The present volume offers a glimpse at one currently thriving expression of the distinguished history of religions school approach to the New Testament and early Christian literature. Begun circa 1884 at the University of Goettingen and pioneered by scholars such as Albert Eichhorn, Wilhelm Bousset, Johannes Weiss, and William Wrede, today applications of this approach are diverse. Scholars adapt the method, incorporating the latest technologies and insights, to optimize the school's original goal of accurate biblical interpretation. In North America, the University of Chicago has long been a hub of this type of investigation. Over the last century, many of these Chicago studies have produced groundbreaking results. Still, the approach has never been without its critics. Applying the history of religions school approach to a range of interesting topics and themes, the essays in this collection demonstrate against current opposition how the history of religions school continues to steer scholarly innovation in the field of New Testament studies by offering constructive new interpretations of early Christian and other writings and advancing discussion in key areas of research.

In contrast to studies of New Testament theology that ask or assume what it is, this volume investigates where it comes from. In a dialogue with Hans Dieter Betz, the contributors ask about the origins and preconditions of New Testament theology. How did it begin, both in terms of its historical stimuli and in terms of its earliest literary expressions? To what extent, if at all, did early Christians think of themselves as "doing theology"? How did early Christians come to understand their faith as an object of knowledge, and thus as theology? And, how did early Christians participate in and contribute to wider philosophical conversations about religion and what can be known about the divine in Roman antiquity?

Arthur Darby Nock (1902-1963) made lasting contributions to classical scholarship and the history of religion, including the study of ancient religion, magic, and the relationship of paganism to ancient Judaism and early Christianity. Almost ninety years after its publication, his work, Conversion: The Old and New in Religion from Alexander the Great to Augustine of Hippo , serves as an introduction to what is today an entire area of research encompassing history, literature (i.e., "conversion" as a literary genre), philosophy, psychology, and theology. The present volume features essays exploring the circumstances of religious transformation not only in early Christianity but also in other ancient religions and in philosophical schools - the various converts, the means by which followers attracted adherents, and the factors influencing and limiting their success.

The Gospels continue to defy efforts to fix 'generic' boundaries for determining their meanings. This volume discloses new stirrings and sightings of broader, more heuristically promising literary, rhetorical, and cultural registers which intersect in ancient narrative. The contributors seek to build upon or vigorously critique current generic hypotheses (biography, history, tragedy); to introduce recent insights and developments in genre theory; to probe ancient reception of the Gospels as works of literature; and to illuminate the relations between the literary characteristics of the Gospels and methodological advances in narratology, social memory, intertextuality, and performance.