In a perplexing passage from the Gospel of John, Jesus is likened to the most reviled creature in Christian symbology: the snake. Attempting to understand how the Fourth Evangelist could have made such a surprising analogy, James H. Charlesworth has...

The writers of the Bible depended on other sources for much of their work. Some of these sources may be lost forever, but many have come to light in modern times. Known as the pseudepigrapha, they are made available here in English translation.

This book contains expansions of the "Old Testament" and legends, wisdom and philosophical literature, prayers, psalms and odes, and fragments of lost Judeo-Hellenistic works. Western culture has been shaped largely by the Bible. In attempting to und...

In this book, an expert on the Dead Sea Scrolls explains why they are among the most important archaeological finds in history, and explores how they have revolutionized our understanding of Jesus.