The New Testament: An Analytical Approach

I teach New Testament to university undergraduates. This is the best textbook for New Testament, and probably the best textbook for ANY course, that I have ever used. The book itself is short, so that the student has time to read the Bible itself, not just the textbook. It approaches the New Testament from a scholarly, non-doctrinal, non-denominational perspective. It is an introduction to academic, as distinct from a church-oriented, study of the Bible, something surprisingly few students are even aware is possible. The exercises and underlining suggestions the author makes invite the student to learn about being a scholar by actually practicing Biblical scholarship for him/herself. The writing style is remarkably clear and easy to follow. I give this book my highest recommendation.

If you are interested in reading the New Testament critically and you need a place to start, this is a good book for you. This is especially true if you're a tinkerer, and you really like finding things out for yourself.I recommend anyone who reads this book to have a copy of a Bible handy in order to do the exercises. There are reading, writing, and underlining excercises throughout the book that I found very worthwhile to do. One can learn a lot simply by sifting out the Signs Gospel (from John), Q in Matthew and/or Luke, and other text fragments. This book takes a non-doctrinal, hands-on approach. Davies does not analyze the text for you, but gives background historical and cultural information, indicates textual parallels, presents well-designed charts and timelines, and suggests ways for you to analyze it yourself.