Readings from the First-Century World: Primary Sources for New Testament Study

Serious biblical students must attempt to understand first century thought since the Jesus of history as well as the canonical scriptures are historically tied to the first century. The Jews and early Christians were an extremely textual people and it is necessary to read their writings. This book gives the bible student an open door into the first century thought by virtue of the writings of various authors of that time period. Don't expect to find any great discoveries, but do expect to find a wonderful collection of ancient quotes, stories, and historical facts collated by two of the most qualified authors alive today, Elwell and Yarbrough.

This book is an excellent anthology. The editors have taken pertinent selections from ancient writings and grouped them into subjects involving the New Testament. Examples of the sub-groupings are The History of the Jews; The Religious Life of the Jews; Jesus Outside of the New Testament; and Romans-Galatians. The selected writings include authors such as Josephus, Philo, Suetonius, Origen, and Justin Maryr. I agree with the book's editors that this collection of readings will enable those with a limited background in ancient literature to obtain a sense of those times and the New Testament. In addition, this anthology is an inexpensive way of possessing a good selection of ancient writings. This book is perfect for new students and personal theological libraries. This book would not be of interest to the advanced theological professional.