Theological Interpretation of the New Testament

by Kevin J. Vanhoozer, N.T. Wright (Editor), Daniel J. Treier (Editor)

Introduces readers to the theological interpretation of the New Testament. This title provides a comprehensive survey of the New Testament with articles written by leading scholars, including Steve Walton (London School of Theology), John Riches (University of Glasgow), Edith Humphrey (Pittsburgh Theological Seminary).

Genres: Theology, Reference, Christian, Biblical

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Kevin J. Vanhoozer is currently Research Professor of Systematic Theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. From 1990-98 he was Senior Lecturer in Theology and Religious Studies at New College, University of Edinburgh. Vanhoozer received a BA from Westmont College, an M.Div from Westminster Theological Seminary, and a Ph.D. from Cambridge University, England having studied under Nicholas Lash.

Reviews

[Zack Clemmons · Rating 2 out of 5]

A wildly hit-and-miss collection, culled from the introductions of a larger commentary work. A reference work, essentially, but probably not an especially useful one outside of its broader dictionary context. I mean, I get it, it's difficult to reduce the glories of a New Testament Gospel or Epistle or Apocalypse into ten pages, but you don't have to jam in every adjective and ten-cent verbed-noun of the contemporary theological lexicon, and sacrifice comprehensibility and readability in the process. Those contributors who limited their scope did the most good, like Garland on 1 Corinthians, Riches on Galatians, and Wright on Philippians.

[Joel Wentz · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent introduction to the theological-interpretation approach, but like any collection of essays is a bit of a mixed bag. Several of the chapters place undue emphasis (in my opinion) on the historical perspectives, while the more interesting essays focus more directly on the theological and canonical approaches of interpretation. The Philippians and Colossians chapters are excellent.

Even though it's mixed, I'm keeping it on my shelf as a handy reference. For those interested in understanding and exploring the theological approach, there are probably better initial books out there.

[David Carlson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The usefulness varies by author. I especially liked the article on James.