Wilhelm Bousset (1865-1920) was one of the pioneers in the
Religionsgeschichtliche Schule
or "History of Religions School," which established the scientific and comparative study of Hellenistic Judaism and Early Christianity a century ago.
The Antichrist Legend
, first published in German in 1895 and translated into English the following year, is perhaps Bousset's most remarkable book, both for its original argument about the connection of Antichrist to myths of the primordial dragon and for its vast knowledge of patristic and medieval literature. This welcome reissue of this classic work features a helpful new Introduction by David Frankfurter.