Friday, December 21, 2012

Introductory Book Recommendations? - Le Donne

In comment to Dr. Keith's "five books you should read" post, Ken asks:
What would you recommend for the non-theology student with a hunger for a deeper knowledge and understanding of the history, interpretation and context of the New Testament and it's origins? I have read many of Ben Witherington's books with great satisfaction but some of them are way beyond me. I have added several of your recommendations to my Amazon wish list hoping they are good for the serious but uneducated believer.
Any suggestions for books that cover "history, interpretation and context of the New Testament and it's origins" at a very basic level?

11 comments:

  1. I recently read - and was impressed by - Raymond E. Brown's Introduction to the NT.

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  2. "A Hitchhiker's Guide to Jesus: Reading the Gospels on the Ground".

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  3. Though not a broad introduction to NT studies, I thought your _Historical Jesus_ would be a fine intro book to pass to folks looking for an entry into historical Jesus studies (I swear I'm not ass-kissing). LTJ's NT Intro worked well for me in the past. I also enjoyed Barr's _New Testament Story_. Hubbard's _Christianity in the Greco-Roman World_ is an imaginative work that fleshes out NT introduction/contextualization of the first century world with fun (and at times quite moving) narrative. In fact, Hubbard's is probably at the top of my list for basic intro works for that reason.

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  5. I quite enjoyed Hull's The Story of the New Testament Text: Movers, Materials, Motives, Methods, and Models... but it is probably too heady to be considered a very basic intro-level text.

    -anthony

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  6. Anthony, check out my new work "Entering the Fray: A Primer on New Testament Issues for the Church & Academy".

    here's a link to the book: http://www.amazon.com/Entering-Fray-Primer-Testament-Academy/dp/1620323281/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1356130746&sr=8-1&keywords=entering+the+fray+halcomb

    and here's a link to it's companion site: http://enteringthefraybook.blogspot.com/

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  7. Something like John Drane's Introducing the New Testament (now in its fourth edition) is excellent as an introductory primer.

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  8. For readers at a very basic level, I think some of the best intros are Reading the Bible Wisely by Richard Briggs and The Drama of Scripture by Bartholomew and Goheen.

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  9. "What Saint Paul Really Said" by N.T. Wright is a nice introduction to the study of Paul.

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