A masterful collection of essays in New Testament studies connecting Scripture, theology, and human life What is the purpose of studying the New Testament, and how is it best approached? Esteemed professor C. Kavin Rowe explores these questions in sixteen incisive essays covering a range of topics, including:
- the state of New Testament studies as a field
- the relationship between historical criticism and theological reading
- interdisciplinary methodology
- comparative religion and New Testament Christianity
- truth claims of the New Testament
What unites these diverse chapters is a holistic approach to the New Testament. Against the modern tendency to separate disciplines, Rowe unites philosophy, theology, history, and biblical studies in fruitful conversation. Most crucially, he emphasizes the essential purpose of this academic work: its implications for human flourishing.
With an insightful and bold approach, Rowe's essays should be read by anyone interested in New Testament studies. Scholars and students will find the essays in this critical volume challenging and rewarding.
About the Author :
C. Kavin Rowe is the George Washington Ivey Distinguished Professor of New Testament and vice dean for faculty at Duke Divinity School. His previous books include Early Narrative Christology, World Upside Down: Reading Acts in the Graeco-Roman Age, Christianity's Surprise: A Sure and Certain Hope, and Leading Christian Communities.
Review :
Theological Studies
"I find little to fault in these insightful, philosophically learned, and theologically serious essays." Interpretation
"This book is a treasure chest of theological interpretation . . . For students and pastors--and perhaps even scholars--it may renew their hope in the truthfulness and vitality of basic Christian doctrines and their appreciation of the theological richness of the New Testament. In addition, for those same groups of readers it will show them (us) a way to read the sacred text that treats it as such, without compromising intellectual rigor."
"This is a marvelous book. It is clear, methodical, and written with an elegant simplicity. Its content is theologically rich and extraordinarily learned. But this is not just a fascinating collection of essays about the New Testament and New Testament studies. It is nothing less than a brilliant, wise, and faithful manifesto for how New Testament studies should be done."
--Simon Gathercole
University of Cambridge
"Even where I disagree with this book, I am in awe of it. Like our own twenty-first-century Pascal, Kavin Rowe stakes everything on his earnest, existential approach to reading the New Testament, and the results are exhilarating to read."
--Matthew V. Novenson
University of Edinburgh
"Existentially powerful and theologically bold, these collected essays from one of the foremost New Testament scholars of this generation encapsulate a powerful and programmatic vision for ongoing New Testament study."
--Joshua Jipp
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
