Dedication Table of Contents List of Abbreviations Foreword Series Editors’ Preface Acknowledgments Chapter One: Introduction Chapter Two: A Resurrection Narrative Unearthed from an Ancient Tomb: The Discovery of the Akhmîm Codex Chapter Three: Scope, Purpose, and Primary Materials Chapter Four: Post-Mortem Beliefs in the Hebrew Bible Chapter Five: The Emergence of the Concept of Resurrection in Late Second Temple Judaism: Raised to Life or Damned to Hell Chapter Six: Resurrection in New Testament Texts: From Resuscitation to Resurrection Chapter Seven: Putting the Akhmîm Gospel Fragment in its Place I:Polemic and Apologetics Chapter Eight: Putting the Akhmîm Gospel Fragment in its Place II: Narrative and Imagination Chapter Nine: Summary and Conclusions Bibliography Index

This series focuses on early Jewish and Christian texts and their formative contexts; it also includes sourcebooks that help clarify the ancient world. Five aspects distinguish this series. First, the series reflects the need to situate, and to seek to understand, these ancient texts within their originating social and historical contexts. Second, the series assumes that it is now often difficult to distinguish between Jewish and Christian documents, since all early Christians were Jews. Jesus and his earliest followers were devout Jews who shared many ideas with the well-known Jewish groups, especially the Pharisees, the Essenes, and the various apocalyptic groups. Third, the series recognizes that there were (and still are) many ways of understanding authoritative literature or scripture. Therefore, we must not impose a static notion of canon on the early period of our culture and in turn denigrate some texts with labels such as non-canonical since such terms are anachronistic designations that were only later imposed on the early documents. Fourth, the series emphasizes the need to include all relevant sources and documents, including non-literary data, and that all important methodologies - from archaeology and sociology to rhetoric and theology - should be employed to clarify the origin and meaning of the documents. Fifth, scientific research is at the foundation of these publications which are directed to scholars and those interested in Jewish and Christian origins.