Understanding the New Testament

by Howard Clark Kee

By combining analyses of the historical, cultural and literary features of Judaism and of the Greco-Roman world with careful examination of the writings that became known as the New Testament, this book offers direct insights into the origins of Christianity. KEY It includes religious aspirations of the Mediterranean peoples, including Jews at the turn of the eras, are sketched with detailed analyses of the early Christian writings, and with attention to the social and cultural dimensions of groups by and for whom these works were produced. This book is used throughout the world and is translated into many languages.

Genres: New Testament, Nonfiction, Christian

446 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1957

Reviews

[Jc · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having read the 3rd edition (Kee, Young & Froehlich; 1973) for an undergraduate class in the early 1980s, I chose this update as a starting point for a course I was designing (a non-believer’s view of the background, history, and ideas of the ancient writings at the foundation of Christ-related religions).I was disappointed in this Kee introduction to the NT writings, I find him to be a bit too light in the realm of criticism. Of course, because of where such intro-texts are usually used (i.e., in classes largely made up of believers, often at christian-centered colleges), he did have to cater somewhat to that viewpoint, at least not be insulting of it. But the reader definitely can see that Kee himself did not question much. I am not saying that he is a flaming born-againer, most likely he would be considered by the “christian” world as rather liberal, but I could tell that he was still essentially a believer. I think as an academic scholar he should have spent more time on the problems/dilemmas with even the earliest manuscripts, let alone how these texts were used in later chistian history and rhetoric. So, not bad as an introductory text, but I would definitely recommend others over Kee’s version [e.g., Bart Ehrman’s The New Testament: A Historical Introduction… (7th ed.; 2022)]