New Testament Fundamentals [Paperback]

Stevan L. Davies (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1994

A clear and exceptional introduction that will guide any student or reader easily through the complexities of the New Testament. This accessible and widely-used volume presents the materials in historical order, with emphasis on the different types of documents, ideas, and presentations. Complete with map, charts, and tables, along with suggested exercises and additional reading.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Excellent projects for the beginning student and helpful comparisons between the New Testament writers. -- Religious Studies Review

If you've always been apprehensive about reading the Bible ... this is a wonderful and appropriate book for you. -- The Manchester Union Leader

In his New Testament Fundamentals, Stevan Davies has provided readers everywhere with the single most reliable introduction to the New Testament available today. Davies allows the biblical text to lead the discussion of background information and analysis of its ideas. In this way the reader is continually directed back to the text itself. In twenty-five years of teaching adults about the New Testament, I have not found a more useful reader's guide. -- C.M.Kempton Hewitt, Riley Professor of Biblical Interpretation, Methodist Theological School in Ohio

About the Author

Stevan L. Davies is Professor of Religious Studies, College Misericordia, Dallas, Pennsylvania.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Polebridge Press (January 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0944344410
• ISBN-13: 978-0944344415
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #843,159 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best New Testament textbook, October 31, 2000

By 

Alan Meyers (Saint Louis, MO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: New Testament Fundamentals (Paperback)

I teach New Testament to university undergraduates. This is the best textbook for New Testament, and probably the best textbook for ANY course, that I have ever used. The book itself is short, so that the student has time to read the Bible itself, not just the textbook. It approaches the New Testament from a scholarly, non-doctrinal, non-denominational perspective. It is an introduction to academic, as distinct from a church-oriented, study of the Bible, something surprisingly few students are even aware is possible. The exercises and underlining suggestions the author makes invite the student to learn about being a scholar by actually practicing Biblical scholarship for him/herself. The writing style is remarkably clear and easy to follow. I give this book my highest recommendation.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Good Primer in New Testament Analysis, July 27, 2000

By 

James Stafford (Ashburn, VA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: New Testament Fundamentals (Paperback)

If you are interested in reading the New Testament critically and you need a place to start, this is a good book for you. This is especially true if you're a tinkerer, and you really like finding things out for yourself.

I recommend anyone who reads this book to have a copy of a Bible handy in order to do the exercises. There are reading, writing, and underlining excercises throughout the book that I found very worthwhile to do. One can learn a lot simply by sifting out the Signs Gospel (from John), Q in Matthew and/or Luke, and other text fragments.

This book takes a non-doctrinal, hands-on approach. Davies does not analyze the text for you, but gives background historical and cultural information, indicates textual parallels, presents well-designed charts and timelines, and suggests ways for you to analyze it yourself.

3.0 out of 5 stars New Testament Fundamentals, December 28, 2011

By 

Charles J. Busada - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: New Testament Fundamentals (Paperback)

I have read the reviews above and I think some balance is in order. I teach NT Biblical Studies at the undergraduate level and also use this book, among others. Davies has written a short concise and well-written introduction. However, short and concise also bring their problems. Davies often throws in opinions from his scholarly bent, unsupported and non-clarified that can confuse a student. For example, his opinion that Luke shows no evidence of ever knowing Paul, and as having derived his knowledge of Paul primarily by the Pauline Epistles does not deal with the "we" passages of Acts. His opinion that there is no evidence that Luke was a physician overlooks the substantial studies dealing with Luke-Acts and the medical terms used by Luke. I'm not here to criticize this book, but to give warning to readers and instructors who honor a more conservative view of Biblical Studies. I would have like to have seen a more rounded introduction, and at least an acknowledgment that different scholarly opinions exist in areas of NT studies.