The New Testament: A Very Short Introduction by Luke Timothy Johnson

by

The New Testament: A Very Short Introduction by Luke Timothy JohnsonSummary: A great overview of the New Testament in less than 150 pages.

I love the idea of the Very Short Introduction series. Short books, around 150 pages, written by experts in the field for a general reader that has little or no background in the field. The reality is that the series (now over 300 books) is wildly inconsistent. Luckily, this is one of the better from the series that I have read, not as good as Mark Noll’s book on Protestantism, which is the best in the series that I have read, but it is close.

My main complaint about the Very Short Introduction to the Bible is that it did not talk at all about the content of the bible. Luke Timothy Johnson spends the majority of time in this book on content. Much of that is focused on the synoptic gospels. Then there is an overview of Paul, with an in-depth look at of Paul and an overview of Johannine books (including the Gospel of John and Revelations).
The book opens with an overview of biblical interpretation and placing the New Testament in history. And then at the end there is a brief discussion of how the canon was formed and why the New Testament continues to be important.

Overall, even as someone that has studied the New Testament at the graduate level, I thought this quick overview was helpful and worth reading, especially since I picked it up on sale.

The New Testament: A Very Short Introduction by Luke Timothy Johnson Purchase Links: Paperback, Kindle Edition, Audible.com Audiobook 

Leave a Comment