lation new methods in the study of early Christian
literature. The German method of Formgeschichte
and a historical method which is properly ascribed
to Professor Shirley Jackson Case, of the University
of Chicago, were contemporary in their appearance.
The present study owes much to both these ap-
proaches, particularly to the latter. It is projected
as a full and detailed application of social-historical
method to one set of data. It is true, since the
sources upon which it is based are inclusive both of
the New Testament and certain extra-canonical
writings, that in it the line between the New Testa-
ment and church-history disciplines is practically
obliterated. Yet the study is based upon the con-
viction that the proper starting-point for many New
Testament projects should be, as in this case, in
the abundant sources of the second and the third
centuries. Once the generalizations are worked out
where the sources are adequate, the point of view
there developed may be carried back to the periods
in which the sources are meager.

It is on this plan that an analysis of the behavior
of the martyrs becomes an application of social his-
tory to the study of the New Testament. It is by
deliberate design that the method culminates in a
study of certain of the traditional sayings of Jesus.
Only by so adequate a perspective can a worth-
while result in the application of form or social
history be achieved.

It hardly requires mention that the findings here-
in set forth are regarded as data for the technical

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