Biblical Theology: Past, Present, and Future (II)
Southwestern Journal of Theology
Volume 56, No. 1 – Fall 2013
Managing Editor: Terry L. Wilder
By D. A. Carson and Douglas J. Moo. Edited by Andrew David Naselli. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2010. 163 pages. Softcover, $12.99.
This volume provides a condensation of the popular New Testament introduction by Carson and Moo. Naselli, a PhD student at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and research assistant to Carson at the time, earned editor status by providing the initial condensation of the longer work. For each New Testament book, the authors discuss the content, author, genre, date, place, audience, purpose, and contributions. Additional chapters discuss the Synoptic Gospels and Synoptic problem, focusing on issues rather than scholars, New Testament letters, including a discussion of pseudonymity and pseudepigraphy, and Paul as apostle and theologian, including several pages on “The New Perspective.”
The first chapter, “Thinking about the Study of the New Testament,” rightfully omits almost all of that which appears in the corresponding chapter in the original volume. The chapter on the New Testament canon is absent, although one may wish that this chapter would appear in an abbreviated form rather than having been omitted. Unlike the original volume, footnotes are completely absent. Additionally, each chapter closes with questions for review and discussion.
This text-only volume (except for one map) aims at a popular audience yet still addresses significant issues. The condensation effectively introduces issues and creates a desire to learn more without leaving the reader stranded. The authors provide an evangelical response to perspectives of critical scholars. In this form, the book would not be appropriate as a regular text in a graduate or undergraduate course on the New Testament. However, it could certainly serve as a supplemental text at either level to point students quickly to significant issues in each book. Furthermore, the text might serve well in a one-semester survey of the entire Bible at the undergraduate level. In the local church, an academically minded believer may find the text helpful.
Some readers in the target audience may prefer a volume with extensive images and color. For these, this black and white text may prove bland. Some may also find the discussions too weighty even though significantly condensed. Perhaps the greatest challenge in producing a short introduction is to summarize the contents of a New Testament book effectively, particularly the Gospels. The summary of Matthew is the most challenged in this text, yet the volume as a whole meets this challenge well.
