Die Kurtisane Jamaica by Hans Bethge.

In December 1945, at the base of cliffs that run along the Nile River near the modern-day town of Nag Hammadi, an Egyptian farmer discovered a sealed jar containing thirteen ancient Coptic codices. This discovery represented arguably the most significant manuscript discovery of the twentieth century for the study of the New Testament and Christian origins. Of all the texts found none has been more important than the Gospel of Thomas for our understanding of early Christianity. This classic...

Bart D. Ehrman, the New York Times bestselling author of Jesus, Interrupted and God’s Problem reveals which books in the Bible’s New Testament were not passed down by Jesus’s disciples, but were instead forged by other hands—and why this centuries-hidden scandal is far more significant than many scholars are willing to admit. A controversial work of historical reporting in the tradition of Elaine Pagels, Marcus Borg, and John Dominic Crossan, Ehrman’s Forged delivers a stunning explication...

For 1,600 years its message lay hidden. When the bound papyrus pages of this lost gospel finally reached scholars who could unlock its meaning, they were astounded. Here was a gospel that had not been seen since the early days of Christianity, and which few experts had even thought existed–a gospel told from the perspective of Judas Iscariot, history's ultimate traitor. And far from being a villain, the Judas that emerges in its pages is a hero. In this radical reinterpretation, Jesus asks...

Evan, den neuen Earl of Westfeld, plagen Schuldgefühle – durch sein Verhalten hat er Lady Elaine vor Jahren sehr wehgetan. Jetzt trifft er sie wieder und erkennt, dass es nur einen Weg für ihn geben kann: Er muss Wiedergutmachung leisten und hoffen, dass die liebreizende Elaine ihm verzeiht.  Elaine weiß nicht, was sie davon halten soll, dass ausgerechnet der Mann, der ihre erste Saison ruiniert hat, sich auf einmal derart um sie bemüht … oder darf si...

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, one of the most influential Christian martyrs in history, bequeathed to humanity a legacy of theological creativity and spirituality that continues to intrigue people from a variety of backgrounds. Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works, a sixteen volume series, offers a fresh, critical translation of Bonhoeffer's writings, with introductions, annotations, and interpretations.The stimulus for the writing of Life Together was the closing of the preacher's seminary at Finkenw...

Grasp the message of the New Testament by focusing on the essentials.An Introduction to the New Testament focuses on historical questions dealing with authorship, date, sources, purpose, destination, and so forth, ensuring that the New Testament books will be accurately understood within historical settings. For each New Testament document, the authors also provide a substantial summary of the book's content, discuss the book's theological contribution to ...

"[A] fascinating recasting of the story of Jesus." —Elliot Wolfson, New York UniversityIn July 2008, a front-page story in the New York Times reported on the discovery of an ancient Hebrew tablet, dating from before the birth of Jesus, which predicted a Messiah who would rise from the dead after three days. Commenting on this startling discovery at the time, noted Talmud scholar Daniel Boyarin argued that "some Christians will find it shocking—a challenge ...

The Meaning of the Nag Hammadi, now in paperback opens the with the thrilling adventure story of the discovery of the ancient Papyrii at Nag Hammadi. Muhammad Ali, the fellahin, discovered the sealed jar, he feared that it might contain a jinni, or spirit, but also had heard of hidden treasures in such jars. Greed overcame his fears and when he smashed open the jar, gold seemed to float into the air. To his disappointment, it was papyrus fragmenst, not gold, but for scholars around the wor...

A fresh, authoritative English translation, with an informative introduction, fascinating explanatory notes, and the Coptic text, with interpretation by Harold Bloom, our pre–eminent literary critic.

Who invented God? When, why, and where? Thomas Römer seeks to answer these questions about the deity of the great monotheisms—Yhwh, God, or Allah—by tracing Israelite beliefs and their context from the Bronze Age to the end of the Old Testament period in the third century BCE.That we can address such enigmatic questions at all may come as a surprise. But as Römer makes clear, a wealth of evidence allows us to piece together a reliable account of the origins and evolution of the god...

After 2,000 years of flawed history, here at last is a magnificent new biography of Mary Magdalene that draws her out of the shadows of history and restores her to her rightful place of importance in Christianity.Throughout history, Mary Magdalene has been both revered and reviled, a woman who has taken on many forms—witch, whore, the incarnation of the eternal feminine, the devoted companion (and perhaps even the wife) of Jesus. In this brilliant new biography, Bruce Chilton, a re...