David Konstan is Professor of Classics at New York University, USA. Among his books are Friendship in the Classical World (1997), Pity Transformed (2001), The Emotions of the Ancient Greeks (2006), Before Forgiveness: The Origins of a Moral Idea (2010) and In the Orbit of Love: Affection in Ancient Greece and Rome (2018). He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and an Honorary Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities.

[A] book that should be read by anyone who is interested in Judaism and, above all, in ancient Christianity ... [An] essential book for the history of religions.

• Preface and AcknowledgmentsChapter 1: The Greco-Roman World: The Unwritten Laws of the GodsChapter 2: The Hebrew Bible: Chasing after Foreign GodsChapter 3: The New Testament: Jesus’ Sense of SinChapter 4: The Church Fathers and the Rabbis: The Transformation of SinA Final Word

David Konstan is Professor of Classics at New York University, USA. Among his books are Friendship in the Classical World (1997), Pity Transformed (2001), The Emotions of the Ancient Greeks (2006), Before Forgiveness: The Origins of a Moral Idea (2010) and In the Orbit of Love: Affection in Ancient Greece and Rome (2018). He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and an Honorary Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities.

[A] book that should be read by anyone who is interested in Judaism and, above all, in ancient Christianity ... [An] essential book for the history of religions.

• Preface and AcknowledgmentsChapter 1: The Greco-Roman World: The Unwritten Laws of the GodsChapter 2: The Hebrew Bible: Chasing after Foreign GodsChapter 3: The New Testament: Jesus’ Sense of SinChapter 4: The Church Fathers and the Rabbis: The Transformation of SinA Final Word