Encountering the New Testament: A Historical and Theological Survey with CDROM (Encountering Biblical Studies) [Hardcover]

Walter A. Elwell (Author), Robert M. Yarbrough (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1998 | ISBN-10: 0801021561 | ISBN-13: 978-0801021565

This book sets a new standard in introductory biblical studies with its full-color illustrations, multimedia interactive CD, accessibility, and educational soundness.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Walter A. Elwell (Ph.D., University of Edinburgh) is emeritus professor of biblical and theological studies at Wheaton College. He has edited numerous biblical reference works, including the Baker Theological Dictionary of the Bible and the Evangelical Dictionary of Theology.

Robert W. Yarbrough (Ph.D., University of Aberdeen) is professor of New Testament at Covenant Theological Seminary and coeditor of the Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament series. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 448 pages
• Publisher: Baker Academic (June 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0801021561
• ISBN-13: 978-0801021565
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #862,028 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent intro for beginning NT students, November 30, 2004

By 

Roy Massie (Birmingham, AL United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Encountering the New Testament: A Historical and Theological Survey with CDROM (Encountering Biblical Studies) (Hardcover)

This is a very friendly Introduction to the New Testament for the person who would like to start digging deeper into their Biblical studies. It covers the bases of what an Introduction is expected to do. The authorship, historical context/date, content outline, main theological features and other interesting background are given for each book of the New Testament. This is similar to the background information found in good study Bibles, but an Introduction goes much further.

The preface states the book is suitable for freshman college classes in the New Testament and I think it fills that bill very well. Encountering the New Testament is unapologetically evangelical and is constructed around three theological themes: God, people, and the gospel as it relates to individuals.

The content is extremely well organized and features color inserts and photographs on almost every page to keep the feel upbeat and lively. The typeset is big and clear. There are numerous archaeological and cultural inserts to add contemporary relevance to whatever topic is in view. Each chapter has good Review Questions, Deeper Study Questions and a Further Reading guide to many excellent resources - these are all very useful. There is also a pretty good glossary, very good subject index and thorough Scripture index, as you'd expect of a theological work.

The book comes with a companion CD that covers the topics of the book in very limited depth. Even though it has cool menus, neat graphics and some multimedia clips, I did not find the companion CD content useful (but I rarely do with any book). The CD chapter Review questions are the same ones in the book - disappointing. Maybe I ought to knock a point off the rating since the price is probably higher due to the CD. Since I didn't get the book for the CD at all, I'm not holding this against what is otherwise a good book. If you want a deep companion CD, buy something else (I'm not sure what).

With good beginning level content, excellent organization, color pictures, relevant sidebars and a not too useful CD, this might seem to be the NT Introduction for everyone; it is not. If you need a top notch scholarly NT Introduction, get Donald Guthrie's "New Testament Introduction". It is much bigger, has practically no pictures, is not easy for people who haven't gone to seminary, has no CD and is one of the best quality, well researched, well written NT Introductions ever. To contrast, Encountering the New Testament is a classroom textbook that covers similar ground in less depth but a more accessible style.

After having read Encountering the New Testament for two NT survey classes, I now use it frequently as a reference and always enjoy its friendly presentation of useful content.

43 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Book Good--CD Bad, December 27, 2001

By 

James D. Dvorak (Edmond, OK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Encountering the New Testament: A Historical and Theological Survey with CDROM (Encountering Biblical Studies) (Hardcover)

The content of this book is really pretty good stuff. Moreover, it is written so that people who are not "Bible scholars" can read and glean some good information. For example, my dad--not a bible scholar, but very active at teaching in his local church--picked it up off my shelf while visiting my house. He said, "Wow. This is nice, and I would like to have one to refer to when I am teaching." Trust me, that says a lot about this book.

Now for the downside: the CD Rom is really pretty stinky. The content is ok, but its delivery is not thought out too well. Take it from a guy who works all day every day in educational technology: this CD was apparently put together as a "good idea" but not well thought out in terms of what content was put on the CD or how that content was delivered.

Overall, however, the book is worth the buy. Just don't buy it for the CD Rom! Buy it for its good, easy to read, content.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Attractive and accurate introduction to the New Testament, March 10, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Encountering the New Testament: A Historical and Theological Survey with CDROM (Encountering Biblical Studies) (Hardcover)

As a teacher of New Testament in the UK, I am very impressed with this volume as a resource for students. It will be particularly valuable for students who study on their own rather than as part of a class. It is not set at an advanced level, and that is a good thing for undergraduate students, yet it is thorough, helpful, and the suggestions for further reading point the reader to the best in modern New Testament scholarship. The illustrations are excellent and attractive, often highlighting important archaeological evidence relating to the New Testament. One particularly attractive feature of this text is the frequent quotation of ancient sources such as Josephus and the early church fathers. The companion reader will provide additional opportunities for the reader to steep himself or herself in the world of the New Testament. Teachers will appreciate the overheads and other resources which are available from the publisher to accompany the textbook.