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Introducing the New Testament: Its Literature and Theology

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Paul Achtemeier, Joel Green, and Marianne Meye Thompson are respected New Testament scholars at Union Theological Seminary (Virginia), Asbury Theological Seminary, and Fuller Theological Seminary respectively. "Introducing the New Testament" is (as you might guess) an introductory textbook for those just beginning their study of the New Testament; their intended audience appears to be theology majors and those just beginning seminary.

The format of the book lends itself well to classroom use. Of this books 25 chapters, 18 deal with a particular book (or highly related books, e.g. 1, 2, 3 John)--covering its content, its context, its author, and its recipient. It then traces the literary flow of the New Testament book, showing what the author's major purpose and themes are. The section follows with an introduction to some scholarly debates concerning the Biblical book, and some helpful resources for further reading.

The remaining 7 chapters are more topical in nature and are titled "Chapter 1: What is the New Testament?" "Chapter 2: The World of the New Testament," "Chapter 3: The Nature of the Gospels," Chapter 8: Jesus of Nazareth," "Chapter 10: Letters in the New Testament," "Chapter 11: Paul and His World," and "Chapter 25: The Formation of the New Testament Cannon." Each of these covers its subject from a variety of angles and introduces various schools of thought on the subject, while the authors do come down on particular sides of debate, they do so in such a way as to leave the questions open so that the reader can come to his own conclusions. Again, there is a concluding summary and resources for further reading.

This book has been helpful for this reader in many ways. When reading commentaries, it is easy for one to "lose the forest for the trees." That is to say that when one narrow his focus too narrowly--to one particular verse in a Biblical book or the like--he can lose the general argument and flow of the book. Achtemeier, Green, and Thompson do a great service by keeping each book's major argument/theme in mind and show how the particular outline of the book and even particular verses serve to advance that argument/theme. Often, they are good at providing the reader with a memorable summary statement in the book's narrative which speaks to the heart of the issue at hand. Also, this reader appreciated the generous amount of pictures, maps, charts, and "shaded boxes" that speak to tangential issues.

However, while this book has many merits, it is not without its flaws. While its treatment of the Gospels and Catholic (non-Pauline) epistles were excellent, their treatment of Paul's letters was disappointing. Throughout the book, the authors seem to make a conscious effort to attract a wide readership by avoiding doctrinal issues (a bit of a problem in itself), but in the Pauline epistles, they break this pattern and come down forcefully on a particular issue. This issue is not communion, baptism, the relationship between faith and works, or the like, but rather they come down strongly in favor of womens' ordination. In so doing, they appeal to Galatians 3:28 (out of context), they appeal to 1 Corinthians 14(?!), and even appeal to the idea that Ephesians was written by a women, not Paul (?!?!)! Because of these poorly developed, illogical, and speculative arguments, the authors do lose a degree of credibility. Other negative aspects of the book are relatively few and far between. The only others that really stick out are their argument that Scripture is fallible (e.g. p. 456) and that the Book of Revelation is primarily about the first century Church's struggle against the Roman Empire, and not so much about the modern Church's situation.

In all, those who are interested in beginning New Testament scholarship would do well to read this book. Professors who are looking for a basic textbook would do well to assign this one, but I would recommend Martin Franzmann's similar (and more orthodox) "The Word of the Lord Grows." Mildly recommended.

There have been a number of helpful New Testament introductions written for the Evangelical community, including the older volume by Guthrie and the newer work by Carson, Moo and Morris. And there have been many fine NT theologies as well. Volumes by Ladd, Caird and Guthrie, among others, have served the Evangelical community well.

This new volume offers a bit of both worlds: introductory matters, as well as theological concerns. Written for students and lay people, it will serve as a good intermediary text. Advanced students may find it wanting in areas, but it does offer, if in brief form, some of the latest scholarship on the NT.

The three authors all teach interpretation at American seminaries. They have all produced a number of outstanding works on aspects of the NT. Green for example has authored the well received New International Commentary on Luke; Meye Thompson wrote on 1-3 John for the IVP New Testament Commentary Series, and Achtemeier did the Hermeneia commentary on 1 Peter.

