Product Description: Now in paperback, this monumental work by two continental New Testament scholars is the first comprehensive social history of the earliest churches. Integrating the historical and social data it locates the ancient Judeans and the Jesus Movement in their respective matrices...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

Product Description: A monumental work - by two of the most significant contemporary New Testament scholars. They locate the Jesus movement and early churches in their respective historical and social settings, addressing issues as varied as the conflict between messianic groups and the rest of Judaism, religious pluralism, social stratification, the role of women in the Jesus movement, ancient economies and urban/rural distinctions...read more