Scholars have long debated the genre of the Gospels and many opinions have been put forward, such as biography, history, epic, or comedy. However, do the Gospels actually reflect these ancient genres? This book addresses this question and arrives at the conclusion that the Gospel of Mark was written as an ancient form of tragedy. Why would this matter to ancient or modern readers? Tragedy addresses the fundamental question of humanity's suffering and offers a philosophical perspective that...

Peter G Bolt. Editorial: Conversations about Ancient TextsAdam Z. Wright, The Historical Jesus and Mythology: An Evaluation of Mythicist ThoughtHans M. Moscicke, Jesus' Three-Day Journey in the Belly of the Sea Monster: Jonah Typologies and Traditions in Matthew's Passion NarrativeBart B. Bruehler, Jesus' Mission of Proclamation and The Problem of Popularity: A Pragmatic Dimension to the Secrecy Elements in the Gospel of MarkJohn A. Davies, The Markan Alphab...

Greco-Roman religions and superstitions, and early Christianity's engagement with them, are explored in 12 unique studies. The beliefs and fears with regard to demons (or daimons), their origins, and threatening behavior are examined, both in their pagan and Judaeo-Christian contexts. These new studies look at the Greco-Roman heroic gods, how they faced death, and how James and John, the “sons of Thunder,” may well have been viewed in some circles as the equivalent of the “sons of Zeus”, C...

In this New York Times–bestselling study, the co-author of Holy Blood, Holy Grail explores further mysteries surrounding Jesus Christ.What if everything we have been told about the origins of Christianity is a lie?What if a small group had always known the truth and had kept it hidden . . . until now?What if there is evidence that Jesus Christ survived the crucifixion?In Holy Blood, Holy Grail Michael Baigent and his c...

This volume addresses the most important issues related to the study of New Testament writings. Two respected senior scholars have brought together a team of distinguished specialists to introduce the Jewish, Hellenistic, and Roman backgrounds necessary for understanding the New Testament and the early church. Contributors include renowned scholars such as Lynn H. Cohick, David A. deSilva, James D. G. Dunn, and Ben Witherington III. The book includes seventy-five photographs, fifteen maps,...

Solid scriptural and archaeological evidence refutes the traditional interpretation used to bar women from leadership.

In the ancient Greco-Roman world, it was common practice to curse or bind an enemy or rival by writing an incantation on a tablet and dedicating it to a god or spirit. These curses or binding spells, commonly called defixiones were intended to bring other people under the power and control of those who commissioned them. More than a thousand such texts, written between the 5th Century B.C.E. and the 5th Century C.E., have been discovered from North Africa to England, and from Syri...

The History of the Jews in the Greco-Roman World examines Judaism in Palestine throughout the Hellenistic period, from Alexander the Great's conquest in 334BC to its capture by the Arabs in AD 636. Under the Greek, Roman and finally Christian supremacy which Hellenism brought, Judaism developed far beyond its biblical origins into a form which was to influence European history from the Middle Ages to the present day. The book focuses particularly on the social, economic and religi...

Whether pagan, Jewish, or Christian, religion was an integral part of the lives of women in the Greco-Roman world. Yet studies of the ancient Mediterranean world have focused almost exclusively on the religious beliefs and practices of men. In Her Share of the Blessings, Ross Shepard Kraemer provides the first comprehensive look at women's religions in Greco-Roman antiquity. She vividly recreates the religious lives of early Christian, Jewish, and pagan women, with many fascinatin...

Jesus Christ is arguably the most famous man who ever lived. His image adorns countless churches, icons, and paintings. He is the subject of millions of statues, sculptures, devotional objects and works of art. Everyone can conjure an image of Jesus: usually as a handsome, white man with flowing locks and pristine linen robes.But what did Jesus really look like? Is our popular image of Jesus overly westernized and untrue to historical reality?This question continues to fasc...

This volume completes the three-volume collection of Fergus Millar’s essays, which, together with his books, transformed the study of the Roman Empire by shifting the focus of inquiry onto the broader Mediterranean world and beyond. The eighteen essays presented here include Millar’s classic contributions to our understanding of the impact of Rome on the peoples, cultures, and religions of the eastern Mediterranean, and the extent to which Graeco-Roman culture acted as a vehicle for the se...

Highly respected New Testament scholar Craig Keener is known for his meticulous and comprehensive research. This commentary on Acts, his magnum opus, may be the largest and most thoroughly documented Acts commentary available. Useful not only for the study of Acts but also early Christianity, this work sets Acts in its first-century context.In this volume, the third of four, Keener continues his detailed exegesis of Acts, utilizing an unparalleled range of ancient sources and offer...