Sacra Scriptura: How "Non-Canonical" Texts Functioned in Early Judaism and Early Christianity

Many of the writings deemed 'apocryphal' and 'pseudepigraphical'were in circulation in the early centuries of Judaism and Christianity. Their influences and impacts on the development of early communities, and the development of Jewish and Christian thoughts, have not yet been sufficiently examined. While this judgment is especially true for the so-called Christian Apocrypha, it also applies for other writings that were not included in the Jewish and Christian Bibles and nor in other sacred collections of Scripture,like Rabbinics and Patristics.

Most of these ancient writings functioned, to some degree, as sacred texts or scripture-sacra scriptura-in the communities in which they were produced and in others to which they circulated.This volume focuses on how some of these forgotten voices were heard within numerous early religious communities, helping to remove the distressing silence in many areas of the ancient world.

James H. Charlesworth is George L. Collord Professor of New Testament Language and Literature and Director and Editor of the Dead Sea Scrolls Project at Princeton Theological Seminary, USA.