Early Christian Life and Thought in Social Context fills a vacuum in current scholarship. While there exist a number of anthologies of sources for students of the New Testament and early Judaism, this book integrates concise explanatory comment on various aspects of the historical and social situation of the early Christians with substantial extracts from early Christian, early Jewish, and Graeco-Roman sources. 'This collection helps open doors through which we more perceptivelyview our sacred texts in their original political and social contexts.Later, after contemplating these sources, you may feel drawn to pass throughthe apertures and experience afresh some of the power that gave meaning tothe lives of early Jews and Christians.' --James H. Charlesworth, George L. Collord Professor of New Testament Language and Literature Princeton Theological Seminary