Books by E. P. Sanders

This text provides a summary of what is known about Jesus and his times - Galilee, his sense of mission as an eschatological prophet and miracle worker, and the mechanics of how the memories of Jesus's words and deeds circulated amongst his followers and were passed on in the written tradition.

Working with primary evidence, describes the Judaism of this period as a functioning religion and discusses the religious practice and daily life of ordinary people. Pagan parallels to Jewish practice are noted and common theological ground discussed.

In this volume, E. P. Sanders presents five studies that re-examine the nature of Jewish law in the second Temple period. He considers how serious the legal issues discussed between Jesus and his opponents would have been, had they been authentic; explores whether the Pharisees had oral law, and whether they ate ordinary food in purity; examines ho

This book is devoted both to the problem of Paul''s view of the law as a whole, and to his thought about and relation to his fellow Jews. Building upon his previous study, the critically acclaimed Paul and Palestinian Judaism, E.P. Sanders explores Paul''s Jewishness by concentrating on his overall relationship to Jewish tradition and thought. Sanders addresses such topics as Paul''s use of scripture, the degree to which he was a practicing Jew during his career as apostle to the Gentiles, and his thoughts about his "kin by race" who did not accept Jesus as the messiah. In short, Paul''s thoughts about the law and his own people are re-examined with new awareness and great care.Sanders addresses an important chapter in the history of the emergence of Christianity. Paul''s role in that development -- specially in light of Galatians and Romans -- is now re-evaluated in a major way. This book is in fact a significant contribution to the study of the emergent normative self-definition in Judaism and Christianity during the first centuries of the common era.