Long serving as a standard introduction to the world of the early church, Backgrounds of Early Christianity by Everett Ferguson is now available in an expanded, up-to-date third edition. Enhanced with 95 mostly new and improved photographs, this book explores - now in even greater depth - the Roman, Greek, and Jewish political, social, religious, and philosophical backgrounds necessary for a good historical understanding of the New Testament and the early church. New to this edition are substantial revisions of Ferguson's original material, an updated bibliography, and fresh discussions of first-century social life, of Gnosticism, and of the Dead Sea Scrolls and other Jewish literature.
