Beyond the Essene Hypothesis: The Parting of the Ways between Qumran and Enochic Judaism9 reviews Gabriele Boccaccini Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1998 At last something new and meaningful about the Essene + the myth buster + Qure for your Qumran Questions + paradigmatic work on enochian judaism + Plausible yet simple, believable             The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings33 reviews Bart D. Ehrman Oxford University Press, USA, 2007 Great for open-minded readers + The New Testament + Qualified Very Good My professor had us buy this book for a NT class. I must say, the required readings were interesting and I enjoyed Ehrmans' non-biased views. I would highly recommend this book for any professor looking for a new textbook.             Who Wrote the New Testament?: The Making of the Christian Myth57 reviews Burton L. Mack HarperOne, 1996 No Free Pass + The Making of the Christian Myth + Who Wrote the New Testament?: The Making of the Christian Myth Prologue (1-18): Myths are generated by the needs of a people, connecting their culture with its universal truths - a process that reconfigures the "worldview" in which one lives. All cultures have developed myths, consisting of their histories, their heroes, and their religions. Because of the ...             The Christian Myth: Origins, Logic, and Legacy8 reviews Burton L. Mack Continuum, 2003 An oasis of reason in an ocean of ignorance + Debunking the New Testament with a difference + Please follow this book up with "Deconstructing Jesus" by Robert M. Price + Created in Man's Image + Interesting and Thoughtful, Except for the Left Turn             The Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls: Their Significance For Understanding the Bible, Judaism, Jesus, and ...9 reviews James Vanderkam, Peter Flint HarperOne, 2004 An introduction that does a great job + Exceptional Textbook + A very good intro to the DSS + Historical Relevance !             When Jesus Became God: The Struggle to Define Christianity during the Last Days of Rome83 reviews Richard E. Rubenstein Harvest Books, 2000 See how these Christians Love One Another (NOT!!!) + From Pain Comes Understanding + Clarity + A must read for all who desire to Understand             The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture: The Effect of Early Christological Controversies on the Text of the New ...28 reviews Bart D. Ehrman Oxford University Press, USA, 1996 Just give me the facts please. + Raw research for experts on the shaping of scripture Looking at bilblical history somewhat forensically is a refreshing way to examine the Bible. Cultural, social, and political, in other words, human perspective lead to an evolving understanding of religion, in general, not just Christianity.             The Great High Priest: The Temple Roots of Christian Liturgy5 reviews Margaret Barker T& T Clark, 2003 A Better Understanding of Christianity + Amazing !! + An essential read for those interested in 1st century Christianity + Good Reference + What is old is new again             The Lost Prophet: The Book of Enoch and Its influence on Christianity1 review Margaret Barker Sheffield Phoenix Press Ltd, 2005 Will be reprinted soon For all those people searching for this book, it is being republished, April 2005, by Sheffield-Phoenix Press. Look for ISBN 1 90504 8181 . I am sure Amazon.com will carry it when it is out.             The Atonement: The Origins of the Doctrine in the New Testament1 review Martin Hengel Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2007 Brilliant. But of course it's brilliant if it's by Hengel In case you're wondering who Martin Hengel is: he's the Emeritus Professor of New Testament and Early Judaism at the University of Tubingen, Germany. Oh yes. And he's the most widely respected biblical scholar in the world. He is so justly famous that every scrap he produces is translated ...             Story of Christian Origins2 reviews Martin A. Larson J.J. Binns, 1977 Excellent Book, but why no longer available from publisher?? + The Big Picture of Faith in Our Time and Times Before This book was hard to put down, with well-researched, relevant, interesting information. The book was so good, in fact, that I wanted to own my own copy. It is also cited in other similar studies, so why is it no longer available from the publisher? When a publisher sells out of a title, don't ...             The Christology of Early Jewish Christianity2 reviews Richard N. Longenecker Regent College Publishing, 1994 Outstanding Scholarship + The Centrality of the Resurrection I thoroughly agree with the previous reviewer. The author extrapolates information from the earliest Christian sources we already have to give us a clear picture of how Jesus' earliest Jewish followers interpreted his identity and his mission with the conclusion that this was passed on to them by ...             Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew103 reviews Bart D. Ehrman Oxford University Press, USA, 2005 Gripping reading + Good enough for its target audience + New Theories re: old ideas Ehrman surprisingly manages to introduce a sensitive topic in a largely unbiased way without being offensive to the sensibilities of most Christians today. This is a very difficult accomplishment where many other authors failed before. I really appreciated his exposition, and actually learned ...             The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Jewish Origins of Christianity6 reviews Carsten Peter Thiede Palgrave Macmillan, 2001 A Case For The Septuagint + Thiede Supports the Ancient Tradition of the Church of Alexandria on Mark's Gospel + Maturing Dead Sea Scholarship + Helpful for Laypeople             The Older Testament: The Survival of Themes from the Ancient Royal Cult in Sectarian Judaism and Early ...3 reviews Margaret Barker Sheffield Phoenix Press Ltd, 2005 An Important Contribution + Barker's new book- + For those waiting I'm pleased to see this remarkable book back in print. As Barker explains in her introduction, "What I have done is to select from a wide range of material sufficient to formulate a theory which brings together many problems in this field and presents them as different aspects of a fundamental ...             Nazarene Jewish Christianity4 reviews Ray Pritz The Hebrew University Magnes Press, 1992 Messianic Judaism in the Early Centuries + The Definitive Source of the Real Apostolic Church + A "what if" that was. + Should be frontpage news             From Jesus to Christianity: How Four Generations of Visionaries & Storytellers Created the New Testament and ...16 reviews L. Michael White HarperOne, 2005 A Profound Book on Early Christianity + From Jesus to Christianity: How Four Generations of Visionaries & Storytellers Created the New Testament and Christian Faith + Great Basic Reference + An excellent scholarly work + Well written survey of Christian origins from a liberal perspective             Jewish Christianity Reconsidered: Rethinking Ancient Groups and Texts1 review Augsburg Fortress Publishers, 2007 Uneven but Helpful It is encouraging to note that the study of early Jewish Christianity has experienced something of a revival in recent years, after decades of serious neglect. The neglect can most likely be traced to the influence of such scholars as Adolph Harnack and Rudolph Bultmann who saw Jewish Christianity ...             The Early Versions of the New Testament: Their Origin, Transmission, and Limitations2 reviews Bruce M. Metzger Oxford University Press, USA, 1977 Still the best book on this branch of Textual Criticism + Still the best book on this branch of Textual Criticism It is hard to imagine a more accessible and thorough coverage of the history of the versions (ancient translations) of the NT. Metzger not only gives great nutshell histories of the versions, but even nutshell summaries of the grammar, vocabulary and style of each of the ancient languages of ...             Secret Origins of the Bible24 reviews Tim Callahan Millennium Press, 2002 Excellen read + Bring Back this Book! + An inconvinient book for christianity! This book is great if you have questions about the orgins of the bible and how it was put together. It was well written and I was able to get through it in 3 days. Aftr a day of thinking about it I decided to go through it again and I am still gaining insight to the bible.