In many ways this monograph is the result of a corporate effort. It was prepared at McMaster University under the auspices of a research project on Normative Self-Definition in Judaism and Christianity funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. I am thankful to SCM Press for permission to publish here as chapter I a revised version of an essay that appeared first in Jewish and Christian Self-Definition, Vol. I, The Shaping of Christianity in the Second and Third Centuries (ed. E.P. Sanders) 1980. Special thanks are due to Professor Frederik Wisse (McGill University), who carefully read my manuscript and made numerous stimulating comments to which I have tried to live up; Professor Alan Mendelson (McMaster University) and Dr. Tamar Frank, who contributed editorial advice; Professor Pierre Nautin (École pratique des Hautes Études, Paris), who allowed me to participate in his seminar on Epiphanius in 1978-1979; and Professor Norbert Brox (Universitat Regensburg), whose writings and friendly comments have inspired me throughout these years of research. But, as usual, none beside myself should be held responsible for the shortcomings of this work.

This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Canadian Federation for the Humanities using funds provided by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

McMaster University
Hamilton
November 1980.