This volume is especially good on Jesus and the Gospels. Indeed, along with sections on introductory matters and Acts, it takes up the first half of the book. The remainder of the book offers brief chapters on the other 22 books of the New testament. Each chapter concludes with a short bibliography of recent works, usually half of which are commentaries.

The chapters highlight the usual concerns: matters of authorship and historical setting, theological themes and literary issues. Photos, maps and supplementary text blocks all contribute to a highly usable and informative volume.

The study is neither too technical nor too detailed to be lost on a lay person or beginning student. Yet it is scholarly and up-to-date enough to be of use to more advanced students as well. As with all theological works, there will be some areas of disagreement.

For example, since none of the three authors comes from a Reformed perspective (not that they need to), there are areas in which one might beg to differ. Perhaps the most obvious example of this arises in the chapter on Romans. One passage in which quite a lot of ink has been spilled is Romans 7 and the identity of the "I" who struggles with sin.

While a number of options present themselves, many argue that Paul is describing his own experience as a believer (and by implication that of all other believers). Pick up any 10 good commentaries on Romans, and perhaps as many as half will argue this position Yet in this volume the authors simply dismiss such an interpretation as "impossible".

One would have thought that careful scholars such as Cranfield, Murray, and Dunn, for example, would not embark upon such impossible hermeneutical assignments!

But leaving aside the occasional theological quibble, this volume well serves its purpose as an introductory text on basic NT matters. Others may go into more background detail (such as the volume by Carson, Moo and Morris, or more fully examine the theological or literary aspects (Ladd, or Caird - in addition to his NT Theology, see his invaluable Language and Imagery of the Bible), but this volume will fill a niche and should enjoy a long run with students of the NT.

No single volume survey of the New Testament is going to be suited to all tastes. Just as different denominations and traditions have come to interpret and apply biblical teachings in different ways (one must remember that the choice of literal interpretation is still a hermenuetic choice, still an interpretation), so too will they have different documents and teachings that develop their own traditions more fully. However, the broader trend among seminaries is toward a more ecumenical approach, made necessary not in the least by the fact that many (if not most) seminaries can no longer cater to an exclusive denominational pool of potential students, but rather, in order to keep enrollment up and the doors open, must appeal to a wider range of learners.

Thus, there has a been a great number of New Testament surveys written in broad-based, ecumenical mindsets over the past generation. This volume, by Achtemeier, Green and Thompson is one of the latest, best volumes in this field. Designed as a primary textbook for introductory courses in New Testament studies, it approaches the subject through a primarily Western, liberal-theological approach; by liberal I refer here to the traditions of biblical studies that finds root in post-Enlightenment circles in northern Europe, Britain, and later North America, not the ever-changing political term.

The authors cover the primary topics of interest for any such introductory course must address: historical origins of the writing and canonical development, the historical setting of Jesus and the apostles, the cultural setting in which the early church began to form, and various traditions that arose around the gospels and apostolic letters. Achtemeier, Green and Thompson devote a chapter each to each of the gospels, as well as a separate, general, somewhat integrative chapter on Jesus of Nazareth. These chapters highlight literary differences, differences in audience and intention, as well as connections between the writings.

The authors look at the Acts of the Apostles and the apostolics letters in logical groupings (the letters to the Corinthians share a chapter, the letters of John share a chapter, etc.). There are independent chapters on Paul, the idea of letters, the book of Revelation, and the canonical development of the New Testament independent from the chapters on the letters themselves. Some chapters, such as that on the letter to James, is longer, dealing with both the letter and the historical figure of James.

Achtemeier, Green and Thompson use the full range of literary and historical tools available in this study -- ancient languages, documentary evidence (including outside writings), literary critical analysis tools, and more. This is not a theological text -- while the authors address different ways in which the text is received and understood, there is no particular dogmatic angle espoused here. No text can be free from bias, but given the intention to produce a text usable by a wide audience, this one does a reasonably good job at remaining objective.

