A review by davehershey
The New Testament in Its World: An Introduction to the History, Literature, and Theology of the First Christians by Michael F. Bird, N.T. Wright

5.0

This is a solid introduction to the New Testament. Wright and Bird write from a more conservative theological perspective, so they tend to favor earlier dating of New Testament books than more liberal scholars might as well as supporting Pauline authorship for some books others may reject (such as the pastorals).

I can see myself returning to this book frequently. Large portions of it are essentially summaries of Wright’s longer works. Thus, it serves as a distilled version of Jesus and the Victory of God, The Resurrection of the Son of God and Paul and the Faithfulness of God. I suppose the section then on the Gospels may be a preview of a future volume from Wright.

I did not read the introductions to each New Testament book, but as I said, I will be returning to this frequently as a reference work. The best parts of the book are the aforementioned sections when Wright and Bird present theology of the gospel and of Paul as a whole. I also appreciated the background and the chapters on textual criticism and the formation of the New Testament.

Overall, a solid work.