Synopses & Reviews
It is time for a new New Testament.
Over the past century, numerous lost scriptures have been discovered, authenticated, translated, debated, celebrated. Many of these documents were as important to shaping early-Christian communities and beliefs as what we have come to call the New Testament; these were not the work of shunned sects or rebel apostles, not alternative histories or doctrines, but part of the vibrant conversations that sparked the rise of Christianity. Yet these scriptures are rarely read in contemporary churches; they are discussed nearly only by scholars or within a context only of gnostic gospels. Why should these books be set aside? Why should they continue to be lost to most of us? And don’t we have a great deal to gain by placing them back into contact with the twenty-seven books of the traditional New Testament—by hearing, finally, the full range of voices that formed the early chorus of Christians?
To create this New New Testament, Hal Taussig called together a council of scholars and spiritual leaders to discuss and reconsider which books belong in the New Testament. They talked about these recently found documents, the lessons therein, and how they inform the previously bound books. They voted on which should be added, choosing ten new books to include in A New New Testament. Reading the traditional scriptures alongside these new texts—the Gospel of Luke with the Gospel of Mary, Paul’s letters with The Letter of Peter to Philip, The Revelation to John with The Secret Revelation to John—offers the exciting possibility of understanding both the new and the old better. This new reading, and the accompanying commentary in this volume, promises to reinvigorate a centuries-old conversation and to bring new relevance to a dynamic tradition.
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“Celebrated religious scholar Cox argues that we are witnessing the dawn of a third epoch in Christian history . . . Coxs work is intriguing, and there is certainly truth in his observations about global Christianity and the rise of Pentecostalism and liberation theology.” Kirkus Reviews
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“A lucid and congenial book . . . [Cox] is not alone, but he is most cogent, in thinking that the content of Christian faith is becoming more like that of the early church . . . A book full of good news.” Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
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“With its overarching themes, Coxs new book can be viewed as the culmination of his lifes scholarship.” Boston Globe
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“The Future of Faith is insightful, provocative, and inspiringI even found myself uttering a hearty evangelical “Amen” at many points!” Richard Mouw, President of Fuller Theological Seminary and author of Calvinism in the Las Vegas Airport
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“For the last four decades, Harvey Cox has been the leading trend spotter in American religion.” Stephen Prothero, author of Religious Literacy
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“The Future of Faith is a tour de force. As passionate and challenging as his classic, The Secular City, Coxs new book invites the faithful, the skeptical, and the fearful into a spirit-filled vision of Christianity that can renew a hurting world.” Diana Butler Bass, author of A People's History of Christianity
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“This important book has not only helped me understand the past, present, and future of this amazing phenomenon called Christianity ... it has also motivated me to keep working to help make actual the possible future Cox envisions.”
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“With typical brilliance and lively insight, Cox explores questions in a dazzling blend of memoir, church history and theological commentary . . . Cox remains our most thoughtful commentator on the religious scene, and his spirited portrait of our religious landscape challenges us to think in new ways about faith.” Publishers Weekly
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"Harvey Cox has been a voice of both reason and faith in our cynical times. Now, he offers
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“At this crucial turning point in history, Harvey Cox reminds us of essential religious values and imperatives . . . A timely and prophetic book” Karen Armstrong, author of A History of God
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“Harvey Cox has been a voice of both reason and faith in our cynical times. Now, he offers
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"This brilliant contextualization of the familiar New Testament in the context of other early Christian writings illuminates both. It is important both historically and theologically. Readers will not be able to see the New Testament in the same way again." —Marcus Borg, author of
The Heart of Christianity "
A New New Testament does what some of us never dreamed possible: it opens the treasure chest of early Christian writings, restoring a carefully select few of them to their rightful place in the broad conversation about who Jesus was, what he did and taught, and what all of that has to do with us now. This new constellation of early Christian scriptures adds brilliant facets to the diamond of divine revelation, waking up those of us who thought we knew it all. While this book will be a welcome addition to the academic courses in New Testament, Christian origins, and theology, I expect it will have its greatest impact in churches, as people of faith become better acquainted with some of their first forebears in faith." —Barbara Brown Taylor, author of
Leaving Church and
An Altar in the World "A New New Testament offers its readers an expansive opening onto the world of the early Christians. For the first time, modern readers can explore a range of voices and theological perspectives that have not been heard for centuries, set side-by-side with well-known biblical books. Old texts become freshly vibrant, and new texts open ancient avenues for renewed reflection and spiritual practice.
