Abstract
This volume contains forty-four essays written by a panel of thirty-four distinguished, English-speaking scholars and is divided into five parts: ‘Setting the Context: Exile and the Jewish Heritage’; ‘Setting the Context: Roman Hellenism’; ‘The Jewish People in the Context of Roman Hellenism’; ‘The Literary Context of Early Christianity’; and ‘The Geographical Context of the New Testament’. The mandate of each article is to provide an orientation to the topic’s main issues and to assist in gaining a better understanding of the world behind the New Testament documents. The work as a whole is an initiative of the Institute for Biblical Research, a community of evangelical scholars from a variety of church traditions. As a result, though there is no explicit denominational perspective, the volume approaches the question from a confessional standpoint, though what that is differs according to the individual scholar.
As with any volume of collected essays, there is a range of quality. Fortunately for this collection, the work is of a generally high standard. There is some overlap between essays, though this too is expected from a volume that seeks to be broadly comprehensive. In addition to the many essays, the volume also contains a number of photos, maps, diagrams and a detailed set of indices. These features go a long way to making this volume more conducive to being a course text.
The stated aim of this collection is to provide the reader with ‘a more informed understanding of the context within which the events described in the NT would have take places and within which the NT books themselves were written’ (p. 2). This goal is accomplished through the careful selection of essay topics and quality of contributing scholars. This book is targeted to students in both universities and seminaries, though it could still be of use to scholars who are seeking to refresh their memory of a particular topic. One of the most practical features in this regard is the annotated bibliography at the close of each chapter. This helps identify key works for the reader and gives direction for further research.
Overall, The World of the New Testament would make a good textbook for any course that attempts to understand the New Testament in its wider Graeco-Roman milieu.