Customer Reviews

Writings of New Testament

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4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

What many of the reviews on this page seem to miss is that this work by LTJ seeks to acheive "interpretation" of the text rather than the common historical-critical approach. He does treat some of the history and critical issues throughout, mostly he does this in the beginning. However, historical-critical is not his concern. Johnson effectively unfolds, in a very helpful and introductory way, the theological flow and cohesiveness of the New Testament. If you are looking for a commentary or a historical critical treatment of the text this is not your book. If you are looking for an introduction to the theological themes and structure of the New Testament that is thoroughly aware of the difficulties and limitations of the historical-critical approach yet still utilizes the method in reasonable ways this book is for you.

The Writings Of The New Testament: An Interpretation By Luke Timothy Johnson (Robert W. Woodruff Professor of New Testament and Christian Origins, Candler School of Theology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia) is an erudite, scholarly, yet thoroughly "reader friendly" commentary on the New Testament text, in relation to history of the ancient world, Christian beliefs, and a page-by-page analysis of the scripture itself. An accompanying CD-ROM provides ready access to cross-referenced text. The Writings Of The New Testament is highly recommended as an exhaustive study enhanced with extensive bibliographical annotation and thought-provoking questions.

I bought this for a course on the Gospels and have gone back to this book every time I go to study another part of the New Testament. Johnson covers the NT extremely well and gives insights into the text and the context that is helpful to students, preachers and teachers. This updated version includes significant current NT scholarship. It is very well written, making the reading enjoyable.

The thing I liked about Johnson's approach in his intro to the world of the New Testament is that it is more of a theological introduction. It provides a nice variation from the standard NT Intro (such as Carson and Moo) which deals more with the text critical issues such as authorship, date, provenances, etc. Instead, Johnson deals more with the larger issues of the NT and the larger issues of each book. Not that the typical issues aren't important but Johnson's work provides a nice complement to the standard NT Intro.

Johnson is Catholic, I am Protestant, however, I did not encoutner anything that I thought was unnecessarily pro-catholic or over the top. In fact, I found I agreed with most of what Johnson wrote and learned a few things in the process that greatly helped my understanding of the NT. I suppose this goes to show Catholics and Protestants have more they agree with about the Bible than things to disagree about.

Luke Timothy Johnson puts the writings of the New Testament into perspective with a remarkable combination of critical scholarship and a deep Christian faith, setting him apart from most writers delving into the "historical Jesus" and early Christion beginnings. The text is very readable for the layman in spite of the scholarly content. I consider it an excellent addition to my reference library.

This is unquestionably one of the best commentaries on the NT that I've read. The thinking is deep, the approach to Scripture challenging and provocative but reverent, and the writing is clear. Referencing is thorough. Anyone who studies the NT and anyone who teaches it should consider this an indispensible resource.

I bought this book because it is THE set text for "Studies in the New Testament", a unit in the MA (Theological Studies) course that I am currently undertaking. What a surprise: a readable, enjoyable textbook!

It has plenty of information, and is clear and accessible (there is a CD-ROM included). Above all, it is well written and really interesting - a book to keep and read for pleasure.

A very in-depth study of the New Testament. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to study the larger themes of the New Testament. Gives a good argument in favor of Pauline authorship (something that is often questioned when referring to Ephesians, Colossians, II Thessalonians, and especially the Pastoral Letters). This is a book that would be a good addition to anyone's Biblical library.

This book provides a very solid introduction to both the world in which the NT writings originated and the particularities of the writings themselves. Johnson dispenses a plethora of information and does so with an immensely readable style. He sets the table for the exploration of virtually every question you can bring to a text--authorship, date, recipients, occasion, purpose, etc. Even when I found myself holding a different opinion than Johnson, his research and presentation are first-rate. This is a great place to start for those who want a broad sweep of NT studies. Highly recommended.

I'm not sure I'd call it indespensible, however, Johnson's interpretation is solid and he wrestles well with the text rather. He never seems to be "reaching" in his analysis. It isn't written in classic commentary style and, as such, is quite readable and accessable. Scholarly, but not just for scholars. If you are looking for good scholarship on the historical issues, I would recommend "An Introduction to the New Testament" by Carson, Moo, and Morris as a good companion text to this.