THE HISTORY AND THEOLOGY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT WRITINGS (Paperback)

by UDO SCHNELLE (Author)
Key Phrases: risen one, intended readership, theologia crucis, New Testament, Jesus Christ, Paul Siebeck (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
An introduction to the New Testament in classic format, Schnelle's book presents full and up-to-date information about the individual writings with respect to date, author, place of writing, structure of the document, current scholarships, themes and theological aims.

The book, intended to supersede W. G. Kmmel's introduction, informs the reader of all the important historical issues and describes the range of scholarly opinion and literature, preparing the reader to pass judgment. After providing an overview of the development of the New Testament canon, Schnelle then takes up, in turn: the letters of Paul, the Synoptic Gospels (including Q), Acts, the Deutero-Paulines, the Catholic letters, the Gospel of John, and Revelation. With extensive anglicized bibliographies.

Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: German

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Product Details

• Paperback: 592 pages
• Publisher: FORTRESS PRESS (January 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0800629523
• ISBN-13: 978-0800629526
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #866,987 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Reliable reference book, June 19, 2003

By	Staysun "staysun" (Downers Grove, IL USA) - See all my reviews

While this books addresses New Testament theology, the author avoids political motivations and attempts to focus on facts and scholarship. The reader is offered concise known facts on each New Testament book and general information consensus on each book, if any, from respected scholars. Conclusions from the data may be drawn as desired. An extensive bibliography on each book encourages additional study. In other words, this is a balanced and reliable reference book worth collecting.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Probably the best introduction to the NT, October 1, 2006

By	Aquinatis (Paris) - See all my reviews

This work is not a popular book addressed to the masses who can't read a Greek work or are not interested in academic books. It has no general introduction to the NT background, literary criticism, etc. (German theology students normally first study, besides languages, some books on the NT background and also some on exegesis such as the classic Conzelamnn and Lindemann's Arbeitsbuch zum Neuen Testament or more recent books such as Schnelle's Einführung in die neutestamentliche Exegese or Roloff & Müller's Neues Testament). Schnelle's present book does have an introductory chapter, but it deals critically with the previous German and English books on the same subject (French books such as Daniel Marguerat's Introduction au Nouveau Testament are omitted).
Most chapters of this book deal with one book/epistle of the NT. Each chapter has the same, very well organised structure. The major theories and arguments are discussed, everything is well exposed. Greek words are written with Greek font, making them a pleasure to read, and likewise for the few Hebrew words. The exposition is excellent.

This book surpasses any other book I have read by its clarity, readability and balance. It is really a scientific work. It is required reading for any student of theology in Germany (even including German fundamentalist evangelical seminaries, although these may better served than their American counterparts with Erich Mauerhofer's Einleitung in die Schriften des NT).

I have actually read it in the German original (4th revised edition, 2002). Unfortunately the English translation is based on an older edition. Masterful books like Schnelle's show that Germans are still the best at Christian theology and that anyone seriously interested has to learn German to read such books...

For those who want to go further, there is a book I like very much on the making of the canon, Lee McDonald's The Formation of Christian Biblical Canon (2nd rev. ed. ) and is going to be superseded by the author's new book : The Biblical Canon: its Origin, Transmission, and Authority (scheduled for Nov. 2006).

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent introduction, February 26, 2007

By	ArabAmericanChristian (Chicago, USA) - See all my reviews

This is a very learned and useful summary of the NT. Although one could write much more -- and scores have -- about each of the books of the NT, this work is a very useful overview which encompasses a large amount of basic theological work regarding the NT. The only drawback is that it occasionally betrays the German origin, in that the translator has not fully changed the structure of sentences and paragraphs into those more familiar to a native English reader. This is however a very small disadvantage compared with the concentrated scholarship that comes with the book. It belongs in every NT library or collection.