Since the archaeological discoveries at Qumran and Nag-Hammadi there has been a great re-awakening of interest in the early 'Judaeo-Christians' who continued in existence for at least a century before the expanding Gentile Church obscured their significance. Their writings show their reliance on an apocalyptic type of symbolism-the palm and the crown, the vine and the tree of life, the fish and living water, etc. This book reduces one of the most complex and bewildering subjects in biblical scholarship to coherence and comprehensibility, showing the formative influence of the symbols on Christian thought. And how these early Christians interpreted the Old Testament so as to apply it to Christ.