Another book that was released last year was a Festschrift for Craig Evans, currently John Bisango Distinguished Professor of Christian Origins at Houston Christian University.

Thomas R. Hatina and Stanley E. Porter (eds.), The Cradle of Christianity: Judaism, Jesus, and the New Testament. Essays in Honor of Craig A. Evans. TENT 18. Leiden: Brill, 2024.

Prior to joining HCU in 2016, Evans taught at Acadia Divinity College for 13 years, 21 years at Trinity Western University, and one year at McMaster University. As a long-time friend of both editors, as well as the contributors of the volume, the Festschrift represents a career well spent in serving the academy and the church.

The editors of the volume write in the Preface:

We are pleased to offer this collection of essays in honor of our friend and colleague Craig A. Evans. The two editors of this volume have known Craig in various ways over a long number of years. One of them began as a colleague and then became a frequent collaborator and then, even though going separate ways as their careers developed, an abiding friend. The other began as a student and then became a colleague at the same institution where he had once been Craig’s student. Each of the other contributors to this volume has his own story of his relationship with Craig. Most of them are academic and professional colleagues who have been engaged in similar scholarly exploration over the course of their careers, which have usually overlapped with Craig’s career. During their careers, they have come to appreciate Craig and his contribution while making their own. Several are former students and/or colleagues from institutions where Craig has taught. One or two of them are even former teachers or pastors who have had a significant impact upon Craig’s own vocation. Not surprisingly, several of the contributors have occupied several different roles in relationship to Craig. In other words, those who have contributed to this volume represent friends who have known Craig throughout the course of his life, even from before he entered the lists of scholarship and continuing to the present as valued colleagues and compatriots in New Testament scholarship. Those who know Craig will not be surprised that we have assembled such a group of people to honor him by contributing to this Festschrift.

The table of contents is as follows:

Judaism, Jesus, and the New Testament: An Introduction to This Volume – Stanley E. Porter

Part 1 – Early Judaism
1. Judaism – James A. Sanders
2. Proper Nouns in the Septuagint, in Related Literature, and in Hellenistic-Jewish Sources – Emanuel Tov
3. 4Q491 1–3 Revisited, at Long Last – Martin G. Abegg Jr.
4. “The Two Breasts of the Father” in the Hebrew Bible, Qumran, the New Testament, and the Odes of Solomon (ܕܐܒܐ ܬܪܝܢ ܬܕܘܗܝ) – James Hamilton Charlesworth
5. The Death of Agrippa, “the Great King”: Perspectives from Josephus, Philo, and Acts – Bruce Chilton

Part 2 – Jesus and the Apostolic Tradition
6. What Happened to the Linguistic Turn in Historical Jesus Research? – Stanley E. Porter
7. Contingent Eschatology – Dale C. Allison Jr.
8. Other Disciples of Jesus: Named Male Disciples outside the Twelve – Richard Bauckham
9. Responding to the Critics: Easter Apologetics in the Second Century and Beyond – Jeremiah J. Johnston

Part 3 – The New Testament
10. Little Ones, Angels, and the Face of the Father: Matthew 18:10 in the Context of Second Temple Period Judaism – H. Daniel Zacharias and Matthew L. Walsh
11. The Making of a Myth: Hyam Maccoby’s View of Paul – Donald A. Hagner
12. Remembering Abraham Our Father: Social Memory Theory and the Function of Genesis 15:6 in Romans 4 – Thomas R. Hatina
13. John 1:9 within the Flow of the Prologue: The Burden of the Baptist’s Preaching – John Nolland
14. Authorities in Early Christianity: From Jesus to Biblical Canons – Lee Martin McDonald

Congratulations, Craig, on a well-deserved Festschrift!

— David I. Yoon