Product Description

This engaging and beautifully written narrative sheds a brilliant new light on the life of Jesus and the courageous men and women who carried His message throughout a hostile empire. Full-color photos and illustrations. (20040603)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #185873 in Books
• Published on: 1998-02-03
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 384 pages

Review
Dave (Doc) Kirby Book Bits, WTBF - AM/FM : Dr. Maier makes a faraway land seem much more accessible.

Tabernacle Bookshop London, England : Dr. Maier provides a great abundance of background information, most of it fresh and stimulating. His description of places and customs, and the sheer number of interesting historical details and statistics, cannot fail to excite.

Dave (Doc) Kirby Book Bits, WTBF - AM/FM : . . . Treat yourself to an entertaining while informative text which seeks answers for many of the questions that have been asked for centuries!

From the Publisher
Dramatic true stories behind the crucial events of Christianity, lavishly illustrated.

About the Author
Paul L. Maier is the award-winning professor of ancient history at Western Michigan University. He is the author of numerous award-winning books ranging from children's books to historical texts. A recognized expert in church history, Dr. Maier speaks to a variety of groups and media outlets around the world.

Customer Reviews

Informative and Enjoyable book on Early Christianity
"In The Fullness of Time" is an updated version of a trilogy on early Christianity written by the historian Paul L. Maier. Part I covers the Christmas story, Part II covers Easter, and Part III takes readers from Pentacost to Nero's persecutions. I had previously read and enjoyed a number of Maier's fictional works and I had high expectations for this non-fiction work. I was not disappointed.
The book is a fast read and the author kept my interest. Each section was concise though informative. Information about the region's climate and background stories of some of the key players helped flesh out the familiar story. The book also contains numerous photographs to help the reader visualize the places the author is writting about. Maier avoids sensationally radical theories or over-literalism that mar many works on the same subject. Overall, an enjoyable book about the rise of Christianity.

Good Background Information
Maier does a good job putting Christmas and Easter into their appropriate historical contexts. Lots of good information that helps to place both into perspective.

The third part of the book, on the early church, is not as well done. There is less historical and archaelogical information brought into play. It was still pretty good, just not as good as the first two sections.

Still, I would recommend this book as one to help build a foundation.

A Christian history teacher's review
Paul Maier is a truly gifted lecturer. I've had the pleasure of watching two of his videos and if I lived anywhere near Western Michigan University, I'd sneak into the back of his classroom (he is a member of the history faculty there) on a regular basis - he has a gift for making the First Century A.D. accessible.

"In the Fullness of Time" continues this tradition. Maier has basically consolidated 3 other books into one larger volume (with a few changes) and he discusses the first Christmas, the first Easter and the ministries of the early Apostles, especially Paul and Peter.

Maier does a great job of bringing actual documentation that supports the stories of Christmas, Easter and the Book of Acts. He includes the works of Roman and Jewish historians, explains Roman and Jewish religious and political practices and deals with alternate theories that have been proposed. While this could be dry reading, Maier makes it lively and this volume reads more like a novel than a textbook.

So, who is this book for? If you are a well-read Christian who has looked into many of the facts that back the New Testament as it is written on your own, you won't find much new ground covered in this book. The internet has lots of this information scattered about. However, you are unlikely to find sources as concise and as well-written as this one. Plus, if you are interested in further research, it is well-documented with tons of footnotes.

If you are a new Christian or are newly interested in the history behind Christianity, this is a powerful introduction.

I give this one a grade of "A"