New Testament Theology (Guthrie New Testament Reference Set Guthrie New Testament Re) [Hardcover]

Donald Guthrie (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 9, 1981 | Series: Guthrie New Testament Reference Set Guthrie New Testament Re

The culmination of a lifetime of study, this comprehensive New Testament theology brings out the rich variety of New Testament thought while demonstrating its inner unity. New Testament theology, Donald Guthrie maintains, centers on Jesus Christ--his person, work and mission--and is unified by repeated emphasis on the fulfillment of Old Testament promise, community, the Spirit and the future hope. And extended introduction surveys the history, nature and method of New Testament theology and sets forth the distinctives of Guthrie's synthetic approach. Guthrie then examines New Testament thought under the thematic headings God, man and his world, Christology, the mission of Christ, the Holy Spirit, the Christian life, the church, the future, the New Testament approach to ethics, and Scripture. Within each chapter he explores the synoptic Gospels, the Johannine literature, Acts, Paul, Hebrews, the remaining Epistles and Revelation. Marked by scholarly rigor and thoroughness, this volume will serve as a standard reference and text, reflecting mature conservative scholarship at its best.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 1064 pages
• Publisher: IVP Academic (April 9, 1981)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 087784965X
• ISBN-13: 978-0877849650
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 2.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #210,564 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Companion to Guthrie's Introduction, February 16, 2005

By 

Steve Jackson "stevejackson100atyahoocom" (New England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: New Testament Theology (Guthrie New Testament Reference Set Guthrie New Testament Re) (Hardcover)

Donald Guthrie's NEW TESTAMENT THEOLOGY is a solid presentation of NT theology from a very conservative perspective. Most NT theologies have separate sections on each NT author. Guthrie's book proceeds topically. This approach is justified by the Guthrie's view that the "revelation cannot be contradictory." The results are quite conservative (Guthrie opposes women in ministry for example) and there is a considerable effort to harmonize the divergent strains of NT thought contra writers such as Dunn.

This book is amazingly comprehensive. It is over 1000 pages and contains chapters on ethics (personal & social) and biblical inspiration. The discussion of Jesus' view of the Old Testament is several pages alone.

Like Guthrie's NEW TESTAMENT INTRODUCTION, this is not one of the first books you want to read if you starting out to study the NT. Leon Morris' book of the same name is a more manageable introduction of about a third the length.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Imbued With A Sense Of Redemptive Purpose, November 14, 2008

By 

Jacques Schoeman (SA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: New Testament Theology (Guthrie New Testament Reference Set Guthrie New Testament Re) (Hardcover)

'Indeed, it could be regarded as Paul's basic presupposition that the Spirit's aid was indispensable if man was to know anything about God. Only the Spirit understands, and only He, therefore, is in a position to reveal (1 Cor 2:11).' p 556 Here Guthrie sought to make the subject of review the difference in limited human wisdom and illumination as applied by the Holy Spirit. As was the case with the heresy in Colossae, the problem had involved placing too high a premium on human wisdom. Guthrie concentrated on the writings of the apostle Paul to assure us of the Holy Spirit's working in appointed means: 'It was clearly of great importance for this distinction to be drawn to the attention of the Corinthians who had evidently misunderstood the nature of the gospel.' p 555

Immutable is a word Donald Guthrie knew well, for here is a theology that is irreducible, able to withstand adversarial onslaught, showing no signs of aging, never self-indulgent, unambitious - and most certainly not shallow. 'No New Testament theology is on a solid foundation if it rests on the changing position of NT hypotheses.' p 42 The sheer dynamism and wisdom he imparts is able to gravitate those with doubts and misgiving, to belief. Irregardless of the irremediable wolves in sheep's clothing, the sheep may yet come, bidden and welcome, to the Shepherd of the flock, by a theology so wholeheartedly pure.

The plight of modern theologians is desperate, adrift of the Word, impassive and indifferent to public outcry, their questionable teachings soul-destroying, all the while oblivious to obligation, and in the worst cases guilty of coarse obstruction of the truth, primarily because of their unheeding presumption. Not so Donald Guthrie. A culmination of a lifetime of faithful study indeed, beyond all question.

