Product Description

The 2nd revised edition is a comprehensive survey, with chapters on the world of the first Christians, the life and teaching of Jesus, composition of the Gospels, origins and growth of the Early Church, life, mission and letters of Paul, Revelation, formation of the New Testament and how it has been interpreted and used by later generations.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7010 in Books
• Published on: 1999-10-22
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 480 pages

Customer Reviews

Great Introduction To The Background of the New Testament
This book by John Drane is a masterpiece. Drane approaches the subject from an evangelical christian point of view. He is not scared to examine points of view that he disagrees with, but at the same time he will let no current social convention come between himself and what he believes the text of the New Testament to actually mean.

This book does not just cover the theology of the New Testament but also looks at the socio-political climate that the New Testament was written in and that the first christians lived in.

Whilst the books simplicity makes it best for the A-Level student or the general reader, it is also good for the undergraduate university student as an easy read and enjoyable quick introduction to the New Testament in order to provide an initial orientation to the subject matter at hand.

This is a book that I freely recommend to anybody wanting to take initial steps into the delightful world of the New Testament.

Indispensable (and twice as thick as 'Introducing the OT'!)
In contrast to the next reviewer down, I find `Introducing the New Testament' invaluable to my studies (I'm just finishing the first year of a degree course with the London School of Theology). John Drane's easy-going style even when dealing with sometimes complex theological issues, coupled with the wonderfully user-friendly book layout (see my review of Drane's `Introducing the Old Testament') make this an excellent title. There is more than enough scholarly information here to begin serious NT studying while still being easily accessible enough for more casual Bible study.

I have been fortunate in being able to compare this revised edition with the previous edition: there has been a small but significant "sharpening up" of the text and the above mentioned layout has changed (and improved) greatly, and there is also (at least one) completely new Special Article - `The gospels as Graeco-Roman biography' (P168). It's surprising how much difference - and how greatly positive that difference is - between first and revised editions of this book.

As I said in my review of `Introducing the OT', this title should be considered mandatory to anyone even vaguely interested in Christian or biblical things.

A fantastic resource.
This book provides a clear, easy to read account of the New Testament. The author gives a substantial overview of the social-political-religious context of the writing of the NT which is not bogged down in scholarly language. As an A-level Theology teacher, I needed a book not only to enhance my own background reading, but also one which I could recommend to my students as being accessible and interesting to read; this book fits that criteria.