The Reception of Jesus in the First Three Centuries: Volume 2: From Thomas to Tertullian: Christian Literary Receptions of Jesus in the Second and Third Centuries CE

Chris Keith

ISBN 10: 0567716880 / ISBN 13: 9780567716880

Published by Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, 2025

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Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Reception of Jesus in the First Three Centuries: Volume 2: From Thomas to Tertullian: Christian Literary Receptions of Jesus in the Second and Third Centuries CE
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
• Publication Date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0567716880
• ISBN 13: 9780567716880
• Binding: Paperback / softback
• Condition: New
• Weight: 1200 grams

About this title

Synopsis

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 2 examines all the literary texts from the second and third centuries, across 40 chapters, examining gospels and gospel-like as well as other texts.

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.

About the Authors

Chris Keith is Research Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society, Norway. He is the author of The Pericope Adulterae, the Gospel of John and the Literacy of Jesus, a winner of the 2010 John Templeton Award for Theological Promise, and Jesus' Literacy: Scribal Culture and the Teacher from Galilee. He is also the co-editor of Jesus among Friends and Enemies: A Historical and Literary Introduction to Jesus in the Gospels, and was recently named a 2012 Society of Biblical Literature Regional Scholar.

Helen K. Bond is Professor of Christian Origins and Head of the School of Divinity at the University of Edinburgh. Her research focuses on the social and political history of Judaea under Roman rule, the historical Jesus, and the canonical gospels. She is the author of Pontius Pilate in History and Interpretation (1998), Caiaphas: High Priest and Friend of Rome? (2004), The Historical Jesus: A Guide for the Perplexed (2012), Jesus: A Very Brief History (2017), The First Biography of Jesus: Genre and Meaning in Mark's Gospel (2020), and a number of shorter studies and articles.

Jens Schröter is Professor of Theory and Practice of Multimedia Systems in the Department of Media Studies, University of Siegen, Germany, and is also the co-editor, with Stefan Rieger, of Das holographische Wissen, Berlin (2009).