The New Testament

A Contemporary Introduction

Colleen M. Conway

• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
• Year: 2022
• Print ISBN: 9781119685920
• eBook ISBN: 9781119685968
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Studies

An accessible introduction to the New Testament, offering up-to-date historical-critical scholarship and diverse critical perspectives

The New Testament: A Contemporary Introduction presents a concise account of the emergence of Jesus traditions in the broader context of ancient Mediterranean history. Incorporating established historical approaches and alternative academic analyses, this innovative textbook helps students understand the historical and political contexts of the authors and their audiences, and how different social identities and lived experiences influenced the formation of the Bible and its later interpretations.

Accomplished scholar Colleen Conway emphasizes the cultural and literary context of the New Testament while drawing from historical, postcolonial, gender, feminist, and intersectional analyses of biblical texts. Throughout the book, students explore how issues of race, class, gender, sexual orientation, and power dynamics contributed to the production of the New Testament texts and continue to inform their interpretation in the 21st century.

Through twelve chronologically organized chapters, this book examines Paul's mission to the Gentiles, unity and conflict in Paul's communities, the four Gospel narratives, the Revelation to John, Hebrews, 1 Peter, the New Testament canon, early Christian writings, and more. The New Testament: A Contemporary Introduction:

• Provides an up-to-date introduction to historical and critical methods and central questions in the field
• Helps students contextualize the different writings of the New Testament as part of the Mediterranean world of the first century, for example exploring how Roman Imperial rule and social stratification affected the authors of New Testament texts
• Discusses how ideas about gender and race affect the meaning and application of New Testament texts
• Features "Contemporary Voices" sections highlighting the work of modern New Testament scholars
• Includes numerous pedagogical tools such as chapter review questions, key term lists, suggested readings, a timeline, maps, illustrations, photographs, a glossary, and much more

Designed for undergraduate students with varying levels of biblical knowledge, The New Testament: A Contemporary Introduction is an ideal textbook for one-semester religious studies courses on the Bible, the New Testament, or early Christianity, as well as undergraduate and graduate students in history, sociology and philosophy.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Table of Contents
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• List of Figures
• List of Maps
• List of Boxes
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Timeline
• Prologue: Orientation to the Academic Study of the New Testament
• 1 The New Testament Writings in Multiple Contexts
• 2 The Jesus Movement in the Context of the Roman Empire
• 3 Introducing Paul and His Letters
• 4 Reading Paul within Judaism
• 5 Conflicts with the Corinthian Christ Group
• 6 Claiming Pauline Authority
• 7 The Gospel of Mark
• 8 The Gospel of Matthew
• 9 The Gospel of Luke
• 10 The Spread of “the Way” in the Roman Empire
• 11 The Gospel of John and the Johannine Letters
• 12 Following Christ in the Empire
• Epilogue: The Final Formation of the New Testament Canon
• Glossary
• Appendix A Brief Overview of Some Interpretive Approaches to the Bible
• Index
• End User License Agreement