Dictionary of the Later New Testament & Its Developments (The IVP Bible Dictionary Series) [Hardcover]

Ralph P. Martin (Editor), Peter H. Davids (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 24, 1997

One of the 1998 Academy of Parish Clergy Top Ten Books of the Year! Voted one of Christianity Today's 1998 Books of the Year! The third of IVP's critically acclaimed series of dictionaries of the New Testament provides focused study on the often-neglected portions of the New Testament: Acts, Hebrews, the General Epistles and Revelation. Furthermore, its scope goes beyond the life of the New Testament church to include the work of the apostolic fathers and early Christianity up through the middle of the second century. The Dictionary of the Later New Testament & Its Developments offers a summa of New Testament studies. Designed to bring students, teachers, pastors and general readers up to date and up to speed, this one-of-a-kind reference volume presents more information than any other single work--dealing exclusively with the theology, literature, background and scholarship of the later New Testament and the apostolic church. In-depth, comprehensive articles focus on theological themes, methods of interpretation, background topics and various other subjects specifically related to the study of New Testament theology and literature. Expert contributors include Darrell Bock, George R. Beasley-Murray, I. Howard Marshall, Ben Witherington III and James D. G. Dunn. Wide-ranging articles range from the books of James and Jude to household codes, from the Roman emperor cult to gnosticism and docetism, questions of canon to second-century church leaders like Ignatius and Polycarp. The Dictionary of the Later New Testament & Its Developments takes its place alongside the Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels and Dictionary of Paul and His Letters in presenting mature evangelical scholarship--committed to the authority of Scripture, utilizing the best of critical methods, and maintaining a dialogue with contemporary scholarship and the challenges facing the church.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 1319 pages
• Publisher: IVP Academic (November 24, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0830817794
• ISBN-13: 978-0830817795
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 7.5 x 2.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #48,657 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #4 in Books > Education & Reference > Dictionaries & Thesauruses > Foreign Language > Hebrew
  • #12 in Books > Education & Reference > Foreign Languages > Hebrew
  • #14 in Books > Education & Reference > Encyclopedias > History

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Powerful Resource for Christians Everywhere!, April 22, 2000

By 

J.M. Hebert (Western USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dictionary of the Later New Testament & Its Developments (The IVP Bible Dictionary Series) (Hardcover)

In every respect, Dictionary of the Later New Testament is a magnificent achievement in the study of early Christianity. It is both authoritative and scholarly and takes the study of early New Testament literature to a new level. I found the articles on Hebrews and Acts to be especially well written and helpful, and the book's thorough coverage of other non-canonical early church literature was refreshing. Take my word, Dictionary of the Later New Testament is a "must have" for any serious student of the Bible. I guarantee, it won't just "sit" on your bookshelf, but rather, it will become one of your most trusted resources!

32 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, but requires discernment, February 7, 2006

By 

J. F Foster - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dictionary of the Later New Testament & Its Developments (The IVP Bible Dictionary Series) (Hardcover)

This massive dictionary is one of the latest products of the emerging 'respectable academic evangelicalism'. It is respectable because it is decidedly moderate in its approach on many of the items discussed. While the more flexible evangelicalism exhibited here will win praise from the academic establishment, evangelical readers need to read this with discernment, since more than a few assertions made in here carry the same flaws as more liberal scholarship.

The most obvious positive of this dictionary is its often exhaustive treatment of various subjects that too often get ignored in commentaries and Biblical studies courses. As is usually the case in reference works like this, the bibliographies contained in here are extremely helpful; often more helpful than the articles themselves. As such, it achieves its goal of providing the reader with the tools to conduct more thorough research on most any NT topic. Regardless of how questionable the articles themselves might be, this book is worthy of purchase on the basis of the bibliographies alone.

Having said that, there are more than a few problems with the articles put forth here. Dunn's article on pseudepigraphy is creative in that he attempts to rescue 2 Peter from liberal critics while maintaining that it's pseudepigraphal. But it is nonetheless hopelessly flawed in its mistreatment of the early church's attitude toward pseudepigraphal writings so that not only will liberals reject his thesis, evangelicals should as well. In addition, the evangelical reader will likely be unpleasantly surprised by the degree to which the moderate evangelicals in this book discount the importance of apostolic authorship. Increasingly, evangelical scholars are siding with their liberal counterparts in saying that the authorship questions of the NT writings are immaterial. Liberals use this train of thought to discount the writings themselves. This book doesn't go that far, but seems to suggest that since the Holy Spirit can theoretically inspire anyone to write a canonical book, it doesn't matter whether John wrote 1 John, or Peter wrote 1 Peter, etc. The problem with this is obvious. When the writings become distanced from the apostolic mission, it's easier to cast doubt on their apostolic reliability. This is what liberals have been doing for decades, and this book moves dangerously in that direction.

It's good that there is an emerging evangelical academic respectability. But this respectability should not be the sine qua non of our scholarly endeavors. While the authors here are clearly more optimistic than liberal scholars in regards to the authenticity of the later NT writings, they have, in my view, adopted too many critical tools uncritically. The result is that too many articles in this book contain questionable conclusions based on questionable and even dubious assumptions that are too easy to debunk, and this makes them resemble their liberal counterparts in a way that should give the evangelical church discomfort.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars AMAZING!!!, June 9, 2009

By 

Christoper D. Puksta - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Dictionary of the Later New Testament & Its Developments (The IVP Bible Dictionary Series) (Hardcover)

I never saw a bible dictionary like this before. It totally blows Vines Bible dictionary out of the water. I am really impressed. There is so much detail and it even provides for great devotional time as well. The list of scripture verses in the back are a great help when reading the bible.... all in all great book, I am blessed to have this.... you will be too!!!