Forerunners and rivals of Christianity: being studies in religious history from 330 B.C. to 330 A.D., Vol. 1 (of 2)

About this book

The work is a scholarly compilation that gathers, translates, and annotates a range of fragmentary documents relevant to the early development of Christianity and its contemporary religious competitors. In his introductory remarks Francis Legge explains that, although most of the sources have already been rendered into modern languages, they remain largely unknown outside specialist circles and are difficult to interpret without a running commentary. He therefore follows the method suggested by Sir Gaston Maspero, collecting scattered examples, placing them side by side, and drawing out common features, to illuminate how these texts interrelate and to render “nonsense” intelligible. The volume opens with a detailed preface on the purpose and limits of his editorial choices, followed by a contents list that outlines chapters covering Alexander’s conquests, Alexandrian divinities, the origins of Gnosticism, and the pre‑Christian sects that rivaled nascent Christianity.

Legge writes in a measured, academic tone characteristic of early‑20th‑century scholarship, blending extensive footnotes with a clear intent to let readers judge the evidence for themselves. The style is dense but accessible to those accustomed to historical and theological studies, and the book’s systematic approach will appeal to scholars of early Christianity, comparative religion, and ancient history, as well as to serious readers who enjoy tracing the interplay of myth, philosophy, and ritual across cultures from the late Hellenistic period to the early Christian era.

Opening lines

The following pages are a modest attempt to bring before the public certain documents of great importance for the understanding of the growth and development of the Christian religion. They are not new, almost all of them having been translated at one time or another into English, French, German, or Italian: but they are all practically unknown save to scholars, are all fragmentary, and with hardly an exception, are difficult to understand without a running commentary. In these circumstances, I have ventured to follow, not for the first time, the advice given by Sir Gaston Maspero to his pupils in one of his luminous lectures at the Collège de France. …

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