The text itself is interesting and accessible, presupposes no particular in-depth knowledge of languages, history, or theology, although these studies certainly don't hurt! There are boxes, charts, line-art drawings, pictures, graphs, suggestions for further readings after each chapter, and a reasonable index. The look and feel of the book is nice and inviting.

This book is a bible student's dream come true. It is written in an engaging manner. The scholarship is superb. The book's structure, theological content, and balanced treatment, make it a valuable resource for New Testament Study. At a time when there is a proliferation of books and monographs on biblical subjects, Achtemeier, Green, and Thompson, produce a jewel for the serious student of scripture. This book is destined to become an instant classic.

Paul J. Achtemeier, Joel B. Green, and Marianne Meye Thompson have provided seminary students and other interested Christians with a very good survey text of the New Testament. While generally from the evangelical end of the spectrum, the authors often do not agree with traditional views of authorship, theology, or other elements associated with the text. And regardless of whether they agree with modern scholarship on any given issue, they continually engage with such scholarship, making this text more valuable than one that simply accepts (broadly speaking) traditional views or that lines up with one particular theological tradition.

The structure of most chapters is intriguing. While many texts deal first with questions of authorship and introductory background material, most chapters of Introducing the New Testament take a very different tack. While background information is introduced at the beginning of the chapter as needed, the authors generally get into a short commentary on the book in question as quickly as possible and let many background issues get discussed in that context. Questions of authorship and dating usually are left until the end of the chapter. There are exceptions to this pattern in chapters devoted to more complicated texts (e.g., Hebrews, Revelation), but this structure occurs enough times in the text that it could be considered normative.

The book's few weaknesses are visual and stylistic in nature. More photos and maps would break up the lengthy text and make it more appealing, even if they made for a longer book. And at too many points, the text could have used more editing; many sentences could be shortened for stronger effect.

Still, those are relatively minor complaints. Introducing the New Testament is a book from which most Christians looking to dive into New Testament studies should profit.

I have found this to be a well-written, interesting book. I am taking a course through our church and this is our textbook. It is one thing to read the Word of God; it is another to understand it. This book helps you do just that. I highly recommend it for anyone who is interested in diving deeper into the Bible and, specifically, the New Testament.

Generally a good survey of the NT - historical and cultural backgrounds sections are especially well done. Actual text analyses and discussion are good in parts, but miss or ignore major thematic issues that most other NT surveys spend a lot of time on (the conflict in the early Church between Judaic and Hellenized Christians in Acts for instance). Also, the organization is pretty haphazard; Raymond Brown's NT Intro is a lot better organized and also provides a lot more in-depth discussion of a wider range of issues. This book loses one star for its poor organization and occasional neglected topics.

The authors are generally fair and balanced, except on the issue of women's ordination as raised by another reviewer. The section on 1 Corinthians 14 is especially ridiculous, with the authors interpreting the passage to read the exact OPPOSITE (i.e. men should not criticize the women who speak up in church) of what every other translation I have ever read. NIV, King James, NRSV, NAB, RSV = all wrong, and the authors of this book evidently are brilliant Greek linguists. Pretty unlikely! Rather the authors are blatantly twisting Paul's words to agree with their own agenda. Loses another star for this ham-fisted partisanship...

All in all, not a terrible book, has some merit, but the author's lack of structure and deliberately obtuse interpetation of some aspects of the Pauline epistles make this a less than optimal intro to the New Testament.

Great Book!!!! With endorsements by people like N.T. Wright, what else could I say. This is an excellent textbook.

Here is a Very Helpful new testament study textbook. This book goes through the necessary historical, cultural, literary, and theological backgrounds for making sense of the new testament writings. Then it actually does it ! One will really get the gist of what each of the new testament writings is about.

Written by a well known emeritus biblical professor and two very respected New Testament professors, This work is up to date, well researched, clearly written, nicely laid out, and exegetically rich.

Great information provided, for sure. Excellent read to learn more about each book in the New Testament, and the accuracy behind. I would cross reference with the Apologetics Study Bible, for sure, since it seems to be slightly off at times...extremely wordy at times when unnecessary...

PS - Don't get the Kindle edition. Price difference not enough to justify limits provided by basic Kindle software.