Shadowy Characters and Fragmentary Evidence

The Search for Early Christian Groups and Movements

Edited by Tobias Nicklas Edited by Joseph Verheyden Edited by Elisabeth Hernitscheck

Book cover: Shadowy Characters and Fragmentary Evidence

Extent: 285 pages

Publisher: Mohr Siebeck

Subjects: Religious Studies

Series: Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament

Language: English

Hardback (Published)

(January 2018)

ISBN: 9783161540851

6.5 x 9.61 inches

Price: $224.00

In stock

What role do heavily fragmented texts and hypothetical sources, “shadowy” characters and movements play in reconstructing an overall picture of developments in the theology and religious life of early Christianity? The present volume contains the proceedings of an international colloquium that dealt with these texts and the characters and movements they feature with the intention of contributing to a critical history of their research.


The present volume contains the proceedings of an international colloquium that dealt with heavily fragmented texts and hypothetical sources, and with the “shadowy” characters and movements featured in such texts. These two aspects are combined here and studied to see how they have been handled in the history of research, what they reveal about the community or the group expressing itself through (or hiding behind) them, and to ascertain the role these documents and figures or groups should be given in reconstructing an overall picture of developments in the theology and religious life of early Christianity. The essays contribute to the writing of a critical history of researching these types of documents and movements. Contributors: Gianfranco Agosti, Carl Johan Berglund, Johanna Brankaer, Jean-Daniel Dubois, Andrew Gregory, Wolfgang Grunstaudl, Elisabeth Hernitscheck, Tobias Nicklas, Michael Sommer, Christopher Tuckett, Joseph Verheyden, Korinna Zamfir

Joseph Verheyden: Introduction - Christopher Tuckett: The Community of Q - Korinna Zamfir: Elusive Opponents in the Pastoral Epistles - Michael Sommer: Die Nikolaiten und die Gegnerfiktion in der Offenbarung des Johannes - eine Annäherung an einige hermeneutische Probleme der Apokalypselektüre - Tobias Nicklas: Fragmente christlicher Apokryphen und die Geschichte des frühen Christentums - Elisabeth Hernitscheck: Im trüben Wasser des "Davidsteichs" - P.Oxy. 840 und die Suche nach seiner Provenienz - Wolfgang Grünstäudl: Enthüllung im Fragment - Notizen zu Überlieferungsgestalt und Figureninventar der Offenbarung des Petrus - Andrew Gregory: The Nazoraeans - Jean-Daniel Dubois: The Basilidians - Johanna Brankaer: Revisiting Those Elusive Sethians - Tobias Nicklas: Jenseits der Kategorien - Elchasai und die Elchasaiten - Carl Johan Berglund: Evaluating Quotations in Ancient Greek Literature: The Case of Heracleon's hypomnēmata - Gianfranco Agosti: (Re)constructing a Christian Community through its Poetry

Joseph Verheyden (Herausgegeben von)
Professor of New Testament Studies in the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies at the KU Leuven.
Tobias Nicklas (Herausgegeben von)
Born 1967; 2000 doctorate and 2004 habilitation at the University of Regensburg; Professor of Exegesis and Hermeneutics of the New Testament at the Faculty of Catholic Theology at the University of Regensburg.
Elisabeth Hernitscheck (Herausgegeben von)
Geboren 1986; seit 2012 Doctoral Researcher in der Reserach Unit Biblical Studies an der theologischen Fakultät der KU Leuven (Prof. Dr. Joseph Verheyden); Free Research Associate an der KU Leuven; seit 2018 Programmplanerin Theologie bei der Verlagsgruppe Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.

  • Edited by Tobias Nicklas
  • Edited by Joseph Verheyden
  • Edited by Elisabeth Hernitscheck