155 Richard Reitzenstein, _Poimandres._ Studies in Graeco-Egyptian and Early Christian literature, 1904, 382 pp. The Poimandres “community” [_Gemeinde,_ the word is in quotation marks in the German, perhaps to recall its frequent use in speaking of the Early Christian Church] is supposed to have been founded in Egypt about the time of the birth of Christ. Its main characteristic is the mystical basis of the doctrine. Later on, in the course of the third century (?) the Poimandres community was gradually merged in the general Hermetic communities. 156 From the literature we may note: Hermann Gunkel, _Zum religionsgeschichtlichen Verständnis des Neuen Testaments_ (“Contributions to the Understanding of the New Testament on the Basis of Comparative Religion”), 1903, 96 pp. Paul Wendland, _Die hellenistisch-römische Kultur in ihren Beziehungen zu Judentum und Christentum_ (“The Hellenistic-Roman Civilisation in Relation to Judaism and Christianity”), 1907, 190 pp. Adolf Deissmann, _Licht vom Osten_ (“Light from the Ancient East”), 1908, 364 pp. This book, which is rather rhetorically written, treats mainly the general literary side of the matter without entering specially into the religious problems and the ideas of the Mystery-religions. The same author has published a lecture, _Die Urgeschichte des Christentums im Lichte der Sprachforschung_ (“The History of Primitive Christianity in the Light of Linguistic Research”), 1910, 48 pp. Karl Clemen, _Religionsgeschichtliche Erklärung des Neuen Testaments_ (“Interpretation of the New Testament on the Basis of Comparative Religion”), 1909, 301 pp. Works which to a large extent deal with the same class of subject are: Wilhelm Soltau, _Das Fortleben des Heidentums in der altchristlichen Kirche_ (“The Survival of Paganism within the Early Christian Church”), 1906, 307 pp. Adolf Harnack, _Mission und Ausbreitung des Christentums in den ersten drei Jahrhunderten_ (“Mission and Expansion of Christianity in the first three Centuries”), vol. i., 1906, 421 pp. 157 Gustav Anrich, _Das antike Mysterienwesen in seinem Einfluss auf das Christentum,_ 1894, 237 pp. From the same stand-point, and in some respects supplementing Anrich’s work, is Georg Wobbermin’s _Religionsgeschichtliche Studien zur Frage der Beeinflussung des Urchristentums durch das antike Mysterienwesen_ (“Studies from the Point of View of Comparative Religion on the Question of the Influence of the ancient Mysteries upon Christianity”), 1896, 190 pp. Johannes Geffken in his popular work, _Aus der Werdezeit des Christentums,_ 2nd ed., 1909, 126 pp. (“From the Formative Period of Christianity”), does not hold that any very deep influence was exercised by the Graeco-Roman Syncretism on early Christianity. He is, however, of opinion that Paul “adopted all kinds of oriental views.”