Unity and Diversity in the New Testament: An Inquiry into the Character of Earliest Christianity

by James D. G. Dunn

Publisher:

SCM Press

, 2006

Overview

Unity and Diversity in the New Testament is a thorough investigation of the canon of the New Testament and Christianity’s origins. It assumes the reader is familiar with the basic issues of date, authorship, and occasion of the books, looking in detail at the various emphases in the gospel proclaimed by Jesus, Luke, Paul, and John. It also examines primitive Christianity’s preaching and teaching, confessional formulae, oral traditions, organization and worship, concepts of ministry and community, and ritual acts.

In the second half of the book, the author maps out the scope of the diversity he found in the first half’s investigation. He traces the major currents within first and second generation Christianity, including a study of Jewish Christianity, Hellenistic Christianity, apocalyptic Christianity, and early Catholicism. The book concludes with a consideration of the repercussions of such findings—for how Christians understand the New Testament, and what it means to be Christian today. This new edition is further enhanced with the author’s consideration of these same themes, 25 years after he first wrote about them. The final chapter is the authors “critical refinement” of the ideas and issues that remain relevant and important for any realistic theology of canon to be considered today.

In the Logos edition, this volume is enhanced by amazing functionality. Important terms link to dictionaries, encyclopedias, and a wealth of other resources in your digital library. Perform powerful searches to find exactly what you’re looking for. Take the discussion with you using tablet and mobile apps. With Logos Bible Software, the most efficient and comprehensive research tools are in one place, so you get the most out of your study.

Key Features

• Presents a compelling argument for the New Testament’s literacy and theological unity
• Examines key relationships between New Testament authors
• Provides a defining study by a world-renowned New Testament scholar

Contents

Top Highlights

“In short, the Christian Church is built round the post-Easter kerygma, not the teaching of the historical Jesus, or at least not that teaching as independent of the post-Easter kerygma.” (Page 32)

“A point of crucial importance begins to emerge here: that within the NT itself we have not simply diverse kerygmata, but in fact kerygmata which appear to be incompatible—that is, gospels which are incompatible when compared directly with each other without reference to their different life-settings.” (Page 27)

“All in all however there is sufficient indication that the Son of Man tradition underwent some development at least within the earliest community. This strongly suggests that the earliest churches thought of Jesus as the Son of Man in a creative way, that the conviction that Jesus was the Son of Man was an important part of their faith.” (Page 38)

“To sum up, can we speak of a single kerygma in Acts? Can we recognize within the different sermons reproduced by Acts a regular outline which may be said to provide a solid core and which we can call the basic or core kerygma of the earliest Church, at least in Luke’s presentation of it? The answer is, Yes. The most regular and basic elements are these: (1) the proclamation of the resurrection of Jesus; (2) the call for a response to this proclamation, for repentance and faith in this Jesus; (3) the promise of forgiveness, salvation, Spirit to those who so respond.” (Pages 21–22)

“But there is little in Acts of a moral obligation stemming from the acceptance of the proclamation. Most astonishing is the fact that the word ‘love’ (noun and verb) occurs not at all in Acts; whereas it was integral to the messages of Jesus (see above p. 16), of the Pauline epistles (108 times) and of the Johannine Gospel and epistles (95 times). Here the contrast is wholly striking.” (Page 21)

Product Details

• Title: Unity and Diversity in the New Testament: An Inquiry into the Character of Earliest Christianity
• Author: James D. G. Dunn
• Edition: Third Edition
• Publisher: SCM Press
• Print Publication Date: 2006
• Logos Release Date: 2015
• Pages: 520
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Bible. N.T. › Criticism, interpretation, etc; Bible. N.T. › Theology--Criticism, interpretation, etc; Theology, doctrinal › History--Early church, ca. 30-600
• ISBNs: 9780334029984, 9780664245252, 0334029988, 0664245250
• Resource ID: LLS:SCMUNTYDVRSTYNT
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-30T02:53:18Z

About James D. G. Dunn

James D. G. Dunn (1939–) is emeritus Lightfoot Professor of Divinity at the University of Durham and is a leading British New Testament scholar. Dunn is a significant proponent of the New Perspective on Paul, and coined the term in a 1982 lecture. He received a PhD and DD from the University of Cambridge, and a MA and BD from the University of Glasgow. In 2002 he became only the third British scholar to be made the president of the Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas.

His recent works include Did the First Christians Worship Jesus? The New Testament Evidence, A New Perspective on Jesus: What the Quest for the Historical Jesus Missed, the volumes Romans 1–8 and Romans 9–16 of the Word Biblical Commentary, and The Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon in The New International Greek Testament Commentary (12 vols.).