Particularly after the standard commentaries by Ernst Haenchen and Hans Cormehnann, the Acts of the Apostles has come to be seen as a work in which the theology of its author has distorted his account of earliest Christianity. Attention has therefore focussed on that theology, in an attempt to give as full a picture ofit as possible and consequently the question 'what actually happened?' has fallen right into the background. Professor Ltidemann does not go back on the work of his German predecessors. But he is very well aware of the question of the historicity of Acts and their failure to deal with it thoroughly. So in his work, which essentially takes the form of a commentary, he goes through Acts from beginning to end, trying to ascertain whether despite all the difficulties it is nevertheless possible to establish a core of reliable historical information in particular sections of the work. The result is an important addition to the literature on Acts, much needed since the Haenchen and Conzelmann commentaries are now dated. A notable feature of the work is its attention to the literature written in English. Account is taken of this up to 1986.

Early Christianity According to the Traditions in Acts

Religion & Spirituality

Luedemann, Gerd

Christian Books & Bibles

SCM Press

Since his student days, Gerd Ludemann has noted how both New Testament scholars and theologians have tended to be evansive about what actually happened at the resurrection of Jesus. How was Jesus seen? Was the tomb really empty, and, if so, what happened to the body? Dissatisfied with so much of what he read, he set out to write his own book, making a thourough examination of all the passages relating to the resurrection in the New Testament, beginning with the fanmous verse in 1 Corinthians 15 and going through to the last chapter of John's Gospel. The results of this exhausttive study are largely negative, Ludemann succeeds in demonstrating just how much tradition and the evangelists themselves have contributed to the Easter story. THis is an honest scholarly book with the ring of truth, and needs to be read without prejudice. Those who do so will find that in fact it is remarkably positive.

The Resurrection of Christ

According to the official view, held for almost two thousand years, early Christianity was marked by great harmony, and heresy only emerged at a later stage. This book, written in nontechnical language for interested non-theologians, argues that such a picture is wishful thinking. Using all available sources, including newly-discovered Gnostic texts, Professor Luedemann argues that in many areas, 'heresy' in fact preceded 'orthodoxy' and was later forcibly replaced by it. The controversies shed an interesting light on the human character and concerns of the first Christians, who were occupied not only with right belief but also with power. The first chapter investigates the positions of Christians in Jerusalem in the first two centuries, since they were the ones who in fact introduced the concept of heresy into the church, and pays particular attention to the revision of the portrait of Paul and his theology. Then it goes on to the dramatic events around Marcion and his approach to a scriptural canon. Thirdly, it examines the conflicts underlying the Johannine writings, the formation of the Apostles' Creed and the formation of the New Testament canon. Professor Luedemann argues that his findings have important and liberating consequences for the understanding of both Christianity and the Bible.

Heretics: The Other Side of Early Christianity

History

World

Hymns Ancient & Modern Ltd

No other book has been translated in so many different languages as the Bible or has ained at so great an influence. Yet its content is largely unknown, and its use by billions of members of the Christian churches is highly selective. Nevertheless, the Bible is commonly regarded as the Word of God. But what about those parts, notably in the Old Testament, which contain God's command to exterminate whole peoples? What about those texts, notably in the New Testament, which demonize those of other faiths? This book tacles these questions and seeks to bring to light the dark side of the Bible. It does so by focussing first on the practice of Holy Wat and the ban which went with it, and the on the anti-Judaism of the New Testament writings. More positively, it then turns to the question how, given this ruinous other side of Holy Scripture, we can continue to be Christians, and points above all to the person of Jesus. Criticism is made of the churches today in the light of the evidence that has been laid out, and suggestions are made for dealing with the present crisis. The book ends with an appendix by John Bowden, which approaches the issues from a related but slightly different perspective. Gerd Luedemann is Professor of New Testament and Director of the Institute of Early Christian Studies at the University of Goettingen.

The Unholy in Holy Scripture: The Dark Side of the Bible

This book is about Gnostic prayrs, hymns and other material from the beginnings of Christianity, The authors were branded heretics and thrown out of the church. However, many documents of Gnostic spirituality have survived and have become more accessible especially since the spectacular discoveries at Nag Hammadi in Egypt in 1945. At the centre of Gnostic spirituality stands the question of what it is to be human: 'Who were we? What have we become? Where were we? Into what have we been thrown? Whither are we hatening? What are we freed from> What is birth? What is rebirth>' These key questions can be taken as a programme of the religious feelings of Gnosticism. Here they are illustratd y texts which, perhaps een more than contemporary material from the mainstream church, convey the feeling and the imagination of believers from a long time past. They give a lively impression of how Gnostics fely about the world, and with their shimmering images and poetic symbols attest their unique religious creativity. Gerd Luedemann is Professor of New Testament and Director of the Institute of Early Christian Studies at the University of Goettingen. Matina Janssen was his academic assistant.

Suppressed Prayers: Gnostic Spirituality in Early Christianity

Lüdemann, Gerd

Janssen, Martha

In this book controversial New Testament sch olar Gerd Ludemann investigates all the references in the wr itings of the earliest church and the rival Jewish sources o n the subject of Jesus'' birth and the idyll of the Holy Fami ly '

Virgin Birth? the Real Story of Mary and Her Son Jesus

This major book may be regarded as Gerd Liidemann's magnum opus, summing up as it does the result of 25 years' study of Jesus of Nazareth. It is dominated by the question: what words and actions attributed to Jesus must be regarded as the result of legends which formed at an early stage, and what can in all probability be regarded as genuine? Here is no secondary survey of the work of others, nor a thematic approach. Rather, all the extant traditions of Jesus from the first two centuries are retranslated, after which their historical value is investigated - in a way that even those without a technical training can follow. After an introduction describing the approach of the book, four chapters deal with the New Testament Gospels. Then come chapters on the Gospel of Thomas and Jesus traditions outside the New Testament. The book ends with a brief life of Jesus. There is an index of all the authentic words and actions of Jesus. In this way Gerd Luedemann seeks to give guidance about the contradictory pictures of Jesus in both scholarly and popular literature. He is convinced that people living within a culture shaped by Christianity should have good historical information about the roots of Christianity in Jesus, whether they are believing Christians or not.

Jesus after 2000 Years

Early Christianity According to the Traditions in Acts: A Commentary

Fortress Press

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