Documents for the Study of the Gospels

This is a collection of newly translated texts showing the variety of the religious world at the time that Christianity emerged as a powerful new force. This book brings For the first time under a single cover documents from Jewish, Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Syrian, and little known early Christian sources. There are three main parts plus the introduction by the authros, "Savior Gods in the Mediterranean World. Part I, the Christian Savior contains the Coptic Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Phillip, the Acts of Thomas, the Gospel of Peter, the Infancy Gospel of Thomas among others. Part II, Greek, Jewish, Adn Roman parallesl Illustrating the Milieu of the Gospels" is an extensive collections of excerpts from other period literature. Part III, Greek and Jewish Gospels, contains abridged texts often cited as close parallels from non-Christian literature of the period: Life of Appolonius, Philo's Life of Moses and others. The books if intended for undergraduate and seminary study and is recommended for the adult reader as well.

This collection of freshly translated texts leads to a new appreciation of the richness and variety of the religious world within which Christianity emerged as a powerful new force.