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The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha and the New Testament: Prolegomena for the Study of Christian Origins (1985) is a book by James H. Charlesworth.

Abstract

"The recent publication of The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha has made available for the first time in one collection 65 documents, or extant portions of them, related to the Old Testament, many of them dating from the third century B.C.E. to the second century C.E. and therefore extremely important for a better understanding of Christian origins and the writings in the New Testament. In this book, the editor of that collection presents his reflections on the importance of those documents for a much-needed clarification of the history and thought of those centuries and the emergence of both synagogal Judaism and Christianity. He discusses the Pseudepigrapha in the light of the canon of scripture assesses their significance for biblical studies, and makes a comparison with the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Nag Hammadi Codices. Professor Charlesworth offers a critique and concludes the work with an examination of the Jewish origins of early Christology."--Publisher description.

This book is more than an introduction to The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha (1983-1985 Charlesworth), edited volume. The goal of the work is to place the New Testament writings into its proper context of Early Judaism. A prominent concern of Charlesworth is the ignorance of the Old Testament Pseudepigrapha among many New Testament scholars, who prefer to read the New Testament in the context of Old Testament canonical traditions and nothing else. This text demonstrates the relevance of the Pseudepigrapha for New Testament scholarship, and reminds all scholars that Christianity owes much to its Jewish heritage. - Ronald Ruark, University of Michigan

Editions

Published in Cambridge [England]: Cambridge University Press, 1985 (Society for New Testament Studies Monograph Series, 54).

Translations

• Gli pseudepigrafi dell'Antico Testamento e il Nuovo Testamento (1990 Charlesworth / Boccaccini), book (Italian ed.)

Table of contents

• Introduction
• 1. The Pseudepigrapha: New Opportunities and Challenges for the Biblical Scholar
  • Introduction
  • The Modern Study of the Pseudepigrapha
  • New Opportunities and Challenges
  • The Canon, Inspiration and the Pseudepigrapha
  • Conclusion
• 2. The Pseudepigrapha, Early Judaism and Christian Origins
  • Introduction
  • Dating the Evidence
  • Methodology: A Search for the Essence of Early Judaism
  • Perceptions of Early Judaism and Christian Origins
  • The Cosmic Theology of Early Judaism
  • The Eschatological Anthropology of Early Judaism
  • Conclusion
• 3. The Pseudepigrapha and the New Testament
  • Introduction
  • Scrutinizing the Literary Relationships Between the Pseudepigrapha and the New Testament
  • The Pseudepigrapha and Dating the New Testament
  • Messianism and Christology: A Major Problematic Term
  • Conclusion
• Notes
• Indexes

External links

• Google Books (partial text)