Bibliography: Orthodoxy and Heresy in Early Christianity

In light of recent discussions around the blogosphere I have attached a selected bibliography  for Walter Bauer's Orthodoxy and Heresy in Earliest Christianity:

Bauer, Walter, Robert A. Kraft, and Gerhard Krodel. Orthodoxy and Heresy in Earliest Christianity. Mifflintown, PA: Sigler Press, 1996. [ET]

Bock, Darrell L. The Missing Gospels : Unearthing the Truth Behind Alternative Christianities. Nashville: Nelson Books, 2006. [This book is quasi-apologetics and doesn't explore Bauer's thesis in too much detail, but it is quite a useful summary and refutation for those wanting a layman specific critique. Bock goes into more advanced territory dealing with the features of commonality between orthodoxy and disunity with later groups.]

Choat, Malcolm. (2006). Belief and cult in fourth-century papyri. Turnhout, Belgium,Brepols. [Although not on Bauer specifically, the book contains a great deal of information on the use of manuscripts. Choat has personally been responsible for developing my understanding of the use of papyri and the question of Egypt through lectures and in supervising my investigation.]

Desjardin, Michael. 'Bauer and beyond: On Recent Scholarly Discussion of hairesis in the Early Christian Era', The Second Century, 8 (1991), 65-82.

Dunn, James D. G. Unity and Diversity in the New Testament : An Inquiry into the Character of Earliest Christianity. 2nd ed. London Philadelphia: SCM Press ;
1990. [This book deals with diversity within the NT period so although it is directly relevant to Bauer's claim of "earliest Christianity" they are generally in two different periods. Dunn's ultimate conclusion is that the unity is generally focussed on the resurrection kerygma.]

Ehrman, Bart D. The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture : The Effect of Early Christological Controversies on the Text of the New Testament. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993.


_______. Lost Christianities : the battle for Scripture and the faiths we never knew. New York, Oxford University Press. 2003. [Discusses the diversity in the second century, but I find it quite bad at explaining where Bauer failed and the implications of it.]

Harrington, Daniel J. "The Reception of Walter Bauer's Orthodoxy and Heresy in Earliest Christianity During the Last Decade," in Harvard Theological Review 73 (1980): 289-98.



Hultgren, A. J.. The rise of normative Christianity. Minneapolis, Fortress Press. 1994. [This book was particularly difficult for me to get my hands on.]

Hurtado, Larry W. Lord Jesus Christ : Devotion to Jesus in Earliest Christianity. Grand Rapids, Mich.: W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 2003. [Hurtado deals with the Christologies across the board of Christian diversity. The exalted Christology of the early Kerygma and its reception in the second century is a great indicator of orthodoxy and heresy which is greatly ignored.]

________. The earliest Christian Artifacts : manuscripts and Christian Origins. Grand Rapids, Mich., William B. Eerdmans Pub. Co. 2006. [The KEY to understanding diversity, well at least in Egypt, is found in the manuscript record. WHY DO PEOPLE IGNORE THIS? WHY? This book is a great introduction to manuscripts and he gives some details of what scribal habits can tell us.]

Koester, H. “Gnomai Diaphoi: The Origin and Nature of Diversification in the History of
Early Christianity,” in Trajectories Through Early Christianity. Philadelphia, Fortress Press.1971.

________. Introduction to the New Testament. Vol. 2. History and Literature of Early
Christianity.Philadelphia: Fortress Press. 1982.

Kraft, Robert. Files and Information on Early Jewish and Early Christian Copies of Greek Jewish Scriptures. 2004. <http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/rak//jewishpap.html#jewishmss >

Llewelyn, S.R. and Kearsley, R.A.(1994). New documents illustrating early Christianity :
a review of Greek inscriptions and papyri published in 1982-83. North Ryde, N.S.W., The Ancient History Documentary Research Centre, Macquarie University: v. [Llewelyn has a great discussion on the frequency of gospel manuscripts and patristic citations. This is very useful in my own thesis and approach]

Luijendijk, AnneMarie. (2008). Greetings in the Lord : early Christians and the
Oxyrhynchus papyri. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard Theological Studies Distributed by Harvard University Press. [Someone not at Macquarie University who believes that early Christian Oxyrnchus paypri have the answer.]

Macquarie University, Papyri from the Rise of Christianity in Egypt, Conspectus
of Texts. < http://www.anchist.mq.edu.au/doccentre/Conspectus.pdf >

Neill, S. Jesus through many eyes : introduction to the theology of the New Testament. Guildford, Lutterworth Press. 1976.

Norris, Frederick W. "Ignatius, Polycarp, and 1 Clement: Walter Bauer Reconsidered," Vigiliae Christianae 30 (1976), 23-44

Pagels, Elaine H. The Gnostic Gospels. 1st ed. New York: Random House, 1979.

________. Beyond Belief : The Secret Gospel of Thomas. 1st ed. New York: Random House, 2003.

Roberts, Alexander ; Donaldson, James ; Coxe, A. Cleveland: The Ante-Nicene Fathers Vol.I : Translations of the Writings of the Fathers Down to A.D. 325. Oak Harbor : Logos Research Systems, 1997.

Roberts, Colin H. Manuscript, Society, and Belief in Early Christian Egypt, The Schweich Lectures of the British Academy 1977. London ; New York: published for the British Academy by Oxford University Press, 1979. [Deals with diversity in Egypt; an excellent book, however, it is in need of an update. Much of my own approach has been updating and supplementing Roberts' discussion]

Robinson, Thomas A. The Bauer Thesis Examined : The Geography of Heresy in the Early Christian Church, Studies in the Bible and Early Christianity V. 11. Lewiston, N.Y.: E. Mellen Press, 1988. [This was originally a PhD Thesis. It is quite well done and covers the greater geographical range that I tend to ignore in my focus on Egypt.]

Stark, Rodney. Cities of God : Christianizing the urban empire. San Francisco, HarperSanFrancisco. 2006.

Turner, H. E. W. The Pattern of Christian Truth : A Study in the Relations between Orthodoxy and Heresy in the Early Church. New York: AMS Press, 1978.

Witherington, Ben. 'The Anti-Feminist Tendencies of the 'Western' Text in Acts', Journal of Biblical Literature (103.1.82), (March 1984)