Long serving as a standard introduction to the world of the early church, Backgrounds of Early Christianity is now available in an expanded, up-to-date third edition. Featuring 95 photographs of the ancient world, this book explores--now in even greater depth -- the Roman, Greek, and Jewish political, social, religious, and philosophical backgrounds necessary for a good historical understanding of the New Testament and the early church. New to this edition are substantial revisions of Everett Ferguson's original material, an updated bibliography, and fresh discussions of social life in the first-century, of Gnosticism, and of the Dead Sea Scrolls and other Jewish literature.