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 3 examines visual, liturgical and non-Christian receptions of Jesus in the second and third centuries, across 24 chapters.
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.
Introduction to Volume Three - Chris Keith, St. Mary's University, UK Non-Christian Literary Receptions of Jesus in the Second and Third Centuries CE 59. Celsus - John Granger Cook, LaGrange College, USA 60. Lucian - Margaret Wiliams, University of Edinburgh, UK 61. Pliny the Younger - Margaret Wiliams, University of Edinburgh, UK 62. Suetonius - Margaret Wiliams, University of Edinburgh, UK 63. Tacitus - Margaret Wiliams, University of Edinburgh, UK 64. Mara bar Serapion - Kathleen McVey, Princeton Theological Seminary, USA 65. Talmudim - Christian M. M. Brady, University of Kentucky, USA Visual Receptions of Jesus 66. Alexamenos Graffito - Felicity Harley-McGowan, Yale Divinity School, USA 67. Amulets - Brice C. Jones, Louisiana Delta Community College, USA 68. Art and Architecture at Capernaum, Kefar ‘Othnay, and Dura Europos - Anders Runesson, University of Oslo, Norway, and Wally V. Cirafesi, University of Oslo, Norway 69. Catacombs - William “Chip” Gruen, Muhlenberg College, USA 70. Christograms - Thomas J. Kraus, University of Zürich and University of the Free State, Switzerland 71. Cross Symbol - Bruce W. Longenecker, Baylor University, USA, with Chris Keith, St. mary's University, UK 72. Epitaph of Abercius - Allen Brent, King’s College London, UK 73. Fish Symbol - Robin M. Jensen, University of Notre Dame, USA 74. Nomina Sacra - Larry W. Hurtado, University of Edinburgh, UK 75. Petrogram - Thomas J. Kraus, University of Zürich and University of the Free State, Switzerland 76. Sarcophagi - Catherine C. Taylor, Brigham Young University, UK 77. Sculptural Images of Jesus - Joan E. Taylor, King’s College London, UK 78. Staurogram - Dieter T. Roth, Johannes Gutenberg Universität-Mainz, Germany Liturgical Receptions of Jesus 79. Baptism - Rafael Rodríguez, Johnson University, USA 80. Eucharist - Andrew McGowan, Yale Divinity School, USA 81. Prayer - Heather Gorman, Johnson University, USA 82. Public Reading of the Gospels - Chris Keith, St. Mary's University, UK
Chris Keith is Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity and Director of the Centre for the Social-Scientific Study of the Bible at St. Mary's University College, UK. Helen K. Bond is Professor in Christian Origins with Specialisation in New Testament and Head of the School of Divinity at the University of Edinburgh, UK. Christine Jacobi is Scientific Associate at Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany. Jens Schröter is Professor for Exegesis and Theology of the New Testament and New Testament Apocrypha at the Faculty of Theology at the Humboldt-University in Berlin, Germany.
