The New Testament in Antiquity: A Survey of the New Testament within Its Cultural Contexts

by Gary M. Burge, Gene L. Green

This completely revised and updated second edition of The New Testament in Antiquity skillfully develops how Jewish, Hellenistic, and Roman cultures formed the essential environment in which the New Testament authors wrote their books and letters. Understanding of the land, history, and culture of the ancient world brings remarkable new insights into how we read the New Testament itself.

Throughout the book, numerous features provide windows into the first-century world. Nearly 500 full color photos, charts, maps, and drawings have been carefully selected. Additional features include sidebars that integrate the book's material with issues of interpretation, discussion questions, and bibliographies.

Genres: Christian, Theology, Biblical Studies, New Testament, History, Nonfiction, Reference

512 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Gary M. Burge (PhD, University of Aberdeen) is dean of the faculty and professor of New Testament at Calvin Theological Seminary. He previously taught for twenty-five years at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. Among his many published books are The New Testament in Seven Sentences, Theology Questions Everyone Asks (with coeditor David Lauber), A Week in the Life of a Roman Centurion, Mapping Your Academic Career, The New Testament in Antiquity (coauthored with Gene Green), and the award-winning Whose Land? Whose Promise? What Christians Are Not Being Told About Israel and the Palestinians.

Reviews

[Ethan Zimmerman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quality textbook for generalized NT studies. It primarily focuses on historical and cultural context, authorship of books, main themes, and audience situations. I learned a lot and will probably return to it as a resource.

[Sydney · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you’re looking for a good overview of the New Testament, this book isn’t bad. But I felt like it sometimes missed having a well-rounded view of things like authorship and the meaning of certain texts.

[Peter Harrington · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a capable study on contexts in the New Testament, and taught me a fair amount about said contexts. I appreciate the evenhandedness with which the authors treat differing perspectives.
I read this book for a college class at Southeastern University. The university is an institution of the Assemblies of God, which is a Pentecostal/Charismatic denomination. This, understandably, strongly affected the theology and exegetical methods underlying this study.
Altogether, this manuscript helped me to understand some of the backgrounds surrounding the characters, topics, locales, controversies, and cultures in the New Testament.

[Abigail Stolberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the second edition of this book, which does not include Cohick as an author, for the record.
In one sense, as a New Testament student, I’m not in a position to have a lot of opinions on this book. On the other hand, I’m the perfect person to have opinions on it.
I liked it a lot. Very readable, great visuals, not at all overly heady but full of information. Generally enjoyable to read a chapter end-to-end, and I think will be a useful reference. Would recommend.

[Jimmy Reagan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a fine new entry on the market for New Testament introduction. This attractive, well-illustrated volume by Gary M. Burge, Lynn H. Cohick, and Gene L. Green is an up-to-date survey of the New Testament. Its special emphasis is to provide that introduction within the cultural contexts, whether Jewish, Hellenistic, or Roman cultures. That viewpoint helps bring the New Testament to life. The book is designed as a textbook, and the publisher provides both instructor and student resources for it, but any Bible student could learn much from it.

Chapter 1 begins with a broad look at the issues involved in studying the New Testament. The reader is reminded of the importance of context, geography, history, and as said before, culture. Chapter 2 discusses the historical setting of the New Testament. It begins by explaining the post-exilic times, continues through the Hellenistic period, and ends by explaining the Roman era. (Notice the chart on page 38, which is one of the most creative I’ve ever seen explaining the family of Herod). Chapter 3 narrows its focus to Israel and the time of Jesus. Chapter 4 expands the discussion to the Mediterranean world of the Apostle Paul. Chapter 5 discusses sources for the Gospels – I find that chapter off target, but it’s exactly what you’ll find in most modern New Testament introductions.

Chapters 6 – 11 cover the life of Christ and the four Gospels. It’s helpful to view the Gospels collectively as a life of Jesus and then examine the uniqueness of each gospel. Chapter 12 overviews the book of Acts while chapter 13 gives an overview of the Apostle Paul. Chapters 14 through 26 survey the rest of the books of the New Testament. A concluding chapter discusses the preservation and communication of the New Testament.

The maps and pictures are well chosen, beautiful, and quite enlightening. Some of the illustrations and reconstructions were especially eye-catching. The design of this survey is ideal. It is at once to the point and of sufficient depth to be a real asset to readers. I imagine this book will be the text of choice for New Testament survey classes for the next several years. Pastors and Bible students will find it worthwhile to check out as well. I recommend it.

I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

[Timothy Sandercock · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent resource for those looking to develop their understanding of the New Testament. This book was not written by secular authors. It was written by professors who have a clear love for the Word of God and seek to help the reader understand it better. I appreciated learning more about the historical and cultural contexts the books of the NT were written in as well as learning about the styles of writting the books were written in (as it helps us understand how to better read them). Something I was especially grateful for was the the fact that they didn't shy away from contentious topics but strove (and in my opinion succeeded) to present them and their proponents in a fair way while speaking to intelligent rebuttals supporting the authenticity of the NT. It is good to be at least aware of the fact that the Bible is not universally accepted and that many intelligent people have proposed intelligent reasons for their doubts. It is also good to know that many intelligent Christians have dedicated their lives through the ages and into the present to defend the Word of God and give a reason for the hope we have in Christ.

