Customer Reviews

New Testament Survey

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book should really be viewed as a study bible for the New Testament without the bible part! It contains sections on the authorship, setting, purpose and outline of each book in the New Testament. The treatments given are extensive; there is also a section that harmonizes the Gospels. The outlines are detailed and there is typically 5-10 lines of commentary for every chapter.

The book is fairly even handed in the treatment it gives of the various conservative opinions on controversial subjects (such as the dating of the Gospels). The more liberal opinions are mentioned but not usually taken seriously. Having discussed the various options the author usually lands on the 'standard' conservative view.

In short this book does not really break any new ground; and it isn't trying to. It is a useful compendium of 'standard' opinion. I would certainly recommend it for anyone that doesn't have a good study bible or for anyone with the interest to sit down and read cover to cover.

It can and is used for a number of degree level courses although frankly I don't think it contains anything that would prove difficult for the casual but interested reader.

Added to a collection of four other New Testament Surveys from the likes of Tenney, F.F. Bruce, and Ferguson, Gromacki's contribution to this subject is a welcome addition. I was impressed with his more than average treatment of the material considering the nature of a survey of the New Testament.

I really like Gromacki's book. He does an excellent job of hitting the high points of the N.T. This is not a complete commentary, if thats what you're looking for, but I didn't expect it to be. I used this to help teach a N.T. survey class in our Bible Institute. Good stuff.

This purchase went exactly as it should have. No problems at all. Product was as described.

Reading the two other reviews to date on this book has been a fascinating experience for me. My own review of this book follows, written for the UK book-buying market, and showing how differently we may view things across the pond! Please don't flame me, but remember that in Europe we often see things very differently than in the US, and have very different priorities, but I thought some readers might like an alternative view of this book from someone with a Master's Degree in Biblical Studies.



This book is theoretically a very helpful introduction to the New Testament, setting it in the overall historical context, then focusing on the individual books of the NT. It contains some photos which are interesting and the overall feel of the book is good (i.e. paper stock, print size, binding).

BUT!

It's written from a fundamentalist conservative position. This is, I suppose, OK in itself, but it seems to be the sort of fundamentalist conservative position which doesn't exist (or is a tiny minority) in the UK. He says at one point that the Bible is supremely authoritative about science for us today (that's six-day creation then), he only uses the KJV for quotes as that's the fundamentalist version (despite so many subsequent excellent manuscript discoveries which are centuries earlier than the Masoretic Text upon which the KJV was based), his dating of the New Testament books seems to be very much based on tradition rather than scholarship, he discounts the synoptic gospel theories of the primacy of Mark and further sources such as Q, and this was all just in the first couple of chapters.

If you're reading this review because you're thinking of buying this book, I would imagine that you are some kind of Biblical student, perhaps even someone considering Biblical Studies or Theological Studies in Further Education. You need to be aware that the specific stance of the author of this book means that his fundamentalist position shapes very much what he's written about and that it is highly unlikely to be taught in universities or theological colleges in the UK. He regularly lays into liberal scholars for their opinions but these scholars would actually be more accurately termed 'mainstream', and are considered as such in most UK churches and universities, rather than being considered liberal.

I think this book may work for the super-conservatives in the USA but its head-in-the-sand method of critical study (if evidence discounts any tiny thing in the Bible, ignore it; if it backs it up, shout it from the rooftops) means that it should be avoided by any serious student. Which is in some ways a shame as some of the historical background information about the Persian, Greek and Roman empires was really interesting (if rather flawed in places). Unless you're from a fundamentalist conservative position you should pass over this book and instead buy one of the myriad other books on this topic out there (John Drane's "Introducing the New Testament" springs to mind!)