"This collection provides a rich, multilayered analysis of a long-neglected branch of the Christian literature of antiquity that examines the relationship between tradition and redaction, the uses of language, and the fluid border between literary criticism and motif analysis." "The scope of this collection, as it examines the transformation of the ancient world into Byzantine Christianity, demonstrates that the early Christian apocryphal literature is a vital source for historians of Christianity, for scholars of patristics and of the New Testament, and for those inquiring into such timeless issues as the structure of political authority, the role of women, religious experience, and the organization of social responsibility."--Jacket.