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Theology of the New Testament: A Canonical and Synthetic Approach
Studying the theology of the New Testament can be a daunting task, even to the knowledgeable Bible student or pastor. Each of the twenty-seven books, written by various authors, has its own theological emphasis and nuances. How do we elicit a coherent message from such theological diversity, especially given that some of the theological statements in the New Testament seem to be at odds with one another? Is such an endeavor achievable or even valid? Theology of the New Testament takes a balanced approach in response to these challenges. Frank Thielman presents a theology of the New Testament that is careful to take into account the cultural and historical circumstances surrounding each book and the New Testament as a whole. He not only examines each book's theological content individually, but also in relation to the rest of the New Testament, particularly within each of the three theological units that comprise the New Testament: the gospels and Acts, the Pauline epistles, and the general epistles and Revelation. This canonical and synthetic approach honors both the theological diversity of the various books and the theological connections between the books. In the end, Thielman finds a unified theological vision of the New Testament, anchored in the centrality of Jesus Christ. Frank Thielman's Theology of the New Testament is an outstanding achievement. The book is marked by scholarly depth, exegetical rigor, and theological profundity. Both students and professors will profit immensely from this lucid treatment of the theology contained in the New Testament documents. Thomas R. Schreiner Professor of New Testament, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary An accessible presentation of the key theological points of the New Testament books by an accomplished New Testament scholar and teacher. Its clear style, lucid organization, and sound theological insight make it a prime resource for serious students in both the academy and the church. Karen H. Jobes, PhD Associate Professor of New Testament, Westmont College
801 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 1, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
October 20, 2023
I have wanted to read Thielman’s Theology of the New Testament for quite some time. It was one of my textbooks in seminary and we only read parts of it for my classes. I remembered them being thorough and helpful chapters. I was not disappointed as I picked up this book to read it straight through.
Thielman opens his biblical theology by describing the difference historically between systematic and biblical theology. He wishes to clarify what kind of biblical theology he sets out to write. He tries to give each New Testament book its own place while still relating it to the whole of the New Testament canon. His approach to the task at hand in writing the biblical theology of the New Testament is evenhanded, and any believer in the inerrancy of Scripture would be pleased with his approach.
He moves from introductory matters into the Gospels and Acts in Part 1. He honors the discussion of four witnesses of Christ’s life, but they had their own diversity while maintaining a unity as witnesses of Christ’s life. The author addresses the anti-Christian polemic on the four Gospels and surveys the response of the Orthodox Church. He defends the fourfold Gospels and shows how they fit together for a theological unity.
Thielman begins with Mark. His most helpful explanation of Jesus as the Son of God and the Son of Man simplified all the arguments for me. He gives a clear layout of the differences and helps you to see Jesus as God’s Son who came with a specific mission and fulfilled that mission through His death on the Cross. Next, the author illuminates the message of the book of Matthew. Matthew does to great lengths to show that Jesus is the prophesied Messiah. He has a great outline of Matthew’s theological concern.
His chapter on Luke-Acts is one of the best breakdowns of Luke’s writings I have ever read. He gives a really great detail to the things running through Luke. I recommend this chapter to everyone studying Luke. He identifies Luke’s writings as showing how salvation history unfolds in the early Church. By far, my favorite chapter for the Gospels and Acts is his synthesis of the Gospels and Acts. It is a chapter I certainly will be returning to repeatedly for more gold.
Part 2 of Thielman’s book deals with the writings of Paul. He discusses the possibility of a center of Paul’s theology. Some suggest Paul’s theology is evolving as he serves Jesus as an apostle. Thielman believes Paul’s theology has a center. In chapters 9 and 10, the author begins with the letters to the Thessalonians and expounds the theology in the letters.
In his chapter on Galatians, Thielman addresses the new perspective on Paul and the old perspective. His explanation helped me to further understand the new perspective on Paul. Like him, I mostly prefer the old perspective. However, the new perspective on Paul does help us to understand Paul’s context.
The author moves next to First Corinthians and explains the issues involved with the timing of the letter and what we can learn about Paul from it. Paul covers a lot of ground in this letter and focuses on issues with the immature Corinthian believers. He covers issues ranging from divisions in the church to answering their questions. Next, Thielman addresses the letter to the Philippians and a possible understanding of what was happening behind the letter. He explains the center of the letter and how Paul reacted to his imprisonment situation and talking about rejoicing.
