Stewards, Prophets, Keepers Of The Word: Leadership in the Early Church

Author: Ritva H. Williams

This is a well written, well-researched, and insightful book describing a set of first-century eastern Mediterranean behaviors that were basic to the development of the first several generations of Jesus groups and indispensable for a fair reading of the New Testament.  The author’s explanation of how prophecy worked and how the Word was preserved in a largely illiterate society through memory and commemoration are most valuable.  Williams casts fresh light on the relationship between church leadership and the Holy Spirit in that period.