Best New Testament Survey Textbook???

Best New Testament Survey Textbook???

As I look to the future and think about teaching, I am curious which NT Survey I might use and/or recommend to others.  I am instructed with Robert Gundry’s New Testament Survey (Zondervan) which was good but not especially impressive.  I am hoping you, the readers, could help me by voting for your favority NT survey for instruction in seminary/bible college.  Now, I am not tech-savvy so I don’t have a nifty polling program, so please note the options I have listed below (which are my personal picks) and vote in the comments section, but feel free to add another (but don’t list them endlessly, please keep it to one choice).

1. P. Achtemeier, J. Green, and M. Thompson, Introducing the New Testament (Eerdmans, 2001).  I like this one more for its backgrounds material, canonical discussions, and theological analysis.  It is balanced and careful, but yet leans conservative.

2. David deSilva, An Introduction to the New Testament: Contexts, Methods, and Ministry Formation (IVP, 2004).  I really like this one because David is a fanastically gifted writer and scholar; it is accessible, but covers important social and historical perspectives, as well as important issues for pastors and for ‘ministry’.  I will probably try this one out as my own top pick when I teach the course.

3. Luke Timothy Johnson, The Writings of the New Testament (SCM, 2003).  Very good on theological themes, but not as excellent in the details of historical circumstances and social factors.

4. Walter Elwell and Robert Yarborough, Encountering the New Testament (Baker, 2005).  Great presentation; very text-booky (which can be good when it means colorful and designed to be appealing to the eye).

5. D. Carson and D. Moo, An Introduction to the New Testament (Zondervan 2005).  This is a solid treatment of the NT, but Carson is especially hard on the New Perspective on Paul and, if I recall, it comes out in the introduction here.  But, on the problem of pseudepigraphy in the NT and canonical issues, it is excellent.

6. L. Martin MacDonald and Stanley Porter, Early Christianity and Its Sacred Literature (Hendrickson, 2000).  I have heard as a ‘survey’ it is not quite sufficient, but is good on history and the discussion of canon.

So, please vote in the comments for your one (and only one) top pick!  Mine is deSilva.  Also, you may explain why you chose the particular one you did if you like.  I will tally the results in a week or so and post on what people thought.  If no one comments….well…thanks for nothing.


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