The New Testament Christological Hymns

Book excerpt: A study of the hymnic and liturgical material in the New Testament which describes Christ's nature and person. Professor Sanders analyzes the hymns in detail and finds in them a common mythological pattern. He traces its origin to a particular and unorthodox branch of Judaism which is itself a branch of the 'wisdom' tradition where the thanksgiving hymn had its home. His conclusions therefore have considerable importance and implications for questions about the origins of Gnosticism and its influence on Christianity. This is the full-scale historical religious study of the New Testament Christological hymns, and English readers will find particularly useful Professor Sanders' critical survey of recent continental scholarship on this and related subjects.