New Testament Backgrounds
This guide identifies recommended resources for the study of the religious, cultural, literary, and geographic background of the New Testament.
Professor of New Testament and Archaeology
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The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church by Call Number: BR95 .O8 2022ISBN: 9780199642465Publication Date: 2022(Still of use is previous 3rd ed., edited by F. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone, 1997; and rev. 3rd ed., 2005.)
Additional Resources
Encyclopedia of Ancient Christianity by Call Number: BR66.5 .D5813 2014ISBN: 9780830829439Publication Date: 2014Originally published as Nuovo Dizionario Patristico e di Antichità Christiane. First Italian edition was previously translated as Encyclopedia of the Early Church, trans. Adrian Walford, 2 vols. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992).
The Fathers of the Church: A Comprehensive Introduction by Call Number: BR67 .D7613 2016ISBN: 9780801098185Publication Date: 2016
Encyclopedia of Early Christianity by Call Number: BR162.2 .E53 1997ISBN: 0815316631Publication Date: 1997
The Eerdmans Encyclopedia of Early Christian Art and Archaeology by Call Number: N7832 .E373 2017ISBN: 9780802838117Publication Date: 2017
A History of Early Christian Literature by Call Number: BR67 .G58 1966Publication Date: 1966Readable and succinct, if somewhat dated.
The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Studies by Call Number: BR121.3 .O99 2008ISBN: 9780199271566Publication Date: 2008
The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Archaeology by Call Number: BR131 .O94 2019ISBN: 9780199369041Publication Date: 2019
Jewish Believers in Jesus: The Early Centuries by Call Number: BR195.J8 J49 2007ISBN: 9781565637634Publication Date: 2007
English Translations of Ancient Sources
The Apostolic Fathers by Call Number: BR60 .A62 1989ISBN: 0801056551Publication Date: 1989(One of several editions of the Apostolic Fathers.)
The Ante-Nicene Fathers: Translations of the Writings of the Fathers down to A.D. 325 by Call Number: BR60 .A5Publication Date: 1953Dated translations, but quite serviceable and handy. Freely available online at Christian Classics Ethereal Library.
Eusebius—The Church History: A New Translation with Commentary by Call Number: BR160.E5 E5 1999ISBN: 9780825433283Publication Date: 1999Alternative to the Penguin edition. More of a paraphrase, but useful explanatory helps.
New Testament Apocrypha by Call Number: BS2832 .S3 1991ISBN: 0664218784Publication Date: 1991-1992Originally published as Neutestamentliche Apokryphen, rev. ed. (Tübingen: J. C. B. Mohr [Paul Siebeck], 1989–1990).
The Apocryphal New Testament: A Collection of Apocryphal Christian Literature in an English Translation by Call Number: BS2832 .A2 1993ISBN: 9780198261827Publication Date: 1993Easier to use (and more English-native) than Schneemelcher, though with less information about the range of apocryphal texts.
The Apocryphal Gospels: Texts and Translations by ISBN: 9780199830183Publication Date: 2011Handy, with English translation and original language texts (limited critical apparati).
The Nag Hammadi Library in English by Call Number: BT1391 .A3 1988bISBN: 9780060669348Publication Date: 1988Translates ancient Gnostic texts.
Also note IVP series “Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture” and the Eerdmans series “The Church’s Bible”.