[Susan Weiner · Rating 5 out of 5]

An early seminary or college textbook that covers ancient history as it relates to the New Testament. Thoughtful, well written, engaging, and full of stirring pictures of places and artefacts, this book caught and kept my attention. Sometimes the descriptions of historical actors such as the Pharisees and Sadducees was shorter and less in depth than I would've liked. Yet the scope of the history covered a thousand years and it would be hard to do justice to each group who needs an introduction. The book begins with relevant history and moves to an analysis of New Testament books in their cultural context. Especially useful for Bible study groups and individual reading. Although a college textbook the book is fascinating reading for anyone who wants to understand the ancient world into which Jesus was born.

[GreatHeart Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

A top flight overview of the culture of the New Testament Period

This is a wonderful resource that allows lay people, pastors, and academics to get a rich overview of the culture and world of the New Testament Period. The authors dive deep providing rigorous and faith-filled presentation of the major factors of the culture and the wider culture of the early church. They even give us overviews of each of the New Testament books and the way their surrounding culture helps us understand them better. Very informative read, but it is a textbook for higher education. The prose is meant to deliver information which it does well, but it is not evocative or engaging like a popular level book would be. I highly recommend this book.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this textbook for a New Testament Survey course and was very impressed by the accessibility of this book as well as the focus on the cultural context of the ancient world, which should inform ones reading of the NT. The book is full of notes, charts, maps, outlines, and references to other ancient texts that really enriched my reading. This book is perfect for a survey course as a compliment to other resources.

I did not find the online resources very helpful but recommend the book to any student or individual looking to understand the context and content of the New Testamant.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great overview of the New Testament. It is not an in-depth look at any of the NT books, so if that's what you want you'll need a different book. It is more of an introduction to the NT and the culture and people the NT was written to. It is fairly engaging, especially for a textbook. Lots of pictures. Sometimes it's a little too light, but overall a very good book.

[Rebecca Carlson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this textbook! It wasn't required reading, but highly recommended, and I found myself really wanting to read what it said about the scripture reading for class because it brought up points I hadn't ever thought about.

[Kt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this for BibLit II freshman year. The book takes a dive into each book of the New Testament- and it gave me a better understanding of the Bible!! Definitely recommend for those wanting to learn ‘ore about the New Testament in depth!!:)

[Will Dole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of helpful background info. I found the earlier parts of the work most helpful, but the sections going through individual books of the NT were useful as well. The side bars were usually interesting, too.

[Bethany Grieve · Rating 4 out of 5]

I mean, it is a textbook, so you gotta expect it to be not super engaging, but it was informative. However, it got very boring sometimes; I feel like some parts in the textbook could’ve been written to be a bit more entertaining and easy to understand for young university students.

[Ardith Arnelle-Price · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love this concise book with easy reading. Great reference book about the New Testament Saints.

[Luke Roscoe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic book! A lot of great info on the New Testament. Highly recommend for anyone looking into a deep dive at the cultural and historical contexts of the New Testament.

[Casey Willis · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most interesting and readable textbooks I’ve experienced.

[Abram Danielson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Is it fair to include textbooks I truly read for class in Ford and I's reading competition?

[Jude Nealy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great textbook, and yet, a textbook.

[Greg Bailey · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent introduction to the history and theology of the New Testament.

[Sarah Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read 65% for my NT class

[Drew Van Gorder · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is heavily illustrated and the quality of the book overall is impeccable. There is very little about this book which I didn't like and would recommend it as a New Testament introduction to anyone.

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm enjoying this book very much. It delivers exactly what is promised: historical & cultural information that clarifies the details & background of Scripture, but in a summarizing fashion. If you're looking for verse-by-verse commentary, this is not the book. Still, it provides great information, especially of cultural things of which Westerners have no idea.

As others have noted, there are a surprising number of typos, but not enough to bother even a grammar nerd, such as myself. Also, with the Kindle version, be aware that the sidebars & other extra info given are intermingled in with the main content. That was confusing at first, but when I noticed the different spacing and how they're slightly set apart from the regular text, I understood what was going on.

[David Goetz · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best general NT intro I've encountered, but especially strong on backgrounds. Achtemeier et al. are theologically rich, Carson and Moo can't be beat on issues of authorship, DeSilva exposes the reader well to critical issues and specifically calls the reader to study the text with an eye to ministry; but Burge et al. surpass them all for total quality.

[Charity U · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't believe I didn't know this existed sooner! It gives supplemental and helpful Bible backgrounds in a textbook format. My only gripe is that it's not in-depth enough, but it would be hard to do that with any single text-book sized volume. Nice photos throughout. A good starting point for Bible background research in the NT.

[Drake · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book does a fantastic job at introducing the reader to the cultural contexts of the books of the New Testaments while at the same time being both interesting and enjoyable to read. And there's pictures. Lots, and lots, pictures.

[Taylor Diehl · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a really helpful overview of the New Testament. Very informative without being intellectually heavy. Easy to read and full of quality illustrations. A great reference when needing a good New Testament book overview.

[Jonathan Huggins · Rating 5 out of 5]

My standard NT text for classes. i love it. my students love it. evangelical scholarship at its best in this format.

[Bill Brinkley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great textbook and useful in preparing for Bible Studies.

[Aletheia Weisz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read, explains things well, but still a textbook.