Full Description
Daniel Lynwood Smith orients readers of the New Testament to its historical and cultural settings, introducing the cast of characters, and illuminating key concepts by exploring their use in ancient texts. Smith includes quotations from many primary sources including Josephus, Tacitus, the Qumran Community, Pliny the Younger, and other carefully chosen texts from lesser-known ancient sources. These texts are all carefully woven together with commentary, to provide a narrative framework for the material and guide students through the text. A glossary of complex terms is provided, to make everything as clear as possible for the newcomer to New Testament studies.
This integrative approach both introduces the key sources to the reader and elaborates on their significance for understanding the New Testament. In an admirably concise format Smith is able to cover the military-political history of Israel-Palestine, the messianic movements of Second Temple Judaism, the ancient practice of crucifixion and the development of the Christian canon. Through immersion in these ancient Jewish, Christian, and Greco-Roman texts and contexts, contemporary readers take a step closer to experiencing the New Testament with first-century eyes and ears.
Contents
Contents
Preface
Chapter 1: What is the New Testament?
Part 1: The Setting
Chapter 2: The Kingdom of... God?
Chapter 3: When in Rome
Part 2: The Cast of Characters
Chapter 4: John the Baptist and other Movers and Shakers
Chapter 5: A Virgin, a King, a High Priest, a Governor, and a Rabbi
Chapter 6: Joshua the Carpenter's Son...or the Christ, the Son of God?
Chapter 7: Learners
Chapter 8: The Jews
Chapter 9: "I am a Jew"
Part 3: Reading Words
Chapter 10: The Crux of the Matter
Chapter 11: Faith(fulness)
Chapter 12: Apocalypse Then
Post-Script: Loose Canons
Glossary: The Meaning of Words
