One of the 1998 Academy of Parish Clergy Top Ten Books of the Year! Voted one of Christianity Today's 1998 Books of the Year! The third of IVP's critically acclaimed series of dictionaries of the New Testament provides focused study on the often-neglected portions of the New Testament: Acts, Hebrews, the General Epistles and Revelation. Furthermore, its scope goes beyond the life of the New Testament church to include the work of the apostolic fathers and early Christianity up through the middle of the second century. The Dictionary of the Later New Testament & Its Developments offers a summa of New Testament studies. Designed to bring students, teachers, pastors and general readers up to date and up to speed, this one-of-a-kind reference volume presents more information than any other single work--dealing exclusively with the theology, literature, background and scholarship of the later New Testament and the apostolic church. In-depth, comprehensive articles focus on theological themes, methods of interpretation, background topics and various other subjects specifically related to the study of New Testament theology and literature. Expert contributors include Darrell Bock, George R. Beasley-Murray, I. Howard Marshall, Ben Witherington III and James D. G. Dunn. Wide-ranging articles range from the books of James and Jude to household codes, from the Roman emperor cult to gnosticism and docetism, questions of canon to second-century church leaders like Ignatius and Polycarp. The Dictionary of the Later New Testament & Its Developments takes its place alongside the Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels and Dictionary of Paul and His Letters in presenting mature evangelical scholarship--committed to the authority of Scripture, utilizing the best of critical methods, and maintaining a dialogue with contemporary scholarship and the challenges facing the church.