Exploring the New Testament, Volume One: A Guide to the Gospels & Acts

This clearly written introduction to the Gospels and Acts offers a student-friendly approach that is rooted in up-to-date scholarship and actual classroom experience. Particularly aimed at students of theology, Exploring the New Testament: A Guide to the Gospels & Acts introducesJewish and Roman backgroundliterary genres and formsconventional as well as new approaches to the study of the Gospels and Actsdebated issues such as authorship, date and settingthe quest for the historical Jesuscontent and major themes of each of the Gospels and Actsthe intersection of New Testament criticism with contemporary issues of faith and cultureWritten by seasoned New Testament teachers David Wenham and Steve Walton, Exploring the New Testament: A Guide to the Gospels & Acts is especially suited for introductory courses that focus on Jesus and the Gospels or the Gospels and Acts. It is a comprehensive package with numerous features to facilitate learning, like clearly stated goals for each chapter"What Do You Think" boxes posing issues to consider"Digging Deeper" boxes exploring select topics in greater detailboxed summaries highlighting essential factspractical study aids, including how to use a Gospel synopsis and how to exegete a Gospel textcharts visually organizing complex material such as chronologies and genealogiesmaps giving quick geographical and spatial orientation to eventstopics for essays or research papers suggested for each chapter"Further Reading" giving annotated bibliographies for each chapter, classified by introductory or intermediate levelspointers to relevant articles in IVP's Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels, facilitating parallel use of this valuable reference toolquotations from relevant ancient texts such as Josephusdouble-column formatting for easy readingglossary of terms to aid beginning studentssubject and Scripture indexes for quick access to topics