This book is a compilation of letters, narratives of journeys and local traditions, and various documents pertaining to the Archbishop of Canterbury's Mission to the Assyrian Church of the East.

Shirin, the beloved wife of the Persian shah, Chosroes II (b. 628), pulled political strings behind the scenes and supported the Christian minority in Iran.

The Church Orders are an interesting series of manuals in The Ancient Church Orders. A. J. Maclean makes them better known to the modern reader, and explains the extent to which they throw light on early Christian worship and customs.

This two-volume book is the result of seven months of field work in Egypt. It is an important document for its time and an early and influential example of unprejudiced scholarly interest in the culture of the Coptic Church.

This two-volume book is the result of seven months of field work in Egypt. It is an important document for its time and an early and influential example of unprejudiced scholarly interest in the culture of the Coptic Church.

A brief introduction to Eastern Orthodoxy written at the time of renewed English interest in its liturgical past, this guidebook provides the essentials of Eastern Christianity for that time. The book provides an overview of the history, doctrines, liturgies, and vestments of the Orthodox tradition.

A translation of the Book of Worship by the eleventh-century writer Al-Ghazzali, this is a useful book which explains elements of Muslim worship for those who desire to know more. Annotations help clarify allusions and technical terms referred to in this translation.

Jules Leroy, the French art expert, spent several months touring the Near East in search of Early Christian remains. During this time he visited most of the monasteries in Egypt, Syria, the Lebanon, Palestine, and Iraq.

The Apology of Aristides is the earliest Christian apologia to have survived in its entirety. It was written as a defense of the new Christian way of life against its many rivals and opponents, and details some of its leading ethical precepts. Long thought to have been lost, this early second-century work was rediscovered in a Syriac translation in a seventh-century manuscript preserved in the monastery of St. Catherine on Mount Sinai. This volume contains not only the standard edition of the Syriac text with critical notes, but also the first English translation and a study of surviving fragments in Greek, which were subsequently identified in the 'Life of Barlaam and Josaphat' (an early Christian reworking of the life of Buddha).

Only fragments survive of the writings of the Valentinian Gnostic teacher Heracleon (fl. 145-180 AD). The remnants can be found primarily in quotations in Origen's commentary on the Gospel of John. This study gives an edition of the surviving texts with extensive notes, biblical references, and indices. This volume is indispensable for the study of second century Gnosticism.

The late Cambridge scholar F. H. Chase gives an insightful study on the Lord's prayer in the early Christian Church. The study first discusses the early Church and the Synagogue, then goes through an analytical study of every phrase of the prayer.

The story of the two women martyrs S. Perpetua and her slave S. Felicitas (d. 203 CE) have captivated generations of Christians. In this book, the late Cambridge scholar J. A. Robinson provides a study of the Greek and Latin texts of the Passio based on newly discovered manuscripts, as well as the original Latin text of the Scillitan Martyrs, another text of late 2nd century North African martyrdom.

The loves of the Olympian Zeus included countless immortal and mortal women, and one boy. The offspring, such as Apollo, Bacchus, Herakles, Helen of Troy and many others remain legendary. Section II is a 70-page modern debate on sexuality and spirituality.

In opposition to other leading scholars of the Mandaeans, Yamauchi concludes that the Mandaeans could not have originated before the second century CE. He notes their distinguishing characterisitcs from other Gnostic groups.

One of the first publications to tackle this subject, this book was widely read and used as a reference. The lectures cover the influence of Christianity on Islam, the relation of Christianity to Islamic theology, the expansion of Islam, the downfall of Christianity, and a look towards the future.

This book provides the first major reinvestigation and reinterpretation of the history of centralization of worship in ancient Israel since de Wette and Wellhausen in the nineteenth century. Old Testament scholarship has thus far relied on the consensus that the book of Deuteronomy is the product of late monarchic Judah (7th century BC). Pitkanen places the biblical material in its archaeological and ancient Near Eastern context and pays special attention to rhetorical analysis. The author suggests that the book of Joshua, as well as its sources (such as Deuteronomy) may have originated as early as before the disaster of Aphek and the rejection of Shiloh.