Glenn W. Olsen is a Professor of History at the University of Utah.

In Christianity in the making, James D.G. Dunn examines in depth the major factors that shaped first-generation Christianity and beyond, exploring the parting of the ways between Christianity and Judaism, the Hellenization of Christianity, and responses to Gnosticism. He mines all the first- and second-century sources, including the New Testament Gospels, New Testament apocrypha, and such church fathers as Ignatius, Justin Martyr, and Irenaeus, showing how the Jesus tradition and the figures of James, Paul, Peter, and John were still esteemed influences but were also the subject of intense controversy as the early church wrestled with its evolving identity.

A not limited blessing before Your eyes (as in the ancient past): a mysterious hint for generations' continous progress.

This book describes the Church of Jerusalem, as the mother of all Churches, and its liturgy in the beginnings of Christianity. The main objective of this research is to find, in the primary sources (as the pilgrim Egeria, St. Cyril of Jerusalem, the Armenian and the Georgian Lectionaries), the original elements of the Christian liturgy of the early Church of Jerusalem, in the first five centuries, and to collect the various scattered pieces. The author clarifies the image, and reconstructs, as far as possible, the historical-liturgical picture. By this book we will discover how much the other liturgical traditions of various churches, especially the Church of Rome, have copied the Jerusalemite tradition. The detailed description of the Jerusalemite liturgy, especially for the feasts of the liturgical year, offers us a vivid picture of Jerusalem's unique role in Christian devotion and the mysterious connection between the Christian faith and the land of biblical history. The presentation of the anaphora of St. James will enlighten our understanding of the Eucharistic prayer in all the liturgical traditions, especially Syriac, Byzantine and Roman.

"Illustrated throughout in four-color pictures, Jesus and First-Century Christianity in Jerusalem traces the little-known story of the original Jewish-Christian community. Focusing on the first century (33-135 CE) in Jerusalem after the death of Jesus, the authors of this book present evidence to show that the Jerusalem community remained true to their Jewish heritage and had a connection with the Essenes. Jesus and First-Century Christianity in Jerusalem brings to light Christianity's Jewish connections and an appreciation of Christianity's Jewish heritage."--BOOK JACKET.