The Bible Project on an Overview of the New Testament

I haven’t posted on The Bible Project for a while, but their collection of videos goes from strength to strength. Their overviews are so clearly based in solid biblical scholarship and also (in my experience at least) communicate brilliantly well to lay audiences.

The latest one is an overview of the New Testament which, in their own words, ‘breaks down the literary design of the entire New Testament and how it continues the story of the Hebrew Scriptures’, and I think it’s a model of skill and succinctness.

It can be viewed here.

Essays for D.A. Carson

Andreas J. Köstenberger and Robert W. Yarbrough (eds.), Understanding the Times: New Testament Studies in the 21st Century: Essays in Honor of D.A. Carson on the Occasion of his 65th Birthday (Wheaton: Crossway, 2011), 400pp., ISBN 9781433507199.

D.A. Carson’s 65th birthday is being honoured with this publication of essays, which includes a section on ‘New Testament Studies Around the World’.

Andreas J. Köstenberger’s essay (‘Lifting Up the Son of Man and God’s Love for the World: John 3:16 in Its Historical, Literary, and Theological Contexts) is excerpted here, and Douglas J. Moo’s contribution (‘Justification in Galatians’) is available here.

Craig L. Blomberg on Making Sense of the New Testament

[I wrote the following brief review back in 2004, though I’m not sure whether it was ever published anywhere.]

Craig L. Blomberg, Making Sense of the New Testament: Three Crucial Questions (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2004), 189pp., ISBN 0801027470.

This forms a companion volume to Tremper Longman’s Making Sense of the Old Testament (reviewed here), and is part of Baker’s ‘Three Crucial Questions’ series. The three questions in this case are related to (1) the historical reliability of the New Testament (particularly, though not exclusively, traditions about Jesus), (2) the relationship of Paul to Jesus, and (3) the application of the New Testament to contemporary life.

The chapter on ‘Is the New Testament historically reliable?’ takes in the Jesus Seminar and Third Quest. Blomberg provides an accessible synthesis of contemporary scholarship, including his own fuller works in the same area.

Under ‘Was Paul the true founder of Christianity?’, Blomberg outlines Paul’s knowledge of Jesus’ teaching and elements of the gospel tradition, and considers six theological similarities between Jesus and Paul: justification by faith and the kingdom of God; the role of the law; the Gentile mission and the church; the role of women; christology; eschatology. Paul was not the true founder of Christianity, but built on the tradition received from the apostles and his encounter with the risen Christ. There are differences between Jesus and Paul, but the similarities are greater than often suggested.

With the third question, ‘How is the Christian to apply the New Testament to life?’, Blomberg explores principles for legitimate application of biblical texts. Much of this is devoted to the major genres of the New Testament along with their specific features and issues of interpretation and application raised, but Blomberg also deals with the thorny issue of what is normative and transcends culture and time against what is culturally-specific to the New Testament.

All told, the book carries the inevitable positives and negatives that goes with offering a brief treatment of its disputed areas. While sceptics are not likely to be persuaded by the arguments, those already convinced will enjoy it and will doubtless find it to be a useful resource.