An Introduction to the New Testament

As others have noted, this NT Introduction is a standard introductory text from an evangelical perspective. In this updated version, Carson and Moo add some good stuff on canonicity that was not part of the original Carson/Moo/Morris edition. Most of the remaining material is similar. As can be expected, the analysis and conclusions in this Introduction are decidedly conservative on questions of authorship, canonicity, original situation of the writings, and historical reliability of the documents. The authors helpfully analyze many contemporary challenges to evangelical understandings of the NT so that the beginner and intermediate levels of readers will gain a good introductory grasp of the many bones of contention that exist over many issues in virtually every book of the NT. Moo's strong work in Romans and James, coupled with Carson's strong work on the Fourth Gospel, can be particularly seen in this book's treatment of these canonical documents. One could have hoped for a more lengthy treatment of contemporary issues, and one could also have hoped for more robust bibliographies upon which the reader could proceed with more in-depth study. But because this is an introductory work, it is probably inappropriate to expect such things in this kind of treatment. The beginner who wants to develop a good working knowledge of NT scholarship from an evangelical perspective will likely be quite satisfied with what they find in here.

In this new edition of Intro to the NT Carson and Moo have significantly improved the work they initially published with Leon Morris (who has since passed away). The chapters are reorganized, the margins are wider, and the material has expanded to include the contribution of works published since the first edition. Having used both editions for coursework and personal study, I find the second edition far superior. While the layout of the first edition was doable, the second is much roomier and suitable for study. More than all these considerations, the authors superbly point the reader to Christ, to become like him. I have been challenged not only academically as I've read this work, I have been also been convicted spiritually.

Carson and Moo have thoroughly reworked this book, removing or revising Morris' contributions and adding much new material for the second edition. Some sections are rearranged, and there are a few entirely new sections. I read the original book straight through a few years ago, and I haven't found anything else that does quite as good a job of staying on top of the current scholarship while defending generally conservative evangelical views on the authorship, date, setting, purpose, and other backgrounds sorts of issues on each NT book. I expect the updated edition to be equally thorough and more up-to-date on recent trends in NT scholarship. Particularly of note is the section on the New Perspective on Paul, which Morris and Carson have both been on the forefront of interacting with (from a more traditional perspective in both cases, though both have been willing to acknowledge that we have learned something from the NPP). They call this section brief in the introduction, but it's 11 pages, a fair amount of space compared to how much room they give to most topics. They have also provided a lengthy addition covering the history of interpretation of the NT, from the early Christians to contemporary biblical scholarship. They've also expanded of added more on the content of each book, something reviewers complained about in the first edition, and there's also a little bit on the social science approaches to NT studies, something that wasn't very far along in the original book. All in all, the new edition sounds as if it should be excellent. They've removed the dust jacket and replaced it with a visually appealing cover on the book itself, and they've increased the margin size significantly, both of which suit its primary use as a seminary textbook. They list the intended audience as seminary students in the first and second years, but a studious enough person can read it for profit without the additional seminary background. I read the entire first edition without any seminary training at all. It's certainly not the level of detail a scholar would want for an exhaustive treatment of every issue, but the bibliographies and footnotes can provide further reading to get exactly that, and it would be ill-suited for students if it tried to do too much. This has been the standard evangelical NT introduction for quite a while, and as of the revision its place will be secured for quite a while.

A balanced textbook for an introduction to the New Testament is critcal and crucial to learning. This book fits this criteria. It was carefully written by three conservative scholars whom had presented the New Testament with an unbiased perspective; except conservativism, comparing conservative perspectives with critical scholarships, though upholding conservative scholarship. The content is a tedious reading but prove to be a good resource/text for academic learning in theological education. These are the strengths of this book. If one is looking for a general introduction of each book, this is the one. If one is looking for a content-based text on each of the book, this is not the ideal. I would recommend to anyone of the former category.

This work is a standard textbook used in Seminaries and Christian colleges. Carson, Moo, and Morris each have a solid reputation for New Testament studies and this work shows just that. The authors are careful to cover all the necessary details, communicating how one can confidently approach New Testament studies. For instance, each chapter pertaining to a book of the New Testament covers the background, history, authorship, literary structure, criticisms of the book by various scholars, and the dating of the Biblical text. All this is discussed as well as the content of the Biblical book at hand. Moreover, the authors are not afraid to reveal the criticisms that have been cast at certain New Testament texts and include the pro's and con's of these criticisms. Therefore, the authors are very honest in their assessment of the texts/criticisms. In addition, this book covers the canonization of the Biblical texts and how each book went through the process of decision (in its historical context) that was made by the early Church Fathers. Further explanation is given for those books that were in question thus presenting a very interesting background for why we read the particular Biblical text that we do today. If you are wanting a book that is thorough in its analysis of the New Testament and very detailed regarding the content of the New Testament books, then this is the book for you.