacobi, Humboldt University, Berlin
Gospel Literature and Additions to Gospel Literature
2. Gospel of Mark - Sandra Huebenthal, University of Passau, Germany
3. Q - Alan Kirk, James Madison University, USA
4. Gospel of Matthew - Matthias Konradt, University of Heidelberg, Germany
5. Gospel of Luke - Michal Beth Dinkler, Yale Divinity School, USA
6. Gospel of John - Helen K. Bond, University of Edinburgh, UK
7. Longer Ending of Mark - Anne Moore, University of Calgary, Canada
8. Pericope Adulterae (John 7:53–8:11) - Chris Keith, St Mary’s University, UK
9. John 21 - Andrew T. Lincoln, University of Gloucestershire, UK
Other Literature of Early Followers of Jesus
10. Acts of the Apostles - Jens Schröter, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany
11. Hebrews - Harold W. Attridge, Yale Divinity School, US
12. James - Karl-Wilhelm Niebuhr, Friedrich-Schiller University, Jena, Germany
13. Petrine Epistles and Jude - Travis B. Williams, Tusculum University, USA
14. Johannine Epistles - Tom Thatcher, Cincinnati Christian University, USA
15. Revelation - Michelle Fletcher, King’s College London, UK
16. First Clement - Andrew Gregory, University of Oxford, UK
17. Didache - Joseph Verheyden, University of Leuven, Germany
Josephus
18. Testimonium Flavianum - Jan Willem van Henten, University of Amsterdam and Stellenbosch University, the Netherlands
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