A New New Testament will be a vital resource for the 21st century." —Karen L. King, Hollis Professor of Divinity, Harvard Divinity School "Remarkable...Not meant to replace the traditional New Testament, this fascinating work will be, Taussig hopes, the first of several new New Testaments." —
Booklist, starred "A culminating work of the Jesus Seminar era and of others influenced by it, this collection of manuscripts serves to complete and update the standard Christian New Testament." --
Kirkus
Synopsis
The Rise and Fall of Belief and the Coming Age of the Spirit
There is an essential change taking place in what it means to be “religious” today. As religious people shift their focus to ethical guidelines and spiritual disciplines—not doctrine—we are seeing a universal trend away from hierarchical, regional, patriarchal, and institutional religion. Now, legendary Harvard scholar Harvey Cox offers a new interpretation of the history and future of religion, revealing how doctrines and dogma are giving way to new grassroots movements based in community, social justice, and spiritual experience. The Future of Faith is a major statement and a hopeful vision from one of the most revered theologians today.
Synopsis
A beautiful book and a Cox classic .Readers will be grateful that they joined him on his journey. E.J. Dionne Jr., author of Souled Out
Insightful, provocative, and inspiring I even found myself uttering a hearty evangelical Amen Richard Mouw, President, Fuller Theological Seminary, and author of Calvinism in the Las Vegas Airport
The Future of Faith is Harvard religion scholar Harvey Cox s landmark exploration of why Christian dogmatism is giving way to a grassroots Christianity rooted in social justice and spirituality. Cox laid the groundwork for modern religious writing with his 1965 classic, The Secular City, paving the way for writers like Diana Butler Bass, Karen Armstrong, Stephen Prothero, and Deepak Chopra, who calls The Future of Faith a fresh vision for the resurrection of a new global Christianity. "
Synopsis
In The Future of Faith, legendary theologian Harvey Cox proposes a new interpretation of the history and future of Christianity -- one that explains why Christian beliefs and dogma are giving way to new grassroots movements rooted in social justice and spiritual experience. Cox identifies three fundamental shifts over the last 2000 years of Church history: the Age of Faith, when the early Church was more concerned with following Jesus's teachings than enforcing what to believe about Jesus; the Age of Belief, when the Church focused on orthodoxy and enforcing correct beliefs; and the Age of the Spirit, which is currently shaping not just Christianity but other religious traditions today, in which spirituality replaces formal religion. The Future of Faith is a major statement by one of the most revered and respected religious scholars today.
Harvey Cox is the Hollis Research Professor of Divinity at Harvard University, where he has been teaching since 1965, both at Harvard Divinity School and in the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences. An American Baptist minister, he was the Protestant chaplain at Temple University and the director of religious activities at Oberlin College; an ecumenical fraternal worker in Berlin; and a professor at Andover Newton Theological School. His book Secular City, published in 1965, became an international bestseller and was selected by the University of Marburg as one of the most influential books of Protestant theology in the twentieth century.
