Select Bibliography

Select Bibliography

Campenhausen, Hans von. The Formation of the Christian Bible. Trans. J. A. Baker. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1972. Classic analysis of the transmission and canonization process for the Old and New Testaments.

Dunn, James D. G. Unity and Diversity in the New Testament: An Inquiry into the Character of Earliest Christianity. 2d ed. Philadelphia: Trinity Press International, 1990. Dunn elucidates a variety of issues and approaches found in the New Testament documents, but he also argues for particular thematic points of unity.

Georgi, Dieter. “Who Is the True Prophet?” In Christians among Jews and Gentiles: Essays in Honor of Krister Stendahl, ed. George W. E. Nickelsburg and George W. MacRae, 100–126. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1986; also Harvard Theological Review 79 (1986): 100–126. A provocative look at the interplay of imagery between Roman imperial propaganda and the earliest Jesus movement.

Harris, Stephen L. The New Testament: A Student's Introduction. 3d ed. Mountain View, Calif.: Mayfield, 1998. A good, basic introduction to the Greco-Roman world and New Testament literature.

Henig, Martin, ed. A Handbook of Roman Art: A Comprehensive Survey of All the Arts of the Roman World. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1983. An insightful collection of essays.

Horsley, Richard A., ed. Paul and Empire: Religion and Power in Roman Imperial Society. Harrisburg, Pa.: Trinity Press International, 1997. An illuminating collection of essays on Roman social, political, and religious realities, and the development of the church within that context.

MacMullen, Ramsay. Paganism in the Roman Empire. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1981. Building on extensive literary evidence and material remains, MacMullen explores fundamental questions about what the Romans believed and why.

Millar, Fergus. The Emperor and the Roman World 31 BC – AD 337. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1977. Emphasizes the increasing significance of the emperor's relationship with the provinces throughout the imperial period.

Price, S. R. F. Rituals and Power: The Roman Imperial Cult in Asia Minor. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984. A fundamental reassessment of scholarly approaches to honors offered to emperors in Asia Minor.

———. “From Noble Funerals to Divine Cult: The Consecration of Roman Emperors.” In Rituals of Royalty: Power and Ceremonial in Traditional Societies, ed. David Cannadine and Simon Price, 56–105. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987. Price surveys and interprets evidence for the deification of Roman emperors.

Roetzel, Calvin J. The Letters of Paul: Conversations in Context. Louisville, Ky.: Westminster, 1991. A solid introduction to Paul, his world, and his letters.

Safrai, S., and M. Stern, eds. The Jewish People in the First Century: Historical Geography, Political History, Social, Cultural and Religious Life and Institutions. 2 vols. Assen, The Netherlands: Van Gorcum; Philadelphia: Fortress, 1974–76. A sweeping consideration of formative Judaism.

Schüssler Fiorenza, Elisabeth. In Memory of Her: A Feminist Theological Reconstruction of Christian Origins. New York: Crossroad, 1983. A fundamental work of feminist New Testament criticism, highlighting the ways in which stories of women's involvement in the earliest churches have been lost and hidden in the transmission of traditions.

Stark, Robert. The Rise of Christianity: How the Obscure, Marginal Jesus Movement Became the Dominant Religious Force in the Western World in a Few Centuries. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1996. A leading sociologist examines the origins of the church and its rise to prominence.

Suetonius. The Lives of the Twelve Caesars. Trans. J. C. Rolfe. 2 vols. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1979. Latin text with facing English translation, with introduction and limited notes.

Zanker, Paul. The Power of Images in the Age of Augustus. Trans. Alan Shapiro. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1988. Explores the use and effectiveness of political and religious imagery in Augustan art.