His chapter on Romans is spectacular and all-encompassing. He covers many of the issues and I enjoyed the detail he gave to Paul’s most prolific work. Next, he looks at Colossians and its theology. I love his discussion of Jesus as preeminent. That is my favorite passage in Colossians, the Christology of the very beginning. He gives insight into how that shapes the whole book.
The second letter to the Corinthians comes next in the order he chooses. Paul follows up with the situation and xabout his personal struggles and situations while he also combats these “super apostles” who think they are better than Paul. A major feature of the letter is Christ’s strength in our weaknesses. Thielman next addresses Philemon, and he shows the two ways of reading the letter affect the theological premise of the letter.
The author addresses the Ephesians in a way that shows how the theological themes of the book we’ve throughout it. It’s one of the richest books of the New Testament. He continues with 1 Timothy, Titus, and 2 Timothy as the last books of Paul’s corpus. First Timothy and Titus are similar as Paul sends them “marching orders” to get rid of idolatry and false teaching in the churches of Ephesus and Crete respectively. But 2 Timothy is Paul’s final letter encouraging Timothy to be a good shepherd of God’s ministry given to him.
He devotes an in depth chapter to Paul’s theology and covers many aspects of the possible center of Paul’s theology. This was a jam-packed chapter full of information and I found it to be very helpful. He analyzes what scholars believe to be Paul’s main approach to help all the churches they founded and was apostle over. He introduces five focuses for Paul and shows the strengths and weaknesses for theories based on each of these.
Thielman moves on to the General Epistles and Revelation, taking a whole chapter to talk about historical interpretations of these books by theologians. He discusses and evaluates the different interpretations. This is good background information I had never heard before. He then moves to the book of James first. I found most helpful his discussion of how James treats the wealthy, which I have not looked more closely into before.
The author down to to 2 Peter and Jude which are similar letters. These are about false teachers and. His chapter on Trends that both authors respond to. There was a lot of great information on the chapter on Jude. I also enjoyed the well researched chapter on 2 Peter and how it actually quotes the letter of Jude. His chapter on 1 Peter stood out to me because it talks about suffering for Christ, how to do it, and how not to do it. As I am suffering with paralysis at the moment, I saw some interesting insights. This chapter may interest you if you suffer for Christ in some way.
His chapter on Hebrews is very thorough, and as one of the longer chapters, he has it full of information that makes you think about all the Old Testament references and why the author of Hebrews put them all there. He does an excellent job of explaining why Hebrews is the book that’s about “Jesus is greater.” Thielman’s chapter on Revelation is comprehensive. He seems to take the stance of interpretation from a historical perspective. Much of this chapter revolves around how John saw the Roman Empire in his time. Although he does not present other views, he gives great theological information on the book of Revelation.
As with the chapters on Paul, Thielman finishes with a chapter summarizing and synthesizing the General Epistles. I think it’s a bit harder to synthesize books from up to five different authors from books by one author, namely Paul. The author does a good job of synthesizing the theological perspectives from these epistles. He deals with six of the epistles first, and then the last three. He relates common theological topics in the letters to one another. I found this chapter insightful.
The author concludes his theology of the New Testament with a general conclusion about the New Testament and some of the major themes found within it. He covers themes like faith, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and other themes that appear in multiple books. This is one of the gems of the entire book. I enjoyed reading about these themes, and as always, Thielman is quite thorough in his approach and presentation. He includes an extensive list of Works cited at the end of the book that would help you study further any subject he talks about.
I like how Thielman has great detail on the theological message of each book of the New Testament. This is a great resource to turn to when you need to remember the details of each book and how they fit into the framework of the biblical author. He brings clarity to each book and arranges the material in an easy to read fashion. This is a resource you can turn to again and again.
Thielman opens his biblical theology by describing the difference historically between systematic and biblical theology. He wishes to clarify what kind of biblical theology he sets out to write. He tries to give each New Testament book its own place while still relating it to the whole of the New Testament canon. His approach to the task at hand in writing the biblical theology of the New Testament is evenhanded, and any believer in the inerrancy of Scripture would be pleased with his approach.
