While Peter is traditionally thought of as the leader of the apostles, it was James who led the disciples after the crucifixion. Jeffrey Bütz offers a vision that is sometimes at odds with Christian doctrine and concludes that James links...

This is the first in renowned biblical scholar Robert Eisenman's projected two-volume examination of early Christianity. Eisenman here sets out a fascinating and controversial theory that puts St. James at the center of the story as the heir to...

The question of apocalyptic influence on Jesus and early Christianity is again strongly contested. The issues connected with this question include terminology, genre, historical reconstruction, sectarian self-definition, and many others. This book provides a fresh assessment of the nature and...

"Whoever finds the interpretation of these sayings will not experience death." —from the Gospel of ThomasThe work of scholars such as Elaine Pagels and Marvin Meyer have captured the imagination of the public by setting forth the Gospel of...

Two leading, bestselling experts on the Gnostic Gospels weigh in on the meaning of the controversial newly discovered Gospel of Judas. The Washington Post - John Dominic Crossan In their slim but excellent Reading Judas, Elaine Pagels and Karen L....

What do we actually know about the practices of the early church? Publishers Weekly Calling the Didache “the most important book you’ve never heard of,” Emergent leader Jones (The New Christians) briefly unpacks the theological and practical lessons to...

This volume is the first complete analysis of the apocryphal gospel fragment P.Oxy. 840 since its initial discovery nearly a century ago. The fragment recounts a dispute over ritual purity between Jesus and a Pharisaic chief priest in the temple....

This in-depth examination of the Dead Sea Scrolls reveals their true heart: a missing link between ancient and modern Judaism. Because the Dead Sea Scrolls include the earliest known manuscripts of the Bible as well as Jewish documents composed just...

Early Christianity had a powerful esoteric current. This is reflected in theNew Testament writings of Mark, Paul, and, above all, John. Gnostic Christians tried to preserve this tradition, using the archaic mysteries as a way to knowing (gnosis) of higher...

Jesus the Wicked Priest shows how Jesus, a former Essene, was deemed the "Wicked Priest" for his liberationist politics and humanist bent. It also reopens Christian doctrinal questions such as reincarnation and the Virgin birth--even demonstrating that these two issues...