Introduction

This is a full-scale introduction to the New Testament writings, their thought, and the world within which they took shape. Although the book is still a work in progress, I have chosen to make it available in electronic format as it develops. Check back often to see what is new!

Why Another Introduction?

One might well ask why we need yet one more introduction to these documents. There are, after all, scores of books lining library and bookstore shelves that already provide a good entry-point to Early Christian literature. There are, though, a few things that set this book apart from others.

A Free-Access Online Textbook

To begin with, this is written deliberately as a free-access electronic book. For a host of reasons, biblical scholars have been slow to embrace the Internet as a forum for publishing their work. This has meant, though, that the fruits of biblical scholarship have largely been known only to those few who take a university or seminary course on the New Testament. Whether one is a Christian believer, a curious inquirer, or a hard-nosed skeptic, few would even know the name of a good academic introductory text. Even fewer would spend the $60 USD or more to buy one. For those outside North America and Europe, the cost of those print books is often so high that even theological schools struggle to buy what they need. The result has been that, while we privileged few are learning a great deal about the New Testament and its world, most people are left with what they can glean from Wikipedia, from the tangled misinformation and distortion of the blogosphere, or from sensational TV documentaries that are aimed more at ratings than at a sound and balanced understanding of Early Christianity.