Exploring the New Testament, Volume 1: A Guide to the Gospels & Acts

Exploring the Bible Series

By David Wenham and Steve Walton

(casebound)

Also Available in

casebound

Product Details

Line: IVP Academic
Length: xii + 302 pages
Size: 7 x 10 inches
Binding: casebound
Published: January 2005

ISBN-10: 0-8308-2557-6
ISBN-13: 978-0-8308-2557-8
IVP Order Code: 2557

Related Subjects

Biblical Studies--New Testament

How to Use This Book

A. Setting the Scene
1. The Historical Context of Jesus and the New Testament
      From the Persian Period to the Jewish War
      Sources of Information
          Old and New Testaments
          Jewish Sources
          Greek and Roman Historians
      Before the Romans
          The Greeks
          The Maccabees Versus the Seleucid Empire
          The Hasmonean Dynasty
      The Romans
          The Herod Family
          Pontius Pilate
          After Pilate
      Jesus' Context
      Essay Topics
      Further Reading
2. Judaism in First-Century Palestine
      Five Key Marks of Second Temple Judaism
          One True God
          God Has Chosen Israel
          God Has Provided a Way to Live
          God Has Given the People a Land, Focused in the Temple
          Hope for the Future
      Parties and Groups Within First-Century Judaism
          Pharisees
          Sadducees
          Essenes
          The "Fourth Philosophy:" The Revolutionaries
          Common Judaism
      Further Reading

B. Apporaching the Gospels
3. What Are the Gospels?
      What Does "Gospel" Mean?
      The Gospels As Like Other Ancient Literature
      The Gospels As Unllike Other Ancient Literature
      Truth in Both Views?
      Why Were the Gospels Written?
      Why These Gospels?
      Some Issues for Today
      Essay Topics
      Further Reading
4. Where Did the Gospels Come From?
      Luke 1:1-4
      Using a Gospels Synopsis
      Source Criticism
      Form Criticism
      Redaction Criticism
      And Now?
      Essay Topics
      Further Reading
5. Understanding the Gospels Today
      Tools for Interpreting the Gospels
          Narrative Criticism
          Social-scientific Approaches
          Rhetorical Criticism
          Reader-response Approaches
          "Ideological" Approaches
          Structuralism
          Post-structuralism and Deconstruction
      An Approach to Exegesis of the Gospels
          The Process of Study
          Pull the Ideas Together
          Presentation
      Essay Topics
      Further Reading
      Methods of Interpretation: Parables, Miracles, Apocalyptic
          The Parables of Jesus
          The Miracles of Jesus
          Apocalyptic Imagery
      Essay Topics
      Further Reading
      The Historicity of the Gospels
          A Subjective Issue
          What Sort of Documents?
          What Sources of Information Did They Have?
          Doubts About the Historicity of the Contents
          Arguments for Historicity from the Contents
      Essay Topics
      Further Reading
      Using the Gospels Today
          What Are We To Make of Four Different Gospels?
          What About Teaching and Using the Gospels Today?
          An Example: How to "Preach" Jesus and the Gospels

