Approaching The New Testament

The thorough but accessible Approaching the New Testament by Adam McClendon and John Cartwright offers an informative, interactive, and practical introduction. After a section on the culture and context of the New Testament, chapters introduce each New Testament book individually, covering authorship, audience, and date of writing; an outline of the book’s structure; key themes; and several points of current-day application. Intended for undergraduate and beginning seminary students, Approaching the New Testament will give readers a better understanding of the world and writing of the New Testament Scriptures as well as of their content and ongoing relevance today.

In contrast to many studies of New Testament ethics, which treat the New Testament in general and Paul in particular, this book focuses on the person of Jesus himself. Richard Burridge maintains that imitating Jesus means following both his words -- which are very demanding ethical teachings -- and his deeds and example of being inclusive and accepting of everyone. Burridge carefully and systematically traces that combination of rigorous ethical instruction and inclusive community through the letters of Paul and the four Gospels, treating specific ethical issues pertaining to each part of Scripture. The book culminates with a chapter on apartheid as an ethical challenge to reading the New Testament; using South Africa as a contemporary case study enables Burridge to highlight and further apply his previous discussion and conclusions.

The thorough but accessible Approaching the New Testament: A Guide for Students by Adam McClendon and John Cartwright offers students an informative, interactive, and practical introduction. After a section on the culture and context of the New Testament, chapters introduce each New Testament book individually, covering authorship, audience, and date of writing; an outline of the book's structure; key themes; and several points of current-day application. Intended for undergraduate and beginning seminary students, Approaching the New Testament will give students a better understanding of the world and writing of the New Testament Scriptures as well as of their content and ongoing relevance today.

This collection of essays attempts to display through theoretical discussion and practical application a number of the most prominent approaches to New Testament study being practised in the guild today. The contributors and their topics include: C.A. Evans on source, form and redation criticism, T.R. Hatina on Jewish religious backgrounds, S.E. Porter on literary approaches, D.L. Stamps on rhetorical criticism, K.D. Clarke on canonical scientific criticism, D. Tombs on the hermeneutics of liberation, and B. Clack on feminist hermeneutics. The goal of the volume is to provide workable models for those interested in expanding or deepening their knowledge of the various approaches to New Testament study.

The dynamic teachings of the New Testament are often lost in the dryness and formality of academic study. In The New Testament with Imagination William Loader seeks to solve this conundrum. He brings imagination into play to enter the world of the New Testament and carefully reads key sample passages to go right to the heart of its message. This book offers a unique new way of approaching the New Testament -- nothing else like it is in print -- and will be accessible to a broad readership, although it will also give longtime students of scripture a fresh perspective. Loader's historically sound methodology remains focused on imagining what we know through established research, not fanciful reconstruction. Loader's distinctive work has the strength of a standard introduction, but without an overload of information, and the depth of a New Testament theology, but written in language accessible to readers new to the New Testament.

Reading the New Testament offers an exciting and contemporary approach to New Testament Studies, which have changed dramatically in the past thirty years. James Crossley combines an introduction to traditional methods of source, form and social-scientific criticism with postcolonial, gender and political frameworks. He discusses reception-history, covering areas such as popular culture, party politics, historical theology and the politics of contemporary scholarship. He discusses Paul and Christian origins in continental philosophy, as well as offering a more traditional analysis of Paul’s theology and the quest for the historical Jesus. A selection of readings from contemporary scholarship is provided in the final chapter of the book. Reading the New Testament has been carefully designed to help students think critically and in wide-ranging ways about the texts of the New Testament and will prove a valuable resource for everyone engaged in serious study of the Bible.

In the past twenty-five years, New Testament scholars have drawn on the social sciences, especially anthropology and sociology, to develop a variety of new perspectives on early Christianity. David Horrell here gathers together the classic works in this field, including essays by, for example, John Barclay, Philip Esler, Wayne Meeks, Luise Schottroff and Gerd Theissen. For each selection, David Horrell provides a short introduction and suggestions for further reading. He also provides an introduction outlining the development and future prospects of the discipline.An excellent reference and textbook for scholars and students.