The New Testament in Its World: Part 1

An Introduction to the History, Literature, and Theology of the First Christians

By: N. T. Wright, Michael F. Bird

Narrated by: Richard Littledale

Length: 25 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

Finally: an introduction that captures the excitement of the early Christians, helping today's listeners to think like a first-century believer while listening to the text responsibly for today.

The New Testament in Its World: Part 1 is your passageway from the 21st century to the era of Jesus and the first Christians. An introduction placing the entire New Testament and early Christianity in its original context, it is the only such work by distinguished scholar and author N. T. (Tom) Wright.

An ideal guide for students, The New Testament in Its World: Part 1 addresses the many difficult questions faced by those studying early Christianity. Both large and small, these questions include:

• What is the purpose of the New Testament?
• What was the first century understanding of the kingdom?
• What is the real meaning of the resurrection in its original context?
• What really were the Gospels?
• Who was Paul, and why are his letters so controversial?
• As 21st-century people, how do we recover the excitement of what it was like to live as Christians in the first or second centuries?

In short, The New Testament in Its World: Part 1 brings together decades of groundbreaking research, writing, and teaching into one volume that will open listeners' eyes to the larger world of the New Testament. It presents the New Testament books as historical, literary, and social phenomena located in the world of Second Temple Judaism, amidst Greco-Roman politics and culture, and within early Christianity.

Written for both classroom and personal use, the benefits of The New Testament in Its World: Part 1 include:

• A distillation of the life work of N. T. Wright on the New Testament with input from Michael Bird
• Historical context that situates Jesus and the early church within the history, culture, and religion of Second Temple Judaism and the Greco-Roman world
• Major sections on the historical Jesus, the resurrection of Jesus, and Paul's chronology and theology
• Surveys of each New Testament book that discuss their significance, critical topics like authorship and date, and that provide commentary on contents along with implications for the Christian life
• Up-to-date discussions of textual criticism and the canonization of the New Testament
• A concluding chapter dedicated to living the story of the New Testament

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2019 Zondervan Academic (P)2021 Zondervan Academic

not just a regurgitation of facts

i went in thinking this would be just an introduction to the new testament, but foubd there was a lot of deeper discussion of scholarly theological concepts and debates. this really opened my eyes to many things I had never thought about with respect to the scriptures. thus this is better fit for people who already have read the new testament a few times and maybe have been introduced to some of the scholarly takes on it. Personally I loved this!

Looking for scholarship? You’ve found it.

Not just high-brow pretense, but the "down to the nitty-gritty" foundations. Very helpful!

The breadth of research that went into this is so valuable!

It is such a blessing to have access to teachers like this. This study gave me the ability to teleport mentally to the early Christian world in a way I did not anticipate. I now have a much greater understanding of context and the absolute genius of the scriptures. I can’t wait to move on part two.

This brought the scripture alive for me.

Making sense easier by knowing what was going on during Paul’s life, gave me greater insight to the Gospels.I couldn’t get enough!

New Testament Textbook

There may be a bit of confusion on the Audible version of this book. The printed version of this book comes in hardback and has 985 pages. It is printed on heavy stock paper with beautiful illustrations, tables, charts, and maps. There is a PDF that comes with the audio book that includes those things for the listener. The printed book weighs 4.5 pounds. The confusion comes in because the printed book is a one volume work. However, the Audible version is two separate books called Part 1 and Part 2. Part 1 of the Audible recording ends at p 551 of the hardback. Part 2 then covers pp 552-985.

Having cleared that up, the book is meant to be a one volume commentary on the NT that includes the history and contexts of each NT book. It is a scholarly work that includes many footnotes. It is chock full of theories about who actually wrote each NT book. It also supports the history of the NT by quoting from other contemporary authors of Ancient Greek and Roman writings. It tries to show how ancient peoples viewed such topics as the afterlife. Any reader of N.T. Wright knows he is a brilliant historian and theologian. While I don’t disagree with Wright and Bird, I wish that they would consider a supernatural influence on the authorship of the Bible and the role of the Holy Spirit in its inspiration. They basically treat the NT as any other book attempting to analyze how, when, and why each book was written. Of course, while most of their book is conjecture; it is a very educated conjecture.

The first few hundred pages of the book are general contextual themes that apply to the overall setting of the NT. Then the chapters get more specific as they deal with each book individually.

I would categorize this book as reference material. I listened to it, but I think it would lose most of its value without the printed version. It is a textbook. I can’t think of a textbook that would be good only in an audio format. I’m glad I purchased the printed book and both audio parts.

Not for MA or MDiv students

I had to listen to this book, as being required by the New Testament class which I took. Little disappointed by the authors, as I was expecting to learn something really good but unfortunately they just copied what others wrote decades ago. For example, if you read the book “The case for Christ “ by Strobel, then you’ll see half of it in this book. Same thing goes with lots of other information regarding the specifics of New Testament books.