Take for instance his topical presentation of The Future, with regard to the second advent, the resurrection, the afterlife, judgment and heaven - and the sine qua non, hell. Interspersed with insertions, page long 'notes' :

NOTE ON THE RAPTURE - p 845
'The view that Jews will have special opportunities to be evangelized through fellow Jews is without foundation; for the New Testament knows only one gospel, the gospel of the grace of God through Jesus Christ.'
NOTE ON THE CONSUMMATION OF THE KINGDOM - p 868
'Our understanding of the kingdom theme will be affected by our understanding of the millennium.'
NOTE ON THE MILLENNIUM - p 869
'Since this is mentioned only in Revelations 20 and nowhere else in the New Testament, a caution over its application must at once be raised. It must be borne in mind that the context is a symbolic setting, which means that it cannot be used to provide a key to the interpretation of passages which are symbolic.'

The footnotes are lavish, giving testimony to the arduous labor involved. Many times there the truth transpires, e.g. a stoical footnote (p 835) from a New Perspective pundit:

'JDG Dunn, Jesus & the Spirit: A Study of the Religious and Charismatic Experience of Jesus & the First Christians as Reflected in the New Testament p 334, suggests that what Paul meant is that only those who suffer Christ's death will attain to resurrection, since only Christ's death has resulted in resurrection.'

Another footnote amply demonstrates the perpetuation of a wrong doctrine clamoring for attention in an attempt to reconfigure the gospel, the point taken from the wrong-headed 'Jesus & the Revolutionaries': 'Oscar Cullmann suggests that Jesus' teaching must be adapted, because modern man does not think in terms of an imminent end of the world (p 52). His idea of what that adaptation must involve is that reform or social structures must go hand in hand with individual conversions. But the question arises whether this adaptation remains true to the radical character of Jesus' teaching.' p 425

Guthrie's study on the kingdom of God and the supernatural activities that accompanied its inauguration bears close resemblance to, and makes frequent reference to Herman Ridderbos. '...it is advisable before considering the evidence to bear in mind that the term does not refer to the establishment of a messianic political kingdom.' p 410 'The kingdom, as Ridderbos remarked, is 'absolutely transcendent in its origin, it is the revelation of God's glory.' p 420 Impressing through one parable with incredible theological insight, Guthrie wrote: 'Some difficulty surrounds the interpretation of the parable of leaven (Matt 13:33; Luke 13:20) since leaven normally has a bad connotation when used metaphorically (as in 'the leaven of the Pharisees'), but it serves as an apt illustration of the imperceptible character of the coming of the kingdom. It was present in a dynamic activity, but few realized that it was there. Some have taken the parable to mean that the kingdom will work imperceptibly until it permeates the whole of society, in which case the world will become identical with the kingdom. This, however, presses a detail of the parable in a way which was not intended. The main lesson is that complete results may be obtained by inconspicuous methods - a very different approach from the contemporary tactics of the zealots.' p 424 This remarkable emphasis upon divine mercy is always made abundantly clear by Guthrie.

Professor Guthrie's views are unimpeachable, reflecting a maturity few attain to. A bibliography, index of authors, index of subjects, and index of references are witness to his extensive research and his concluding comments testify to his sure footing, remaining sound in the pursuit of theological truth.

9 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, but missing something, April 13, 2001

By 

Shawn W. Gillogly "DenSem Grad" (Denver, CO United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: New Testament Theology (Guthrie New Testament Reference Set Guthrie New Testament Re) (Hardcover)

Donald Guthrie's approach to NT Theology is different from most. He approaches it Thematically, as opposed to devloping themes by the authors.

This has pros and cons. The reader can see how NT thought develops and the way in which each author uses a particular theme more easily. On the flip side, this has a nasty tendency to "flatten" the distinctions between each of the human author's of the text.

As such, I would not say this should be a person's FIRST Biblical Theology. BUT, if one has a good NT Theology (Ladd, preferably), then this would be a very good SECOND choice for a Biblical Theology.