Friday, September 19, 2008

Book Notice: A Concise New Testament Theology

I. Howard Marshall
A Concise New Testament Theology
(Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2008).
Available at Amazon.com

This book is an abridgement and simplification of Howard Marshall's larger work New Testament Theology: Many Witnesses, One Gospel (2004) designed for a wider audience. The book is more accessible to lay persons especially by omitting references to scholarly debates and focusing on a description of the biblical texts themselves. It includes a short introduction to NT Theology, then offers a description of the theological contents of every NT document, and concludes with some thoughts on unity and diversity. Whereas Marshall's New Testament Theology is ideal for seminary courses, but this abridged version naturally lends itself to adult Sunday school classes or anyone in general who wants a good theological overview of the contents of each NT book without being lost in a quandry of scholarly argumentation. A particular highlight of this book is how it integrates the themes of "mission" and "salvation" together. Overall, a good little book to give someone about to head off to seminary or college.

1 comment:

Andrew Faris said...

I personally was exceptionally disappointed by Marshall's N. T. Theo. I read most of it for a class and had high hopes as I love most of Dr. Marshall's commentaries, but was frustrated to find the work often read more like a Survey than an N. T. Theo. Maybe an abridged version is a good idea just because there seemed to be so much wasted space in the full version.