Michael A. Williams

Reading the Old Testament with the Ancient Church

Theology

“Heine's overview of the uses of and attitudes toward Jewish Scripture in the ancient church is offered as a corrective to a very common neglect of and lack of appreciation for this topic among lay and leadership audiences in evangelical churches. His lucid prose is eminently readable and his concise summaries include a wide array of authors from Christian late antiquity. This handy volume seems well designed for its audience, who will benefit greatly from Heine's scholarship on this topic.”

The Mandaeans

World Religions

“Lupieri's eminently readable and highly informative introduction to the Mandaeans fills a large gap in academic treatments of this still understudied tradition, whose origins and history are both fascinating and shrouded in considerable mystery. His engaging style of analysis offers an insightful framework for understanding the nature and evolution of Mandaean culture and its relation to other religious cultures — Jewish, Christian, and Islamic — among which and over against which it has shaped its own identity. This book should be very useful in helping students to see Mandaean religion as not merely an obscure curiosity but as one case study with some remarkable relevance for exploring the dynamics of religion and ethnicity in our world at large.”

The Rape of Eve

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“"Celine Lillie’s fresh and extensive analysis of portrayals of Eve’s rape in three Nag Hammadi writings, skillfully reappraised against the background of rape discourses that had been exploited in Roman imperial founding myths, is path breaking and powerful. The value of her eminently readable study will certainly not be limited to Nag Hammadi specialists. It will also benefit more widely students of early Christianity and Greco-Roman society, as well as many other readers seeking insight into the dynamics of patriarchal paradigms and sexual violence.””