The papers in this volume were first delivered at a 2007 conference at Tilburg University on the relationship between the early Christian books of Matthew, James and the Didache. Zangenberg (early Christian literature, Leiden University) and van de Sandt (New Testament studies, Tilburg University) have arranged the papers under five related headings. They emphasize the religious milieu of the documents, their relationship to each other, how they reflect the communities for which they were written, and the ways in which early Christianity was still defining itself within Jewish tradition or breaking from it as in the continuation of the purity laws, oaths, and rituals. Taken together, these articles are a fascinating, scholarly discussion of three very early Christian texts that demonstrate the problems and solutions during the transition to both non-Jewish Christianity and the Talmudic era. Annotation 2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
