ABSTRACT
This chapter traces the composition and circulation of Christian texts composed in response to the challenges to faith in the late first century and beyond. It discusses the composition of the orthodox and apocryphal texts that circulated widely. These texts cover the following topics: 1) Christian identity; 2) the role of charismatic gifts; 3) Gnostic texts promising secret knowledge; 4) Texts that repudiate the Gnostics; and 5) Apocalyptic texts that predict the “end times.”
