Having long served as a standard introduction to the world of the early church, Everett Ferguson's Backgrounds of Early Christianity has been expanded and updated in this third edition. The book explores and unpacks the Roman, Greek, and Jewish political, social, religious, and philosophical backgrounds necessary for a good historical understanding of the New Testament and the early church. New to this edition are revisions of Ferguson's original material, updated bibliographies, and fresh discussions of first-century social life, of Gnosticism, and of the Dead Sea Scrolls and other Jewish literature.

An extensive review of the background to the early church. ( )

An excellent resource for understanding the Greco-Roman and Jewish backgrounds of the New Testament. ( )

This is the one of the most useful, interesting books I own. It has lots of encyclopedia-like articles on a whole bunch of interesting topics related to the world in which Christianity began. Pagan philosophies and mystery cults, Jewish culture and religious practices, education, literacy, society, &c., all accompanied by extensive bibliographies for further research. ( )

0802802923