The ideal basic textbook for introductory courses in early Christianity . . .For studying early Christianity in its historical context, standard editions of the New Testament are less than ideal. They present the earliest Christian writings out of chronological order and omit writings similar in age and historical importance to the books of the New Testament.In Early Christian Reader, these texts are arranged in a more historically meaningful order. The books of the New Testament are presented in the NRSV, the most widely accepted version in university classrooms today. Also included are translations of the letters of Ignatius, 1 Clement, the Didache, and the Gospel of Thomas.Introductions to each work discuss date and place of composition, authorship, basic themes, and the Jewish and Hellenistic contexts. Generous notes illumine specific historical, lexical, and interpretive issues. Thus Early Christian Reader thus offers an objective, informed entrée into the complex world of the earliest Christian literature. Useful appendixes, maps, and charts make this an ideal text for the university or college classroom.