He moves from introductory matters into the Gospels and Acts in Part 1. He honors the discussion of four witnesses of Christ’s life, but they had their own diversity while maintaining a unity as witnesses of Christ’s life. The author addresses the anti-Christian polemic on the four Gospels and surveys the response of the Orthodox Church. He defends the fourfold Gospels and shows how they fit together for a theological unity.
Thielman begins with Mark. His most helpful explanation of Jesus as the Son of God and the Son of Man simplified all the arguments for me. He gives a clear layout of the differences and helps you to see Jesus as God’s Son who came with a specific mission and fulfilled that mission through His death on the Cross. Next, the author illuminates the message of the book of Matthew. Matthew does to great lengths to show that Jesus is the prophesied Messiah. He has a great outline of Matthew’s theological concern.
His chapter on Luke-Acts is one of the best breakdowns of Luke’s writings I have ever read. He gives a really great detail to the things running through Luke. I recommend this chapter to everyone studying Luke. He identifies Luke’s writings as showing how salvation history unfolds in the early Church. By far, my favorite chapter for the Gospels and Acts is his synthesis of the Gospels and Acts. It is a chapter I certainly will be returning to repeatedly for more gold.
Part 2 of Thielman’s book deals with the writings of Paul. He discusses the possibility of a center of Paul’s theology. Some suggest Paul’s theology is evolving as he serves Jesus as an apostle. Thielman believes Paul’s theology has a center. In chapters 9 and 10, the author begins with the letters to the Thessalonians and expounds the theology in the letters.
In his chapter on Galatians, Thielman addresses the new perspective on Paul and the old perspective. His explanation helped me to further understand the new perspective on Paul. Like him, I mostly prefer the old perspective. However, the new perspective on Paul does help us to understand Paul’s context.
The author moves next to First Corinthians and explains the issues involved with the timing of the letter and what we can learn about Paul from it. Paul covers a lot of ground in this letter and focuses on issues with the immature Corinthian believers. He covers issues ranging from divisions in the church to answering their questions. Next, Thielman addresses the letter to the Philippians and a possible understanding of what was happening behind the letter. He explains the center of the letter and how Paul reacted to his imprisonment situation and talking about rejoicing.
His chapter on Romans is spectacular and all-encompassing. He covers many of the issues and I enjoyed the detail he gave to Paul’s most prolific work. Next, he looks at Colossians and its theology. I love his discussion of Jesus as preeminent. That is my favorite passage in Colossians, the Christology of the very beginning. He gives insight into how that shapes the whole book.
The second letter to the Corinthians comes next in the order he chooses. Paul follows up with the situation and xabout his personal struggles and situations while he also combats these “super apostles” who think they are better than Paul. A major feature of the letter is Christ’s strength in our weaknesses. Thielman next addresses Philemon, and he shows the two ways of reading the letter affect the theological premise of the letter.
The author addresses the Ephesians in a way that shows how the theological themes of the book we’ve throughout it. It’s one of the richest books of the New Testament. He continues with 1 Timothy, Titus, and 2 Timothy as the last books of Paul’s corpus. First Timothy and Titus are similar as Paul sends them “marching orders” to get rid of idolatry and false teaching in the churches of Ephesus and Crete respectively. But 2 Timothy is Paul’s final letter encouraging Timothy to be a good shepherd of God’s ministry given to him.
He devotes an in depth chapter to Paul’s theology and covers many aspects of the possible center of Paul’s theology. This was a jam-packed chapter full of information and I found it to be very helpful. He analyzes what scholars believe to be Paul’s main approach to help all the churches they founded and was apostle over. He introduces five focuses for Paul and shows the strengths and weaknesses for theories based on each of these.
Thielman moves on to the General Epistles and Revelation, taking a whole chapter to talk about historical interpretations of these books by theologians. He discusses and evaluates the different interpretations. This is good background information I had never heard before. He then moves to the book of James first. I found most helpful his discussion of how James treats the wealthy, which I have not looked more closely into before.
