A wide-ranging examination of the key issues in Q studies. After seeking to establish the existence of Q, Tuckett proceeds to analyze the characteristic features of the Q material. He explores not only what we can learn about the possible 'theology' of Q, but also what we can learn about the social situation of the Christians who valued and preserved this material. There are discussions of John the Baptist in Q, the eschatology and Christology of Q, along with the nature of the polemic in Q. Tuckett also attempts to determine how far Q is a wisdom text and how far it reflects Cynic ideas. This work will be of interest to all New Testament scholars and students interested in the Q tradition, the earliest history of Jesus traditions and early Christianity in general.

Contents1 Introduction: The Dismantling and Reassembling of the Categories of New Testament Scholarship2 Kerygma and History in the New Testament3 LOGOI SOPHON: On the Gattung of Q4 GNOMAI DIAPHOROI: The Origin and Nature of Diversification in the History of Early Christianity5 One Jesus and Four Primitive Gospels6 The Structure and Criteria of Early Christian Beliefs7 The Johannine Trajectory8 Conclusion: The Intention and Scope of Trajectories

Drawing on New Testament studies and recent scholarship on the expansion of the Christian church, Gary B. Ferngren presents a comprehensive historical account of medicine and medical philanthropy in the first five centuries of the Christian era. Ferngren first describes how early Christians understood disease. He examines the relationship of early Christian medicine to the natural and supernatural modes of healing found in the Bible. Despite biblical accounts of demonic possession and miraculous healing, Ferngren argues that early Christians generally accepted naturalistic assumptions about disease and cared for the sick with medical knowledge gleaned from the Greeks and Romans. Ferngren also explores the origins of medical philanthropy in the early Christian church. Rather than viewing illness as punishment for sins, early Christians believed that the sick deserved both medical assistance and compassion. Even as they were being persecuted, Christians cared for the sick within and outside of their community. Their long experience in medical charity led to the creation of the first hospitals, a singular Christian contribution to health care. "A succinct, thoughtful, well-written, and carefully argued assessment of Christian involvement with medical matters in the first five centuries of the common era . . . It is to Ferngren's credit that he has opened questions and explored them so astutely. This fine work looks forward as well as backward; it invites fuller reflection of the many senses in which medicine and religion intersect and merits wide readership."—Journal of the American Medical Association "In this superb work of historical and conceptual scholarship, Ferngren unfolds for the reader a cultural milieu of healing practices during the early centuries of Christianity."—Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith "Readable and widely researched . . . an important book for mission studies and American Catholic movements, the book posits the question of what can take its place in today's challenging religious culture."—Missiology: An International Review Gary B. Ferngren is a professor of history at Oregon State University and a professor of the history of medicine at First Moscow State Medical University. He is the author of Medicine and Religion: A Historical Introduction and the editor of Science and Religion: A Historical Introduction.

Presents the original teachings of Jesus written by his contemporaries and early followers

New to this expanded & updated edition are revisions of Ferguson's original material, updated bibliographies, & a fresh dicussion of first century social life, the Dead Sea Scrolls & much else.

A comprehensive treatment of the early Christian approaches to the Temple and its role in shaping Jewish and Christian identity The first scholarly work to trace the Temple throughout the entire New Testament, this study examines Jewish and Christian attitudes toward the Temple in the first century and provides both Jews and Christians with a better understanding of their respective faiths and how they grow out of this ancient institution. The centrality of the Temple in New Testament writing reveals the authors’ negotiations with the institutional and symbolic center of Judaism as they worked to form their own religion.