The Lord's Supper in the New Testament (History of Biblical Studies)

This work, the inaugural volume in a new SBL series devoted to preserving and promoting seminal biblical scholarship from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, offers the first English translation of Albert Eichhorns influential Das Abendmahl im Neuen Testament. Eichhorns penetrating analysis of the Lords Supper traditions in this work exemplifies the qualities for which he was so highly esteemed: the sure ability to distinguish layers of tradition within the text, the full appreciation of the role of early Christian worship in shaping the reports about Jesus life, the forthright acknowledgement of the difficulty of ascertaining the original historical events, and the unflinching recognition of the influence of Near Eastern and Hellenistic religions upon Christian tradition, even in its earliest stages. To set Eichhorn himself in his historical and intellectual context, this volume also offers the first English translation of Hugo Gressmanns biographical essay: Albert Eichhorn and the History of Religion School.