Includes bibliographical references (pages 273-303) and index

Invisible hands: Essential workers -- Paul and his secretaries -- Rereading the story of Jesus -- Messengers and craftsmen: Messengers of God -- Curators of the word -- The faces of the gospel -- Legacies: The faithful Christian -- Punishing the disobedient -- Epilogue

"For the past two thousand years, Christian tradition, scholarship, and pop culture have credited the authorship of the New Testament to a select group of men: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Paul. But hidden behind these named and sainted individuals are a cluster of unnamed, enslaved coauthors and collaborators. These essential workers were responsible for producing the earliest manuscripts of the New Testament: making the parchment on which the texts were written, taking dictation, and refining the words of the apostles. And as the Christian message grew in influence, it was enslaved missionaries who undertook the arduous journey across the Mediterranean and along dusty roads to move Christianity to Rome, Spain, and North Africa--and into the pages of history. The impact of these enslaved contributors on the spread of Christianity, the development of foundational Christian concepts, and the making of the Bible was enormous, yet their role has been almost entirely overlooked until now." -- Provided by publisher