James H. Charlesworth & Craig A. Evans - The Pseudepigrapha And Early Biblical Interpretation

This book contains a number of well-written essays on the "Old Testament" "Pseudepigrapha" and how such works were first interpreted. The insights to I Enoch and Jubilees, along with 4 Ezra and various books of the Apocrypha were particularly enlightening.

It is interesting to note the possible (dis)connection between the Apostle Paul and his theory of sin entering the world through one man and the teaching in the book of Sirach that sin enters the world through the woman. Perhaps both are true? Or, perhaps, Paul was trying to address an issue that he felt was untrue?

This is one of the books that puts early Christianity in its context more than many of the others because works such as Sirach are, in this book, evaluated as being just as important and relevant as the "canon" of Scripture itself.

For those interested in early Christianity, early Judaism, the "canon" of the Bible, and the writings of the New Testament in the context they were written in, this is an essential piece of literature to have.

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