Exploring the New Testament, vol. 1: Gospel and Acts, new ed.
Save on Publisher Spotlight through April 30!$13.99
Overview
Exploring the New Testament is written by authors who have extensive experience in teaching students in their first two years of university-level study. This series is perfect for someone looking for a New Testament survey that can be as broad or immersive as you see fit. The series easily facilitates teaching the material to classes or small groups.
This book is written in an exploratory approach which propels students toward engaging the Gospels and Acts for themselves. It offers activities and challenges to both the Scriptural novice and to those a little more comfortable with handling the Scriptures, offering important background information that will enable the student to work at the required level. On top of that, Exploring the New Testament, Vol. 1: The Gospels and Acts, new ed. offers ideas for deeper thought and further reading for even greater challenge. It is an excellent textbook for courses on the Gospels and Acts.
This new edition includes updated bibliographies throughout, numerous corrections, and new material on oral history, the non-canonical Gospels, and the Dead Sea Scrolls.
- What do you think? boxes provide reflective questions to ponder or use for group discussions
- Digging deeper boxes offer deeper research into topics providing 2–3 hours of immersive study
- Essay topics at the end of each chapter provide topics for further research
- Complex information is clearly shown in various graphs, charts, maps and diagrams
- Every chapter includes suggestions for further reading for extra illumination into engaging ideas
Top Highlights
“First and most practically, the period of writing the Gospels was a time when the original eyewitnesses were dying.” (Page 55)
“Third, there was a didactic (or teaching) reason, to teach those who followed Jesus more about their faith and to help them grow in it.” (Page 56)
“Fourth, there was a geographical reason, to spread the eyewitness testimony further afield.” (Page 56)
“Three facets of the law were particularly important by the time of Jesus—namely circumcision, the Sabbath and the food laws—and these were treated as ‘boundary markers’ which showed who truly belonged to the one true God.” (Page 30)
“The word ‘beginning’ (Greek archē) could well have the sense of ‘origin’ or ‘source’ here. If that is so, Mark’s book is an explanation of where the gospel message comes from, what the foundational events which the gospel message proclaims are. On this view the Gospels are the church’s testimony about Jesus rather than biography, for biography’s focus is on a past figure who is remembered, whereas Jesus was not ‘remembered’ by the early Christians—they experienced him as alive and present with them by the Spirit.” (Page 54)
[A] gem . . . avoiding the twin dangers of overwhelming the student with detail or oversimplifying complex issues, the authors offer invaluable summaries, charts and questions that will deepen learning. . . .
—Michael B. Thompson, Vice-Principal and Lecturer in New Testament Studies, Ridley Hall College
I know no better book for its purpose and I am sure it will be extensively used.
—Richard Bauckham, Professor of New Testament Studies, St. Mary’s College, University of St. Andrews
- Title: Exploring the New Testament, vol. 1: Gospel and Acts, new ed.
- Authors: Steve Walton and David Wenham
- Edition: 2nd
- Publisher: SPCK
- Publication Date: 2011
- Pages: 320
Steve Walton is Senior Lecturer in Greek and New Testament studies and Director of Research at London School of Theology. Previously, he lectured at Bedford College and St. John's College, Nottingham.
David Wenham (Ph.D., Manchester) is vice principal and tutor of New Testament at Trinity College, Bristol, having previously spent many years at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford, where he served as dean and vice principal.
Save on Publisher Spotlight through April 30!