What lies between the authoritative preeminence of the Mother Church of Jerusalem and the virtual extinction both of its life and apparently of all its local records? Dr. Brandon finds that the full significance of the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70 has been strangely neglected amongst scholars. In this original and exhaustive study he shows that this catastrophic event was of profound importance not only for the development of early Christianity but possibly also for its very survival. Besides an ordered survey of other ancient historians, this book demonstrates an extensive study of New Testament origins, and many will find special interest in the light it throws upon the origin and purpose of canonical works. This book faces serious problems of New Testament study that have generally been too easily dismissed, and it makes a definite and original contribution towards their solution.

A historical study of the adoption by Christianity of Jewish prerogatives and attributes.

The Late Second Temple Period (c. 200 BC to 70 AD) was a period of intense social changes for the Jewish people. During this period, the Jewish people experienced a Syrian king defiling the Jerusalem Temple, the Maccabean Revolt, the celebration of Hanukkah, the establishment of a competing Jewish temple in Egypt, and the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple. During this time, Jews spread out all over the Diaspora. The turmoil and the lack of visible cohesion have led many scholars to argue that there was no Jewish unity and no distinguishable Jewish identity in this time period. This book argues against this trend in academia, and posits that a strong Jerusalem tradition unified the Jewish people. Book jacket.

This study addresses the chief critical issues in the interpretation of 3 Baruch -- including text, genre, setting, function, literary integrity, and original authorship -- and offers a reading of the document as both a Jewish and a Christian text.