Most Helpful Customer Reviews
25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Combining the Best of NT Histories with NT Introductions, August 19, 2004
This review is from: Introducing the New Testament (Hardcover)
John Drane's Introducing the New Testament is impressive for what it is and isn't. Drane has managed to combine the readability of the more narrative New Testament Histories with the scholarly depth of an Introduction to the New Testament. And instead of ending up with the weakness of both, he merged their respective strengths. As a result, Introducing the New Testament is highly readable and very informative, even as to issues such as the Synoptic Problem and the dating and authorship of the Gospels and other New Testament documents.
As with a New Testament History, Drane opens up by providing background material on the broader world out of which Christianity grew, including the Greek heritage, the mystery religions, Judaism, and Palestine. He then narrates through Jesus' birth and early years, his ministry, his death, and the resurrection. There is an excellent side discussion on dating Jesus' birth.
In the next section, Drane spends more time exploring Jesus' precise message. The focus of the discussion is, appropriately, Jesus' declaration of the Kingdom of God. After this able discussion, Drane moves on to focusing on the four gospels themselves. I was impressed with the sophistication of many of his points regarding authorship, dating, and historicity. Though not presented with the footnotes and scholarly references that an Introduction would, it is obvious that Drane is conversant with a wide range of opinions and is writing from a high level of knowledge and understanding. One of the outstanding features of this section is his side discussion on "Identifying the authentic words of Jesus." Therein he identifies the main criteria of testing the historicity of Jesus's sayings, and identifies the problems and limitations with such an endeavor. According to Drane, the entire enterprise is premised on the problematic assumption that there was a high level of creativity in the early Church.
Drane next moves on to the spread of Christianity throughout the Roman world, including an excellent treatment of the dating of Acts. He also covers Paul the Apostle's activities, with solid discussions of each of his letters. There is a helpful discussion of the early church's recognition of the New Testament and first-rate discussions of the remaining books of the Bible (especially James and Hebrews).
Though the serious scholar may miss the footnotes and citations that commentaries and New Testament Introductions provide, the beauty of this book is that it delivers much the same sophistication and information of those works to the layperson. And it does so in an entertaining manner that does not get stale or tedious.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
IF ONLY ALL ACADEMIC BOOKS WERE THIS READABLE, November 29, 2001
John Drane has impeccable credentials as a conservative theologian and an evangelical Christian, and yet (unlike some other "evo" authors) he can write in an honest and even-handed way about more liberal opinions than his own. This makes Drane a particularly valuable resource for theologically conservative students who need to know about controversial modern views in Bible scholarship, but do not want to feel that their text book is necessarily endorsing them or taking a condescending approach to the divine inspiration and historical authenticity of Holy Scripture. This book is not primarily about doctrine - it is first and foremost a book about the Bible, designed to help a Christian reader understand what the Bible is really saying. In doing so it takes for granted the basic principle of Bible exegesis that you cannot work out what the Bible is saying to the Church today without understanding what it was saying (and why) to the Church of the 1st and 2nd centuries. This would thus be an invaluable book for any first-year theology student or for the general reader wishing to know more about the historical and cultural roots of the New Testament and the early church. Although other writers have produced more stylish and attractive prose, Drane is wonderfully clear, interesting and easy to follow. More intricate explanations are in self-contained sections carefully boxed beside the main narrative, so that they can be skipped by the more casual reader without interrupting the book's flow. The book's monochrome illustrations and diagrams are not of outstanding originality or beauty, but they are invariably well chosen and helpful. Moreover the physical binding of the paperback edition I am using is robust and has a nice feel to it. Strongly recommended.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
scholarly yet readable, June 12, 2001
This review is from: Introducing the New Testament (Hardcover)
This is great. It's intelligent, makes-sense stuff. While most academics handle this kind of content in a verbose, scholarly, i've-got-a-big-vocabulary-and-fiddly-style way, Drane's language is clear and simple. I read an earlier edition, and the layout of the book was great too. It's in that magazine-style with big pictures, interesting insets, good headings. You can pick and choose what to read if you're keen for a browse, or eat it all up. I was surprised with the quality of the content, upon first glance at the layout you think it must be quite elementary - but it's not. It's good stuff. The copy I read was from the library - now it's on my wish-list (mom).
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
|
