The Dragon Stalks the Butterfly: The Intriguing Crises Within the NT Christian Churches of Judea Revealed in the Pages of Galatians, James, Jude and Hebrews

This book was the culmination of several years spent teaching New Testament (Nt) Greek on the epistles of Galatians, James, Jude, and Hebrews. It was discovered early in Pauline studies that Paul addressed the encroachment of 'Judaizers' as they added two tenets of Judaism to the requirements of salvation: circumcision and following the Mosaic law. Paul's letter was the earliest of the four written around 48 Ad. James also wrote to the same group in 52 Ad, learning about bursts of rage and conduct issues unbecoming to Christians. Jude, James's brother, also wrote a short letter to them (64 Ad), concentrating on even more serious issues in their lovefeasts. The last letter to the Hebrews (fall, 68 Ad) also addressed church tendencies of lifting Moses above Christ, angel worship, and immaturity, warning Judean Christians of apostasy by treating Christianity as a mere religion, as the Jews had done over many centuries before with Judaism.

The background of this book-and a commentary also written by Mr. Rouse entitled Paul, the Passionate Scholar-was developed over a fiftyyear period of research, teaching, and exploring the archeological remains of Rome and Greece. The research had begun after graduating from Bob Jones University in 1964, where Mr. Rouse majored in history and Greek with a minor in English. The extensive research concentrated on coursework at UCLA in preparation for two major visits to Italy and Greece.

In the mid 1980s he was admitted as a visiting scholar at the British Museum, where he conducted extensive research on Roman artifacts and took hundreds of photographs in the backrooms of the Museum.

In the last ten years, Mr. Rouse has designed and taught a new course on New Testament Greek, designed for lay students who are interested in the depth of the Greek meanings.