NT4, NT Backgrounds

This is a Ph.D. elective class.

Class Projects

The following three sites are class projects from previous classes.

• Doctrines of the Dead Sea Scrolls (Gary Gromacki)
• The Apocrypha (Wayne Slusser) (alt direct link to his Apocrypha material)
• Apoclyptic Literature (Roger DePriest)

Preliminary, Select Bibliography

Aune, The New Testament in Its Literary Environment. Library of Early Christianity, 8. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1987.

Baeck, L. The Pharisees and Other Essays. 2d ed. New York: Schocken, 1966.

Barrett, C. K. The New Testament Background: Selected Documents. 2d ed. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1987.

Cartlidge, David R. and David L. Dungan. Documents for the Study of the Gospels. 2d ed. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1994. [DSG]

Charlesworth, James H., ed. Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls. Anchor Bible Reference Library. New York: Doubleday, 1992.

Cohen, Shaye J. D. From the Maccabees to the Mishna. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1987.

Conzelmann, Hans. Heiden-Juden-Christen: Auseinandersetzungen in der Literatur der hellenistisch-romischen Zeit. Tubingen: Mohr, 1981. ET: Gentiles-Jews-Christians: Polemics and Apologetics in the Greco-Roman Era. Translated by M. Boring. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1992.

Evans, Craig. Ancient Texts for New Testament Studies. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2005. (Formerly: Noncanonical Writings and NT Interpretation. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1992.

Evans, Craig A. and Stanley E. Porter, eds. Dictionary of New Testament Background. Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2000.

Ferguson, Everett. Backgrounds of Early Christianity. 2d ed. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1993.

Gamble, Harry Y. Books and Readers in the Early Church. New Haven: Yale Univ. Press, 1995.

Garison, Roman. The Graeco-Roman Context of the Early Christian Literature. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1997.

Grant, Robert M. Gods and the One God. Library of Early Christianity, 1. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1986.

Hatina, Thomas R. "Jewish Religious Backgrounds of the New Testament: Pharisees and Sadducees as Case Studies." In Approaches to New Testament Study, ed. E. E. Porter and David Tombs, 46-76. Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement Series, 120. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1995.

Helyer, Larry R. Exploring Jewish Literature of the Second Temple Period: A Guide for New Testament Students. Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2002.

Hengel, M. Die Zeloten: Untersuchungen zur Judischen Freiheitsbewegung in der Zeit von Herod I. bis 70 n. Chr. 2d ed. Leiden: Brill, 1976. ET: The Zealots: Investigations into the Jewish Freedom Movement in the Period from Herod I until 70 A.D. Translated by D. Smith. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1989.

Hirschfeld, Yizhar. Qumran in Context: Reassessing the Archaeological Evidence. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2004.

Holtz, Barry W., ed. Back to the Sources: Reading the Classic Jewish Texts. New York: Simon & Schuster/Summit Books, 1984.

Horsley, R. A. with J. S. Hanson. Bandits, Prophets, and Messiahs: Popular Movements at the Time of Jesus. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1985.

Jeffers, James S. The Greco-Roman World of the New Testament Era: Exploring the Background of Early Christianity. Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 1999.

Jeremias, J. Jerusalem zur Seit Jesu. Gottingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1962. ET: Jerusalem in the Time of Jesus: An Investigation into Economic and Social Conditions during the New Testament Period. Translated by F. Cave and C. Cave. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1969.

Jobes, Karen H. and Mois? Silva. Invitation to the Septuagint. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2000.

Magness, Jodi. The Archaeology of Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002.

Meeks, The Moral World of the First Christians. Library of Early Christianity, 6. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1986.

Millard, Alan. Reading and Writing in the Time of Jesus. New York Univ. Press, 2000.

Neusner, J. Judaism in the Beginning of Christianity. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1984.

Neusner, J., P. Borgen, E. S. Frerichs, and R. Horsley, eds. The Social World of Formative Christianity and Judaism. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1988.

Saldarini, A. J. Pharisees, Scribes and Sadducees in Palestinian Society: A Sociological Approach. Wilmington, DE: Michael Glazier, 1988.

Sanders, E. P. Judaism: Practice and Belief 63 B.C.E.-66 C.E. Philadelphia: Trinity, 1992.

Schurer, Emil. Geschichte des judischen Volkes im Zeitaler Jesus Christi. 2 vols. 4th ed. Leipzig, 1907-11. ET: The History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ. Transl. & ed. G. Vermes, F. Millar, M. Goodman, and M. Black. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1973-87.

Sherwin-White, A. N. Roman Society and Roman Law in the NT. Oxford, 1963. Reprint, Grand Rapids: Baker, 1984.

Stambaugh, John E. and David L. Balch. The New Testament in Its Social Environment. Library of Early Christianity 2. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1986.

Stone, Michael E. Jewish Writings of the Second Temple Period: Apocrypha, Pseudepigrapha, Qumran Sectarian Writings. Vol. 2 of Compendia Rerum Iudaicarum ad Novum Testamentum, section 2, The Literature of the Jewish People in the Period of the Second Temple and the Talmud. Assen: Van Gorcum/Philadelphia: Fortress, 1984.

Theissen, Gerd. Sociology of Early Palestinian Christianity. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1978.

This page last edited 02/19/07 .