If everyone writes from a point of view and with an agenda, can we reasonably expect any historical account to be objective—to tell us the truth? In this second edition, Paul Barnett defends the task of the historian and the concept of history, addressing questions about the New Testament that are of importance to people of faith and skeptics alike.

In clear, concise prose, Timothy Paul Jones takes on Bart Ehrman's misleading conclusions about how we got the New Testament, how the New Testament documents have been transmitted and what kind of diversity existed among early Christians.

Thomas Oden calls for a radical reassessment of early church tradition by directing our attention to Africa, where a memory of St. Mark survives as the North African founder of the church in Alexandria. The result is an illuminating portrait that challenges long-standing assumptions in the West.

Thomas C. Oden surveys the decisive role of African Christians and theologians in shaping the doctrines and practices of the church of the first five centuries, and makes an impassioned plea for the rediscovery of that heritage. Christians throughout the world will benefit from this reclaiming of an important heritage.

Paul Lawrence takes a narrative approach in presenting this atlas, a rich resource of Bible history, geography and archaeology. The atlas traces the main events in the Old and New Testaments from Abraham to Paul. The text includes relief maps, photos, panoramic illustrations, site plans and battle plans.