The author down to to 2 Peter and Jude which are similar letters. These are about false teachers and. His chapter on Trends that both authors respond to. There was a lot of great information on the chapter on Jude. I also enjoyed the well researched chapter on 2 Peter and how it actually quotes the letter of Jude. His chapter on 1 Peter stood out to me because it talks about suffering for Christ, how to do it, and how not to do it. As I am suffering with paralysis at the moment, I saw some interesting insights. This chapter may interest you if you suffer for Christ in some way.
His chapter on Hebrews is very thorough, and as one of the longer chapters, he has it full of information that makes you think about all the Old Testament references and why the author of Hebrews put them all there. He does an excellent job of explaining why Hebrews is the book that’s about “Jesus is greater.” Thielman’s chapter on Revelation is comprehensive. He seems to take the stance of interpretation from a historical perspective. Much of this chapter revolves around how John saw the Roman Empire in his time. Although he does not present other views, he gives great theological information on the book of Revelation.
As with the chapters on Paul, Thielman finishes with a chapter summarizing and synthesizing the General Epistles. I think it’s a bit harder to synthesize books from up to five different authors from books by one author, namely Paul. The author does a good job of synthesizing the theological perspectives from these epistles. He deals with six of the epistles first, and then the last three. He relates common theological topics in the letters to one another. I found this chapter insightful.
The author concludes his theology of the New Testament with a general conclusion about the New Testament and some of the major themes found within it. He covers themes like faith, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and other themes that appear in multiple books. This is one of the gems of the entire book. I enjoyed reading about these themes, and as always, Thielman is quite thorough in his approach and presentation. He includes an extensive list of Works cited at the end of the book that would help you study further any subject he talks about.
I like how Thielman has great detail on the theological message of each book of the New Testament. This is a great resource to turn to when you need to remember the details of each book and how they fit into the framework of the biblical author. He brings clarity to each book and arranges the material in an easy to read fashion. This is a resource you can turn to again and again.
December 23, 2024
I had to focus SO HARD on this book to understand it. But it was pretty decent overall. I agreed with the stance the book takes on a majority of issues and the commentary was helpful. Not a light read, but this was used as a textbook in seminary, so it was helpful in my research papers. I would recommend to someone looking for a HIGHLY detailed commentary on the NT with an interesting approach.
April 16, 2022
This entire book was incredibly helpful! Thielman is a wise
and humble commentator who gave wonderful insight into every book of the New Testament, particularly being helpful on grounding each book/letter in its 1st cent. Context. Thankful for his work.
and humble commentator who gave wonderful insight into every book of the New Testament, particularly being helpful on grounding each book/letter in its 1st cent. Context. Thankful for his work.
November 25, 2012
Ease of reading aside, I thought this was a great book. That opinion may alter slightly as I start into reading other New Testament theologies (I’ve already got Beale’s in my queue line). But, it won’t change dramatically because Thielman still has plenty to offer and his discussion of Paul’s theology is particularly excellent. While the material is a bit beyond what I can offer my high school students in detail, it does have its share of insights that will find their way into my class in the spring. Overall, this book is a well structured and well executed construction of New Testament theology that is sensitive to historical development and scholarly insights, while remaining evangelical and Christ-centered in its focus. Serious students of the New Testament ought to give Thielman’s book a try!
See the full review on my blog
See the full review on my blog
April 17, 2015
Very dry and not in the good way. I read a good chunk of this book for a couple different classes and could never get into his prose. I don't mind things that are dry and academic, but there were times where he used a whole lot of words to say very little. I largely agree with his theology, approach, and commentary but the book was still only mildly enjoyable.
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August 13, 2016Just read the first section about the gospels. It was an overview of the themes in each of the gospels and how they were all related. It didn't address questions of text criticism, authorship, or the like. helpful in a general sense of understanding the purpose of the gospel writers and their methods to communicate their message.
February 20, 2008
This is an insightful, yet skilful approach to reading the New Testament. I have not come across many books that are able to expound such deep sanctificational truths while maintaining a healthy academic rigor. I highly recommend this book.
December 17, 2014
Superb. His "book theologies" of each book in the NT are excellent. His "big picture" chapters were equally valuable, esp. summarizing Paul's theology (ch. 22), summarizing the General Epistles (ch. 33), and "The Theological Unity of the NT" (ch. 34).
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August 21, 20120519
May 6, 2013
Not my favorite, but still helpful.
January 7, 2013
A must read for every serious NT student.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews