Redefining First-Century Jewish and Christian Identities

“This volume is a fitting tribute to the single most influential scholar in the fields of New Testament and early Judaism of the last half century. . . . A real strength of this volume is that most of the essays not only directly engage the work of Ed Parish Sanders but confirm, refine, and even extend various aspects of his innovative and widely debated positions on central issues in the study of Jesus, Paul, and Second Temple Judaism.” —Daniel C. Harlow, Calvin College

“No scholar of our generation has done more to advance the study of the New Testament than E. P. Sanders, whose work has revolutionized our understanding of early Judaism, the historical Jesus, and the apostle Paul. These are three enormously significant areas of research; most good scholars need an entire career to master, let alone influence, any one of them. The present collection of essays by leading researchers of early Judaism and early Christianity—including an insightful intellectual autobiography by the great man himself—is a fitting tribute to the career and thought of a giant in the field.” —Bart D. Ehrman, James A. Gray Professor, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

“A celebratory testimonial to the far-ranging interests of the most influential intertestamental historian of our age, this stellar, seminal, stimulating compendium—one exciting essay on the heels of another—is a veritable ‘scholarly page-turner.’ Gloriously rich in content, provocatively diverse in perspective, and brilliant in categorization and sequence, this volume will be indispensable to all of E. P. Sanders' followers and reactors as well as to present and future newcomers to his distinctive contributions.” —Michael J. Cook, Sol & Arlene Bronstein Professor of Judeo-Christian Studies, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion

“This volume is a tribute to Professor Ed Parish Sanders of Duke University, who is one of the foremost biblical scholars on the topic of the relationship of Judaism and early Christianity. A thread that binds together Sanders' work and is apparent in most of these essays is his fundamental contention that running through the midst of the cultural and theological diversity of first-century Judaism there was also a “common Judaism” expressed in some fundamental convictions and common practice.” —The Bible Today

“The 21 essays originated as papers presented at an April 2003 conference at the University of Notre Dame, which focused on the principal themes of Sanders’ work: Judaism, Jesus and the Gospels, and Paul. Among the topics are the problem of self-definition, common Judaism in Greek and Latin authors, historiography for an age of destruction, the place of the Sadducees in first-century Judaism, Jesus in Jewish Galilee, Hellenism and the high priesthood in life-of-Jesus narratives, the incident at the temple as the occasion for Jesus’ death, the source of Paul’s problem in Judaism, Pauline soteriology, and grace and the transformation of agency in Christ.” —Research Book News

“ . . . a gem of a volume and a fitting tribute to Sanders, the foremost scholar of Second Testament Studies. It contains informative and often controversial portraits of Jesus, first-century Judaism, and Pauline Christianity, as well as detailed information on Jesus’ missions in the Galilee region and his activities in Jerusalem.” —Journal of Ecumenical Studies

“No contemporary New Testament scholar’s work is more important than the work of Sanders. No scholar of ancient Judaism or of early Christianity can afford to overlook this volume. Each of the contributors is a distinguished scholar in his or her own right and the contributions offer generally appreciative, but always stimulating, dialogue with Sanders’s seminal ideas. Every theological library should have a copy of this work.” —Religious Studies Review

“Some of the papers from a 2003 conference in honour of E. P. Sanders form this fine Festschrift. It is organized around the three foci of Sanders’s achievement. . . . Professor Sanders might justifiably view with satisfaction the way his research has stimulated further theological reflection on scripture as well as hugely advancing the study of early Judaism, including Jesus and Paul.” —Journal of Theological Studies