This volume draws attention to ancient religious texts, especially the so-called 'non-canonical' texts, by focusing on how they were used or functioned in Early Judaism and Early Christianity. The contributors are biblical scholars who have chosen one or more Jewish or Christian apocryphal or pseudepigraphical texts, with the aim of describing their ancient functions in their emerging social settings. These show the fluidity of the notion of scripture in the early centuries of the Church and in Judaism of late antiquity, but they also show the value of examining the ancient religious texts that were not included in the Jewish or Christian biblical canons. These chapters show that there is much that can be learned from examining and comparing these texts with canonical literature and evaluating them in their social context. No ancient text was created in a vacuum, and the non-canonical writings aid in our interpretation not only of many canonical writings, but also shed considerable light on the context of both early Judaism and early Christianity.

ContributorsAbbreviationsIntroduction, James H. Charlesworth and Lee M. McDonaldEarly Judaism and Modern Culture: Reflections on the Theological Relevance of Early Jewish Literature, Gerbern S. OegemaChristians in Egypt: A Preliminary Survey of Christian Literature Found in Oxyrhynchus, Craig A. EvansReception of the Pseudepigrapha in Syriac Traditions: The Case of 2 Baruch, Liv Ingeborg LiedThe Coptic, Arabic and Ethiopic Versions of the Testament of Abraham and the Emergence of the Testaments of Isaac and Jacob, K. Marin HeideThe Son of David in Psalms of Solomon 17, H. Daniel ZachariasThe Enochic Library of the Author of the Epistle of Barnabas, Eric RoweRuminating on the Canonical Process in Light of a Bodmer Papyrus Anthology (P72), James H. CharlesworthThe Hebrew Gospel in Early Christianity, James R. EdwardsTrapped in a Forgerer's Rhetoric: 3 Corinthians, Pseudepigraphy, and the Legacy of Ancient Polemics, Caleb WebsterThe Place of the Shepherd of Hermas in the Canon Debate, David NielsenThe Protevangelium of James and the Composition of the Bodmer Miscellaneous Codex: Chronology, Theology, and Liturgy, George T. ZervosThe Child Mary in the Protevangelium of James, Mary F. FoskettPurity, Piety, and the Purposes of the Protevangelium of James, Lily VuongThecla Desexualized: The Saint Justina Legend and the Reception of the Christian Apocrypha in Late Antiquity, Brian SowersSelected Bibliography: "Noncanonical" Religious Texts and Their Reception in Early Judaism and Early Christianity, Arthur C. BouletIndexes