C. Understanding Jesus
6. The Quest for the Historical Jesus
      Individuals and Movements
          Rationalism and Herman Samuel Reimarus
          H. G. Paulus and Miracles
          David Strauss and Myth
          The Liberal Lives of Jesus
          A. Schweitzer and the Eschatological Jesus
          Rudolf Bultmann, Myth and Existentialism
          The New Quest
          The Jesus Seminar
          The Third Quest
          Other Modern Views of Jesus
      Issues
          Presuppositions and Subjectivity
          Miracles
          Sources
          The Religious Context
          Criteria and Method
          History Matters
      Essay Topics
      Further Reading
7. The Life of Jesus in the Light of History
      Birth and Beginnings
      John the Baptist
      Galilee
      The Road to Jerusalem
      Last Days in Jerusalem
      Essay Topics
      Further Reading
8. The Teaching and Aims of Jesus
      Why Did Jesus Die?
          Jesus' Arrival in Jerusalem
          Jesus' Demonstration in the Temple
          The Final Steps
          Jesus' Perspective
      Jesus and the Kingdom of God
          God's Reign in the OT and Judaism
          Jesus and the Kingdom
          God's Reign in Jesus' Ministry
          God's Coming Reign
      The Character of the Kingdom
          Welcome for "Sinners"
          The Kingdom of the Father
          The Response Required
      Jesus' Ethics and His View of the Torah
          Jesus' Teaching About the Torah
          Jesus' Criticism of the Torah
          Was Jesus Consistent?
      Who Did Jesus Think He Was?
          Jesus As Israel
          Jesus, His Disciples and the Renewed Israel
          Jesus' Reshaping of Israel
          The Aims of Jesus
          Jesus As Messiah
          Jesus As the Son of God
          Jesus As the Son of Man
          Summing Up: Jesus and the Purposes of Yahweh
      Some Issues for Today
      Essay Topics
      Further Reading

D. Getting into the Four Gospels
9. Mark
      Structure
      A Walk Through Mark
      Some Key Themes
          Christology
          Discipleship
      Background and Purpose
      Authorship and Date
      Some Issues for Today
      Essay Topics
      Further Reading
10. Matthew
      A Look into the Gospel
      How the Gospel is Structured
      Style
      Theological Themes
          Jesus Fulfills the OT Story
          Jesus Fulfills the Law and Brings the Higher Righteousness
          Practical Obedience and Judgment
          Jesus Brings Good News to the World: Jesus, Gentiles and the Church
          The Church
          Kingdom and Christology
      Sources of Matthew's Gospel
          The Two Source Theory
      Background and Purpose
      Authorship and Date
      Some Issues for Today
      Essay Topics
      Further Reading
11. Luke
      Luke-Acts: A Two-Volume Work
      Structure
      Journeying with Jesus in Luke's Gospel
      Some Key Themes
          Salvation
          Salvation for All
          The Holy Spirit
          Prayer and Praise
      Luke's Sources
      Luke's Readers, Purpose and Authorship
      Some Issues for Today
      Essay Topics
      Further Reading
12. John
      A Walk Through the Gospel
      Style
      Theological Themes
          Jesus As Jewish Messiah
          Jesus As Divine Son
          Reasons for Believing: Signs and Witnesses
          Is Jesus Human in John?
          The Death of Jesus: How Does It Work?
          Eternal Life
          The Holy Spirit
          Future Hope
          Believing
      The Sources of the Gospel
          Dislocations in the Text
          A Signs Source
          Theological Variation
          The Synoptic Gospels
      The Background and Purpose of John's Gospel
          Possible Explanations of the Differences
      Authorship and Date of the Gospel
          In Favor of the Traditional Identification
          Against the Traditional Identification
      Some Issues for Today
      Essay Topics
      Further Reading

E. The Acts of the Apostles
13. Acts
      Acts as Luke's Volume Two
      What Kind of Book Is Acts?
      Style and Presentation
          Parallelism
          Prophecy and Fulfillment
      Structure
      A Reading of Acts
          Setting the Scene
          Mission in Jerusalem
          Three Big Men
          The Gospel Spreads in Syria-Palestine
          Paul Begins to Travel; The Jerusalem Meeting
          Paul's Second and Third Journeys
          To Jerusalem and Then Rome
      Acts and History
          Titles and Geography
          Time and Dates
          A Chronological Outline of Acts
          Acts and Galatians
          Speeches
      Acts and Theology: Some Major Themes
          God
          Jesus
          The Holy Spirit
          Mission and the Church
      Luke's Readers and Purpose
          Readers
          Why Did Luke Write?
      Authorship and Date
          Who Is Luke?
          When Did Luke Write?
      Reading Acts Today
      Some Issues for Today
      Essay Topics
      Further Reading

Glossary