The crucible of Christianity: Judaism, Hellenism and the historical background to the Christian faith

Although the history is out of date and the photos are largely black-and-white, this coffee table book is a helpful overview of the political, religious, social, architectural, artistic, and philosophical roots of early Christianity. (It also has some coverage of the Ancient Near East and the Dead

Sea Scrolls.)

A good source for some early Church History, Hellenistic and Roman-era Judaism, Art History, political and religious iconography, coins, photos of buildings and sacred places, and samples of Latin in the wild (with occasional appearances of Akkadian, Egyptian,Hebrew, Syriac, Greek.)

There are more current introductions to these subjects and paper and online sources for many of its photos in color (although later photos may also document deterioration) but it is not a bad book to leaf through.

-Kushana

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