Heikki Räisänen (1941-2015) touched upon many key questions in the study of early Christianity. The essays in this volume discuss these topics including methodological "fair play, the non-confessional study of early Christianity, Paul, and biblical reception in religious communities, including early Islam.

During his long scholarly career, Heikki Räisänen (1941-2015) touched upon many key questions in the study of early Christianity. The topics of his research ranged from the detailed study of various New Testament writings to methodological reflections on the theoretical foundations of biblical studies. In this book, international scholars deal with many of the issues that were prominent in Räisänen's research and that continue to be debated. The contributors build upon Räisänen's legacy as well as recent advancements in the study of early Christianity. The volume comprises four sections organized around topics central to Räisänen's scholarship. These include methodological "fair play, the non-confessional study of early Christianity, Pauline scholarship, and biblical reception in religious communities, including early Islam.

Autorentext
is Senior Lecturer at the University of Helsinki and co-director of the archaeological excavations conducted by the Kinneret Regional Project at Horvat Kur, Galilee. is Senior Lecturer at the University of Helsinki and the leader of the research project Lived Scriptures in Late Antiquity. is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Helsinki.

Inhalt
Raimo Hakola/Outi Lehtipuu/Nina Nikki: Common Ground and Diversity in Early Christian Thought and Study: An Introduction

Early Christianity in Context: Comparisons and Fair Play
Cecilia Wassén: The Uniqueness (or Not) of Jesus's Work as an Exorcist Antti Marjanen: The Radical Inclusion of Non-Canonical Texts in Heikki Räisänen's Reconstruction of the Thought World of Early Christians Jarmo Kiilunen: Looking for Parallels: A Neutestamentler Reads Marcus Aurelius

History and Theology in the Study of Early Christianity
Adele Reinhartz: Category Conflation: History and Theology in New Testament Studies Raimo Hakola: Revolution Masked as Tradition: Claims for Historical Continuity and Social Identity in Early Christianity and the Ancient World Petri Luomanen: Beliefs and the Rise of Christianity: Changing Paradigms in the Study of Early Christianity Niko Huttunen: Meanwhile, at Home: Heikki Räisänen in the Finnish Publicity

Diversity and Plurality in Paul's Thought
Nina Nikki: Challenges in the Study of the Historical Paul Christopher Tuckett: Paul and Israel in Galatians Gerd Theissen/Petra von Gemünden: Unity and Plurality in Paul's Concept of Salvation: The Theological Development of Paul in the Mirror of the Letter to the Romans

Early Christian Beliefs in History: Reception and Transitions
Adela Yarbro Collins: Functions and Offices in Ancient Christian Communities: For Men Only? Halvor Moxnes: Early Christian Communities as Associations: Tracing the Nineteenth-Century Roots of a Social Model Ilkka Lindstedt: Religious Groups in the Qur'an
Risto Uro: Epilogue