"With its overarching themes, Cox's new book can be viewed as the culmination of his life's scholarship." -- Boston Globe
--Karen Armstrong, author of A History of God
Synopsis
“A beautiful book and a Cox classic….Readers will be grateful that they joined him on his journey.” —E.J. Dionne Jr., author of
Souled Out“Insightful, provocative, and inspiring—I even found myself uttering a hearty evangelical ‘Amen!” —Richard Mouw, President, Fuller Theological Seminary, and author of Calvinism in the Las Vegas Airport
The Future of Faith is Harvard religion scholar Harvey Coxs landmark exploration of why Christian dogmatism is giving way to a grassroots Christianity rooted in social justice and spirituality. Cox laid the groundwork for modern religious writing with his 1965 classic, The Secular City, paving the way for writers like Diana Butler Bass, Karen Armstrong, Stephen Prothero, and Deepak Chopra, who calls The Future of Faith “a fresh vision for the resurrection of a new global Christianity.”
Synopsis
A provocative new edition of the New Testament that includes ten more recently found texts, selected by a council of scholars and spiritual leaders, alongside the classic books, with introductions and contextual background from Hal Taussig.
About the Author
A founding member of the Jesus Seminar, HAL TAUSSIG is a pastor, professor of Biblical literature at Union Theological Seminary in New York, and professor of early Christianity at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. He is the author of In the Beginning Was the Meal; The Thunder: Perfect Mind; A New Spiritual Home; Reimagining Life Together in America (with Catherine Nerney); Jesus Before God; Reimagining Christian Origins (with Elizabeth Castelli), and others.
Table of Contents
Foreword xi
Preface xvi
Preface to the Translations xx
Introducing A New New Testament xxiii
How to Read A New New Testament xxviii
The Books of
A New New Testament
An Ancient Prayer from the Early
Christ Movements
The Prayer of Thanksgiving 5
Gospels Featuring Jesuss Teachings
The Gospel of Thomas 15
The Gospel of Matthew 27
The Gospel of Mark 64
The Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles 89
The Acts of the Apostles 127
Gospels, Poems, and Songs Between
Heaven and Earth
The First Book of the Odes of Solomon 172
The Thunder: Perfect Mind 183
The Gospel of John 189
The Gospel of Mary 224
The Gospel of Truth 231
The Writings of Paul and an
Introductory Prayer
The Prayer of the Apostle Paul 243
The Letter to the Romans 246
The First Letter to the Corinthians 265
The Second Letter to the Corinthians 283
The Letter to the Galatians 296
The Letter to the Philippians 304
The First Letter to the Thessalonians 369
The Letter to Philemon 314
Literature in the Tradition of Paul
with a Set of Introductory Prayers
The Second Book of the Odes of Solomon 320
The Letter to the Ephesians 328
The Acts of Paul and Thecla 337
The Letter to the Colossians 347
he Second Letter to the Thessalonians 351
The First Letter to Timothy 355
The Second Letter to Timothy 361
The Letter to Titus 365
Diverse Letters with a Set
of Introductory Prayers
The Third Book of the Odes of Solomon 372
The Letter of James 379
The Letter to the Hebrews 386
The First Letter of Peter 401
The Letter of Peter to Philip 409
The Second Letter of Peter 414
The Letter of Jude 418
Literature in the Tradition of John
with an Introductory Set of Prayers
The Fourth Book of the Odes of Solomon 427
The First Letter of John 434
The Second Letter of John 439
The Third Letter of John 441
The Revelation to John 445
The Secret Revelation of John 467
A Companion to
A New New Testament
BASIC HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
FOR THIS NEW BOOK OF BOOKS
A Preamble 483
1 The Discoveries of New Documents from Old Worlds 485
2 The Books of A New New Testament: An Overview 491
3 Two Surprising Stories: How the Traditional New Testament Came to Be; How A New New Testament Came to Be 500
4 Whats New in A New New Testament? 519
5 Giving Birth to A New New Testament
and Retiring the Idea of Gnosticism 529
6 A Rich Explosion of Meaning 537
Epilogue: Whats Next for A New New Testament? 544
The Council for A New New Testament 555
Acknowledgments 559
Appendix I: Sixty-seven Major Writings of the Early Christ Movements 560
Appendix II: The Books of the Nag Hammadi Library 567
Appendix III: Study Guide 569
Appendix IV: Recommended Reading 582
Subject and Author Index 584
Scriptural Index 000