What have generations of New Testament scholars been hiding from us over all the ages? Harry and Paul Eberts challenge readers to rethink the New Testament. Most scholars have presumed there was a reasonably unified movement among the Christian churches led by Peter, Paul, James, and Philip immediately following Jesus' death and resurrection. The Eberts suggest that at least four parties vied with each other to attract converts to the belief that Jesus is the Christ: Peter/James/Stephen, Philip, and Apollos/ and Paul and Barnabas. Up to now, most scholars have presumed the Gospels to be at least somewhat "additive" in developing the character of Jesus. The Eberts suggest that each Gospel represents the viewpoint of one of the four parties, thus presenting differing views of the meaning of Jesus' life, his death, and his resurrection. There has been the regular presumption that St. Paul's letters were unified statements of his views of beliefs, behaviors, and practices in the early churches. The Eberts instead suggest that the letters show a shifting over time in Paul's theology and ethics as the apostles struggled with the other three Christian parties and with Gentiles to convert nonbelievers to Christianity. Harry and Paul Eberts are brothers devoted to researching the New Testament. Both are Yale Divinity School graduates.

Christian Origins and the Establishment of the Early Jesus Movement explores the events, people, and writings surrounding the founding of the early Jesus movement in the mid to late first century. The essays are divided into four parts, focused upon the movement’s formation, the production of its early Gospels, description of the Jesus movement itself, and the Jewish mission and its literature. This collection of essays includes chapters by a global cast of scholars from a variety of methodological and critical viewpoints, and continues the important Early Christianity in its Hellenistic Context series.

This book, third in the Eberts' "Early Jesus" series, breaks ground not covered in other books on the Gospels. First, it views Jesus' life and ministry in a socio-political/economic-religious context. It then presents a never-before-seen chronology of Jesus' ministry (across three chapters) and, something not usually done by other scholars, the Eberts have characterized each Gospel. They posit that Mark shows Jesus as the Healing, Suffering, and Trusting One; that Matthew shows Jesus as the Righteous and Just One; Luke shows Jesus as the Caringly Compassionate and Socially Just One; and John shows Jesus as One with the Living, Loving, and Active God. Harry and Paul Eberts" are brothers devoted to researching the New Testament. Both graduated from Heidelberg College in Ohio, and from Yale Divinity School. Harry received his Doctor of the Science of Theology (STD) from San Francisco Theological Seminary; Paul, his PhD in Sociology from the University of Michigan. Harry was ordained by the Presbyterian Church, USA, serving churches in California, Illinois, and Ohio. He taught at San Francisco Theological Seminary, and the Coptic Evangelical Church in both Cairo and Alexandria in Egypt. Paul has taught sociology at the University of Michigan, SUNY Binghamton, and Cornell University. He has been on discipline-related committees of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Sociological Association, and the Rural Sociology Society.

This work by two New Testament scholars is the first comprehensive social history of the earliest churches. Integrating the historical and social data, they locate the ancient Galileans, Judeans, and the Jesus movement in their respective matrices. The Stegemanns deal with such issues as conflict between the messianic communities and the rest of Judaism, religious pluralism, social stratification, group composition, gender division, ancient economics, and urban/rurual distinctions.

We know Jesus the Savior, but have we met Jesus, Prince of Peace? When did we accept vengeance as an acceptable part of the Christian life? How did violence and power seep into our understanding of faith and grace? For those troubled by this trend toward the sword, perhaps there is a better way. What if the message of Jesus differs radically differs from the drumbeats of war we hear all around us? Using his own journey from war crier to peacemaker and his in-depth study of peace in the scriptures, author and pastor Brian Zahnd reintroduces us to the gospel of Peace.

This volume offers new insights on Jewish-Gentile relations and the evolution of belief in the early Jesus movement, suggesting that the New Testament reflects the early stages of a Gentile challenge to the authority and legitimacy of the descendants of Jesus' disciples and first followers as the exclusive guardians and interpreters of his legacy.