The Oxford Handbooks Early Christian Studies Collection (5 vols.)

by David K. Pettegrew; William Rodney Caraher; Thomas W. Davis

and

10 more

Publisher:

Oxford University Press

, 2008–2019

Overview

One of the most prestigious and successful strands of Oxford’s scholarly publishing, the Handbook series contains in-depth, high-level articles by scholars at the top of their field. Oxford Handbooks are guided by a world-class editorial board that brings together the world’s leading scholars to discuss research and the latest thinking on a range of major topics. Each Handbook offers thorough introductions to topics and a critical survey of the current state of scholarship, creating an original conception of the field and setting the agenda for new research. Handbook articles review the key issues and cutting-edge debates and provide arguments for how those debates might evolve.

Key Features

• Provides an invaluable resource and reference for scholars, students, and general readers
• Features in-depth, high-level articles by scholars at the top of their field
• Offers thorough introductions to topics and a critical survey of the current state of scholarship, creating an original conception of the field and setting the agenda for new research

The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Apocrypha

• Editors: Christopher M. Tuckett, Tobias Nicklas and Joseph Verheyden
• Series: Oxford Handbooks
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication Date: 2015
• Pages: 504

This volume addresses issues and themes that arise in the study of early Christian apocryphal literature. Part I consists of authoritative surveys of the main branches of apocryphal literature (gospels, acts, epistles, apocalypses, and related literature) and Part II considers key issues that they raise. These include their contribution to our understanding of developing interpretations of Jesus, the apostles, and other important figures such as Mary. It also shows how these texts contribute to our knowledge of Jewish-Christian relations, Christian worship, and developing understandings of asceticism, gender, and sexuality, etc. The volume also considers questions such as which ancient readers read Early Christian Apocrypha, their place in Christian spirituality, and their place in contemporary popular culture and contemporary theological discourse.

The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Archaeology

• Editors:
• Series: Oxford Handbooks
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication Date: 2019
• Pages: 728

The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Studies responds to and celebrates the explosion of research in this inter-disciplinary field over recent decades. As a one-volume reference work, it provides an introduction to the academic study of early Christianity (c. 100–600 AD) and examines the vast geographical area impacted by the early church, in western and eastern late antiquity. The book is thematically arranged to encompass history, literature, thought, practices, and material culture. It contains authoritative and up-to-date surveys of current thinking and research in the various sub-specialties of early Christian studies, written by leading figures in the discipline. The articles orientate readers to a given topic, as well as to the trajectory of research developments over the past 30–50 years within the scholarship itself. Guidance for future research is also given. Each article points the reader towards relevant forms of extant evidence (texts, documents, or examples of material culture), as well as to the appropriate research tools available for the area.

The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Biblical Interpretation

• Editors: Paul M. Blowers and Peter W. Martens
• Series: Oxford Handbooks
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication Date: 2019
• Pages: 784

The Bible was the lifeblood of virtually every aspect of the life of the early churches. The essays in this Handbook explore a wide array of themes related to the reception, canonization, interpretation, uses, and legacies of the Bible in early Christianity. A first group of studies examines the material text transmitted, translated, and invested with authority, and the very conceptualization of sacred Scripture as God’s word for the Church. A second group looks at the culture and disciplines or science of interpretation in representative exegetical traditions. A third group of essays addresses the remarkably diverse literary and non-literary modes of interpretation, while a fourth group canvasses the communal background and foreground of early Christian interpretation, where the Bible was paramount in shaping normative Christian identity. A fifth group assesses the determinative role of the Bible in major developments and theological controversies in the life of the churches. A sixth group returns to interpretation proper and samples how certain abiding motifs from within scriptural revelation were treated by major Christian expositors. A seventh and final group of studies follows up by examining how early Christian exegesis was retrieved and critically evaluated in later periods of church history. Along the way, readers will be oriented to the major resources for, and issues in, the critical study of early Christian biblical interpretation.

The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Ritual

• Editors: Risto Uro and Juliette Day
• Series: Oxford Handbooks
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication Date: 2019
• Pages: 752

Scholars of religion have long assumed that ritual and belief constitute the fundamental building blocks of religious traditions and that these two components of religion are interrelated and interdependent in significant ways. Generations of New Testament and early Christian scholars have produced detailed analyses of the belief systems of nascent Christian communities, including their ideological and political dimensions, but have by and large ignored ritual as an important element of early Christian religion and as a factor contributing to the rise and the organization of the movement. In recent years, however, scholars of early Christianity have begun to use ritual as an analytical tool for describing and explaining Christian origins and the early history of the movement. Such a development has created a momentum towards producing a more comprehensive volume on the ritual world of early Christianity employing advances made in the field of Ritual Studies.

The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Studies

• Editor: David Hunter
• Series: Oxford Handbooks
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication Date: 2008
• Pages: 1048

The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Studies responds to and celebrates the explosion of research in this inter-disciplinary field over recent decades. As a one-volume reference work, it provides an introduction to the academic study of early Christianity (c. 100–600 AD) and examines the vast geographical area impacted by the early church, in western and eastern late antiquity. The book is thematically arranged to encompass history, literature, thought, practices, and material culture. It contains authoritative and up-to-date surveys of current thinking and research in the various sub-specialties of early Christian studies, written by leading figures in the discipline. The articles orientate readers to a given topic, as well as to the trajectory of research developments over the past 30–50 years within the scholarship itself. Guidance for future research is also given. Each article points the reader towards relevant forms of extant evidence (texts, documents, or examples of material culture), as well as to the appropriate research tools available for the area.