Encountering the New Testament: A Historical and Theological Survey

Love studying the New Testament

If you're a pastor, seminary student, or a layperson who needs a good, informative, and easy to read introduction to the New Testament then this book will be perfect for you. Many NT introductions/surveys that are out there are either 1) too technical and academic, or 2) liberal/modernist. This introduction is solidly evangelical, easy to understand, and academic enough for even the novice biblical scholar. The strength of the book is that it does not survey each of the books in the New Testament chapter by chapter but by topics of significance in each book. For instance, when the authors talk about the message of Galatians they do not discuss what each of the 6 chapters discusses but about what Paul says about the nature of the gospel, law and grace, etc. (though Acts is an exception). Pretty much everything is covered regarding each book (authorship, date, place of writing, etc.). Another feature of the book that will attract more novice pastors and students of the Bible is the colourful pictures that are abundantly printed in the book. Though some may find this comical, I think it added to the charm of this book. Pictures, graphs, maps, etc. help readers understand the background of each of the NT books better. Finally, one other thing I really liked about this book is that the authors discuss side-issues related to the NT. The chapters on NT criticism (chap. 10), the historical Jesus Christ controversies (chaps. 8 and 12), and the teachings of Paul the Apostle (chap. 17) are well written, informative, and orthodox. I would say that these chapters alone are worth about half of the price of the book alone. Sure, the authors could have written more deeply on these chapters but the intended audience demanded that they do not go too deeply in these matters. Overall, I would highly recommend this book for those who want a better understanding of the NT books. Though it is not that scholarly and deep, it is still good enough for what it intends and many students of the Bible will find rich information that will greatly help in their personal spiritual growth and ministry.

I bought this book at the recommendation of a friend and certainly not disappointed. It contains beautiful charts, photos and good summaries for review. The free interactive CD that comes with it is even better. Certainly 5 star quality book and CD.

This is a very friendly Introduction to the New Testament for the person who would like to start digging deeper into their Biblical studies. It covers the bases of what an Introduction is expected to do. The authorship, historical context/date, content outline, main theological features and other interesting background are given for each book of the New Testament. This is similar to the background information found in good study Bibles, but an Introduction goes much further. The preface states the book is suitable for freshman college classes in the New Testament and I think it fills that bill very well. Encountering the New Testament is unapologetically evangelical and is constructed around three theological themes: God, people, and the gospel as it relates to individuals. The content is extremely well organized and features color inserts and photographs on almost every page to keep the feel upbeat and lively. The typeset is big and clear. There are numerous archaeological and cultural inserts to add contemporary relevance to whatever topic is in view. Each chapter has good Review Questions, Deeper Study Questions and a Further Reading guide to many excellent resources - these are all very useful. There is also a pretty good glossary, very good subject index and thorough Scripture index, as you'd expect of a theological work. The book comes with a companion CD that covers the topics of the book in very limited depth. Even though it has cool menus, neat graphics and some multimedia clips, I did not find the companion CD content useful (but I rarely do with any book). The CD chapter Review questions are the same ones in the book - disappointing. Maybe I ought to knock a point off the rating since the price is probably higher due to the CD. Since I didn't get the book for the CD at all, I'm not holding this against what is otherwise a good book. If you want a deep companion CD, buy something else (I'm not sure what). With good beginning level content, excellent organization, color pictures, relevant sidebars and a not too useful CD, this might seem to be the NT Introduction for everyone; it is not. If you need a top notch scholarly NT Introduction, get Donald Guthrie's "New Testament Introduction". It is much bigger, has practically no pictures, is not easy for people who haven't gone to seminary, has no CD and is one of the best quality, well researched, well written NT Introductions ever. To contrast, Encountering the New Testament is a classroom textbook that covers similar ground in less depth but a more accessible style. After having read Encountering the New Testament for two NT survey classes, I now use it frequently as a reference and always enjoy its friendly presentation of useful content.

This textbook, or historical and theological survey of the New Testament, is an excellent introductory source for college freshmen and new graduate students. It is also an outstanding source for those interested in beginning their personal study of the New Testament. It is well written and easily understood. This book is not a commentary, but rather a straightforward textbook designed to introduce, in the clearest terms, the New Testament. At each chapter's end, the authors provide a summary, review and study questions, and a section of suggested further readings. These are very helpful elements. I have only two very minor criticisms. One, a more extensive glossary would have been helpful. Two, the minor hyperbole about Paul's Acts epistle (page 274, first sentence in third paragraph) was a bit over the top. The authors, in all other instances, managed to avoid such puffery. This is an excellent book and it is highly recommended. I did not use the CD, which came with my version; therefore, I cannot comment on its efficacy.

As a teacher of New Testament in the UK, I am very impressed with this volume as a resource for students. It will be particularly valuable for students who study on their own rather than as part of a class. It is not set at an advanced level, and that is a good thing for undergraduate students, yet it is thorough, helpful, and the suggestions for further reading point the reader to the best in modern New Testament scholarship. The illustrations are excellent and attractive, often highlighting important archaeological evidence relating to the New Testament. One particularly attractive feature of this text is the frequent quotation of ancient sources such as Josephus and the early church fathers. The companion reader will provide additional opportunities for the reader to steep himself or herself in the world of the New Testament. Teachers will appreciate the overheads and other resources which are available from the publisher to accompany the textbook.