Full Description
Your ticket from the twenty-first century to the era of Jesus and the first Christians. A readable, one-volume introduction placing the entire New Testament and early Christianity in its original context, written by distinguished scholar and author N. T. Wright.
An ideal guide for students, The New Testament in Its World addresses the many difficult questions faced by those studying early Christianity, including:
What was the first century understanding of the Kingdom of God?
What is the meaning of the resurrection in its original context?
What were the Gospels, and how did they come about?
Who was Paul and why are his letters so controversial?
Written for both classroom and personal use, this book brings together decades of ground-breaking research, writing, and teaching into one volume. It presents the New Testament books—along with their subjects: Jesus and the early church—within the historical and social context of Second Temple Judaism and Greco-Roman politics and culture.
The New Testament in Its World allows you to recover the excitement of what it was like to live as Christians in the first or second centuries.
Features include:
Surveys of each New Testament book that discuss their significance and provides commentary on their contents, along with implications for the Christian life.
Major sections on the historical Jesus, the resurrection of Jesus, and Paul's chronology and theology.
Up-to-date discussions of textual criticism and the canonization of the New Testament.
Frequent illustrations, maps, charts, diagrams, and artwork provide additional explanations and insights.
A distillation of the life work of N. T. Wright on the New Testament with input from Michael Bird.
Also available are Video and Workbook companion resources (sold separately) to enhance learning and experience the world of the New Testament.
Contents
1. History, Literature, and Theology
§ 1.1 History and Hermeneutics
§ 1.2 Worldview and Story
2. The People of God in the Jewish and Graeco-Roman Worlds
§ 2.1 History of the Jews Between the Persian and Roman Empires
§ 2.2 Roman Empire: Philosophy, Politics, and Pantheon
§ 2.2 Diversity in Second Temple Judaism
§ 2.3 Story, Symbol, and Praxis in Israel's Worldview
§ 2.5 The Jewish Stories of the Early Church
3. Jesus and the Victory of God
§ 3.1 The Quest for the Historical Jesus
§ 3.2 Jesus and the Kingdom
§ 3.3 Jesus as the Messiah
§ 3.4 Jesus and His Death
4. The Resurrection of the Son of God
§ 43.1 The Afterlife in Greek, Roman, and Jewish Thought
§ 4.2 The Story of Easter according to the Evangelists
§ 4.3 The Resurrection according to Paul
§ 4.4 Resurrection in Early Christianity
§ 4.5 The Meaning of Resurrection for Christian Beginnings and Endings
5. Paul and the Faithfulness of God
§ 5.1 Paul: The Man, the Mission, and his Messiah
§ 5.2 Romans
§ 5.3 1-2 Corinthians
§ 5.4 Galatians
§ 5.5 1-2 Thessalonians
§ 5.6 Colossians, Philemon, Philippians, Ephesians
6. The Gospels and the Story of God
§ 6.1 The Transmission of the Jesus Tradition
§ 6.2 The Synoptic Problem
§ 6.3 Mark
§ 6.4 Matthew
§ 6.5 Luke-Acts
§ 6.6 John
§ 6.7 The Making of the Fourfold Gospel Canon
7. The Early Christians and the Story of God
§ 7.1 Christianity after 70 AD
§ 7.2 Paul's Legacy: Pastorals, Hebrews
§ 7.3 John the Elder and his Churches: 1-3 John
§ 7.4 Jewish Christianity: Jude, James, 1-2 Peter
§ 7.5 John the Seer and the Apocalypse of Jesus Christ
8. The Making of the New Testament
§ 8.1 Introduction to Textual Criticism of the New Testament
§ 8.2 The Canonization of the New Testament
9. The Mission of the Church
§ 9.1 Worldview
§ 9.2 Narrative
§ 9.3 Ethics
§ 9.4 Tasks
