“The Library of Early Christology”

“The Library of Early Christology” is a new series of reprinted works focused on the origins of beliefs in and devotion to Jesus as sharing in divine honor in early Christianity, the series published by Baylor University Press.

In earlier postings, I mentioned initial works in this series, including the re-appearance of Alan Segal’s high-impact book, Two Powers in Heaven (here), and his book, The Other Judaism of  Late Antiquity (here), and still earlier, Wilhelm Bousset’s classic work, Kyrios Christos appears in the series (to which I wrote a Foreword setting the work in its original context and noting its subsequent reception and influence).

This summer several further works have appeared in this series:

• Charles A. Gieschen, Angelomorphic Christology:  Antecedents and Early Evidence (originally Leiden:  Brill, 1998; reprint edition information here).
• Loren T. Stuckenbruck, Angel Veneration and Christology, (originally, Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1995; reprint edition information here).
• David B. Capes, Old Testament Yahweh Texts in Paul’s Christology (originally Tuebingen:  Mohr Siebeck, 1992; Baylor information here)
• April D. DeConick, Seek to See Him: Ascent and Vision Mysticism in the Gospel of Thomas (Leiden:  Brill, 1996; Baylor reprint information here)
• Carey C. Newman, Paul’s Glory Christology:  Tradition and Rhetoric (Leiden:  Brill, 1992; Baylor reprint information here)
• Jarl E. Fossum, The Name of God and the Angel of the Lord:  Samaritan and Jewish Concepts of Intermediation and the Origin of Gnosticism (Tuebingen:  Mohr Siebeck, 1985; Baylor reprint information here)
• Donald H. Juel, Messianic Exegesis:  Christological Interpretation of the Old Testament in Early Christianity (Fortress Press, 1988; Baylor reprint information here)
• The Jewish Roots of Christological Monotheism:  Papers from the St. Andrews Conference on the Historical Origins of the Worship of Jesus, eds. Carey C. Newman, et al. (Leiden:  Brill, 1999; Baylor reprint information here)

And today I received an author’s advance copy of my own volume in this series:  Ancient Jewish Monotheism and Early Christian Jesus-Devotion (publisher’s information here).  This is not a reprint of a previously published volume, but instead presents 32 of my previously published essays, stretching over nearly 40 years, all focused on the origins of Jesus-devotion.  I note that it is to be available to ship 15 September.

Part 1 comprises six essays in which I engage various other major contributors to the subject, ranging from Bousset, Cullmann, and Bultmann to Bauckham and Wright.  The four essays that make up Part 2 are all focused on the second-temple Jewish context in which Jesus-devotion first appeared.  In Part 3, the three essay offer historical explanations, proposing several “forces and factors” that shaped earliest Jesus-devotion.

Finally, Part 4 comprises another nineteen essays dealing with various texts and specific topics directly as “expressions” of early Jesus-devotion.