In a collection of essays spanning some 35 years, Luke Timothy Johnson takes on some of the most contested issues in the study of Christian Origins and the New Testament --- from the historical Jesus and the Jesus of the Gospels, through exegetical studies of Luke-Acts and Paul, to questions pertaining to the development of early Christian history, relations with Judaism, the uses of polemic, sexuality, and law.

Johnson's work is characterized by close attention to texts and a concern for methodological rigor. Far from representing scholarly consensus, these essays consistently display independence of judgment, whether concerning the authorship of Paul's disputed letters, the legitimacy of the quest for the historical Jesus, or the toxic character of some early Christian texts.