Gerd Theissen

Why read the Bible? Gerd Theissen uses the wisdom gained from decades of teaching Bible instruction at a state university to address questions of the Bible's relevance in a postmodern, pluralistic society. He describes the core themes and enduring value of the biblical legacy for anyone seeking to be a well-informed, self-aware, and responsible citizen, and he commends the contributions the Bible can make to interreligious and secular conversation.

All the main issues for reading the New Testament are covered in this exciting new introduction by one of the world's foremost biblical scholars.

"A major collection of studies in the sociology of the New Testament in which Theissen presents his thesis about the development of Early Christianity."--Bloomsbury Publishing.

Unable to grieve after the death of her twin sister, seventeen-year-old Hannah accompanies her parents to Lascaux, France, where she visits the caves and discovers an astonishing connection between herself and her prehistoric ancestors.

Presents a series of twenty-four lectures that examines in detail the New Testament. Professor Bart Ehrman discusses its form, the methods of composition, its authors and their original audiences, and the surrounding historical context. He focuses on questions of historical evidence and explanation rather than on issues of religious belief and theological truth.

Comprehensively detailing the sources for our knowledge of Jesus, Theissen and Merz fully explore the historical and social context of Jesus and his activity. They then unfold what we can know about Jesus' characteristics as a charismatic teacher, a Jewish prophet, a healer, a teller of parables and an ethical teacher. Finally, they examine closely the historical question surrounding Jesus' last supper, his violent death, the accounts of Easter, and the beginnings of Christology.

"In these Oxford lectures, Theissen picks up where he left off in The Historical Jesus: A Comprehensive Guide (1998). Employing the notion of religion as a "cultural sign language that promises a gain in life by corresponding to an ultimate reality," he plots the emergence of Christianity as a religion, with elements of myth, ritual, ethics, and an emergent symbolic system. He expands upon the historical, social, and theological analysis of his earlier works to cover such issues as the relationship of Jesus to the earliest churches, power, possessions, interpretations of Jesus' death, and the separation of the church and synagogue."--BOOK JACKET.