In 1950, when Pope Pius XII promulgated the dogma of the Assumption of Mary, the Anglican scholar R. L. P Milburn scoffed that “something has been solemnly stated as assured historical fact that has no other strictly historical basis even pretended than a Coptic romance.”

Now, Stephen J. Shoemaker of the University of Oregon has returned to the sources for Ancient Traditions of the Virgin Mary’s Dormition and Assumption, a hefty study of the ancient traditions regarding the end of the Virgin Mary’s earthly life. He takes full advantage of what he calls “the efflorescence of diverse traditions, both narrative and liturgical, all celebrating the Virgin’s departure from this world.” Not only does he provide exhaustive and technical analysis of the patristic paper trail, he mines the archeological record, too, to describe the relics of popular Marian devotion of the early Church. The book concludes with a fifty-page anthology of primary Marian material from the age of the Fathers — full texts, not just excerpts — including works from the Ethiopian, Syriac, Greek, Latin, and (yes) Coptic traditions.

The book is a demanding read, but rewarding. Both Catholics and Protestants should appreciate an historical study not refracted through the lens of the Reformation or Counter-Reformation. Shoemaker’s own religious affiliation is nowhere apparent in this study, as he trains the same critical faculties upon both the ancient texts and recent Vatican pronouncements.

This paperback is actually the second edition — the first appeared in 2003 — but it’s the first to come within the price range of mere mortals. Shoemaker’s study should be required reading for anyone who professes Marian doctrine and anyone interested in the faith of the Fathers.

In his new book Judas and the Gospel of Jesus, N.T. Wright — the Anglican bishop of Durham and renowned New Testament scholar — puts the recently discovered Gospel of Judas in its historical contexts. Just as important as the context in which it was written, he observes, is the context in which it was published. Thus he scrutinizes the ancient text itself, but also the positive spin it received from celebrity scholars like Elaine Pagels, Bart Ehrman, and Marvin Meyer. The original author of the Judas text intended it to be a subversion of orthodox Christianity, and his modern interpreters would like him to succeed at long last. With brevity, clarity, and grace, Wright conveys the peculiar significance of this Judas text. Along the way, he teaches us much about the ancient Christians, their discontents, and ours.

The Manicheans were the New Agers of the olden days. Derivative of Christianity, but straying far afield, the religion of Mani proffered an answer to the problem of evil and a path to salvation that held enormous appeal for intellectuals and pseudo-intellectuals from the third century onward. The young Augustine almost fell under its spell, but backed away before making a commitment. In later life he wrote the most devastating refutations of Manichean doctrine.

Now New City Press has gathered these eight works together in a single volume, The Manichean Debate. Augustine’s responses take several forms: treatises, dialogues, and letters, some of them mingled with memoir. The translations here are good and the introductions and notes very helpful. Some of the works appear for the first time in English.

Manicheans held that the world was made not by God, but by a wicked creator, the so-called god of the Old Testament, which they rejected. Matter was the locus of evil; spirit the realm of the good. Thus, they rejected the world and all of its delights: sex, wine, meats, and so on. Their arguments, perhaps the most persuasive of all the Gnostic species, drew out Augustine’s most important distinctions: about the goodness of marriage and food and strong drink, when ordered to their proper ends, and the even greater value of the renunciation of these goods, when they are given up for a higher Good.

Some converts to Mani’s way were drawn by the cult’s severe asceticism. It was enormously attractive during a time when the Church was wracked by scandals. The translator of this volume, Father Teske, summarizes Augustine’s response in a way that speaks to the anxieties of many of today’s Christians: “The number of the saints who follow the narrow path is small in comparison to the multitude of sinners, but that small number is hidden on the threshing floor of the Church.”

The volume will delight readers interested in Christian antiquity. But it will also prove useful for contemporary apologetics. The old religion of Mani — which would build a wall of separation between matter and spirit — is rising again under new names. Who better than Augustine should teach us to respond?