Studying the New Testament requires a willingness to engage the texts on their own terms, and this classic introduction provides invaluable guidance, offering a critical introduction to New Testament Studies along with a wealth of pertinent primary and secondary material. Since the publication of the first edition, which was in print for twenty years, a host of new and diverse cultural, historical, social-scientific, socio-rhetorical, narrative, textual, and contextual studies have been developed and brought to bear on the source material, and this revised edition fully reflects the advances in New Testament scholarship since the original publication.

Written from a nonsectarian perspective, An Introduction to the New Testament is ideal for midlevel college and seminary students and for anyone who wants to be better informed about the both the texts themselves and their scholarly study.

List of Figures, Charts, and Maps
List of Abbreviations
Preface to the Second Edition
Introduction

Part 1: The World of the New Testament
1. The Greco-Roman Context of the New Testament
2. The Jewish World of the New Testament
3. The Language of the New Testament
4. The Text of the New Testament

Part 2: Interpreting the New Testament
5. The Historical Methods of Criticism
6. The Genres of the Gospels and Acts
7. The Ancient Letter Genre
8. The Genres of the Apocalypse (Revelation) of John

Part 3: Jesus and Early Christianity
9. Reconstructing a Chronology of Jesus's Life
10. The Historical Jesus
11. The Message of Jesus
12. A Chronology of Paul's Life
13. The Major Phases of Early Christianity
14. Emerging Christian Orthodoxy: Part 1
15. Emerging Christian Orthodoxy: Part 2

Appendix A: The Formation of the New Testament Canon
Appendix B: English Translations of the New Testament

Bibliography
Index of Ancient Texts
Index of Modern Authors

   Introduction » (PDF, 60 KB)
   Chapter 3: The Language of the New Testament » (PDF, 121 KB)
   Chapter 7: The Ancient Letter Genre » (PDF, 140 KB)
   Chapter 10: The Historical Jesus » (PDF, 162 KB)

Charles B. Puskas has extensive experience in college and university teaching, religious publishing, and parish ministry. He is the author of The Conclusion of Luke-Acts (2009), The Letters of Paul (1993), and with David Crump, An Introduction to the Gospels and Acts (2008).

C. Michael Robbins is an adjunct professor of religion and philosophy in the Haggard School of Theology at Azusa Pacific University. He is the author of The Testing of Jesus in Q (2007) and with Steven Johnson has helped revise James Allen Hewett's New Testament Greek, with CD-ROM (2009).

"This second edition of An Introduction to the New Testament by Puskas and Robbins is a literarily sensitive, historically oriented volume. It provides a framework to the New Testament that will help readers appreciate the complex world out of which the New Testament arose and gain an understanding of what is involved in the exegesis of New Testament texts today. I recommend this text for use in undergraduate and seminary classes that offer an academic approach to the New Testament."
Mark Reasoner, Associate Professor of Theology, Marian University

"This will be useful to general readers as well as students as a background to Bible Study. Chapters look at the background to the New Testament, the interpretation of the New Testament and methods of historical criticism, the life and message of Jesus, and the life and writings of Paul."
Church of England Newspaper, 21st October 2012

"This work has been written with the needs of undergraduates preparing for a first degree in biblical studies in mind. At the same time, it is also designed for more general readers who want to come to an understanding of the books of the New Testament … The footnotes through the whole book are helpful and enable the reader to take some of the subject matter further ... The work will be of considerable use to those coming fresh to biblical studies ..."
Donald A. Bullen, in Theological Book Review, Vol 24, No 2