Duke Professor E.P. Sanders is being recognized for his scholarship on first-century Judaism and early Christianity with the publication of two new books.

Sanders, now a professor emeritus of religion, built a reputation among biblical scholars for contributing to new perspectives on Jesus and the Apostle Paul. He sought to understand first-century Jewish rabbis. In doing so, he challenged the common Christian idea that burgeoning Christianity offered divine grace in contrast to Jewish legalism.

The two books published in his honor -- Common Judaism and Redefining First-Century Jewish and Christian Identities -- contain essays from fellow scholars that expand upon and respond to Sanders' body of research.

In reflecting on his own career in an introductory essay in Redefining, Sanders remembered how his study of ancient rabbinic writings changed his opinion of the rabbis' religion.

"I was struck by the humanity and tolerance of the rabbis," he wrote. "I had, therefore, begun to form the view that what some of my favorite New Testament scholars -- had told me about Pharisaic or rabbinic Judaism was not true."

In another essay in the same book, D. Moody Smith, a professor emeritus at Duke's Divinity School, summarized Sanders' accomplishments.

"Most Christians have looked at Judaism through Christian texts--that is, through Christian eyes," Smith wrote. "Ed Sanders undertook the difficult task of understanding a religious tradition, into which he was not born, from within. That took a lot of time, effort, and chutzpah, even from someone endowed with his obvious capacities."