"A magnificent achievement. Udo Schnelle's Theology of the New Testament comprises philosophical reflection, reconstruction of earliest Christian thought, and a history of biblical interpretation. At heart, however, the volume offers meticulous analysis of the New Testament's varied constituents. The exegesis is well balanced; the conclusions, sound. Like its subject matter, this investigation gathers most of what is important from previous works and points the way toward a constructive future. Schnelle's magnum opus will stand as one of the twenty-first century's few indispensable works in the field."--__C. Clifton Black__, Otto A. Piper Professor of Biblical Theology, Princeton Theological Seminary  
  
"Schnelle's Theology of the New Testament is, in my view, perhaps the most methodologically sophisticated and theologically significant contribution to the genre in the past twenty years. 'Jesus of Nazareth: The Near God' is the common center for his informed and insightful elaboration of the thought of New Testament theology in the context of a contemporary understanding of reality. The author's critical acumen and theological sensitivity, as well as his obvious control of both primary and secondary literature, make this book a necessary addition to the library of every serious student of the New Testament and an ideal text for advanced courses."--__David E. Aune__, Walter Professor of New Testament and Christian Origins, University of Notre Dame  
  
"Fresh, invigorating, enlightening, and occasionally provocative, this survey of New Testament theology serves well as a handbook of informed discussion of the crucial issues. With the confident hand of a seasoned scholar and a refreshing openness to the transcendent, Schnelle guides the reader book by book through the canon, using the familiar categories of systematic theology to ensure comprehensive coverage. Here is not only outstanding German scholarship but also an entry into contemporary German discussion via exceptionally rich footnotes."--__Donald A. Hagner__, George Eldon Ladd Professor Emeritus of New Testament, Fuller Theological Seminary

__Udo Schnelle__ (DrTheol, University of Göttingen) is professor of New Testament at the University of Halle in Germany. He is the author of numerous works, including Apostle Paul: His Life and Theology and History and Theology of the New Testament Writings, both translated by M. Eugene Boring. __M. Eugene Boring__ (PhD, Vanderbilt University), before retiring, was the I. Wylie and Elizabeth M. Briscoe Professor of New Testament at Brite Divinity School, Texas Christian University. He lives in Fort Worth, Texas.

The crowning achievement for students of the New Testament is to grasp the whole while discerning the parts, to derive contemporary theological meaning without compromising historical accuracy, to respect the integrity of the ancient texts while interpreting validly within the structures of modern and postmodern consciousness. But how is it possible to communicate the diversely expressed faith of ancient Mediterranean fishermen and tentmakers in a crucified Jewish messiah to the academy and the church of the globalized and pluralized twenty-first century?  
  
In Theology of the New Testament, Udo Schnelle--master teacher, deft exegete, committed churchman, and fully attuned contemporary intellectual--takes up this challenge with extraordinary energy and intelligence. The result is a capstone volume that puts all the pieces together both for students who read it straight through and for professors, theologians, pastors, and others who work through it at their own pace. For all who read it, the book will become a standard reference, a reliable source not only for summaries of particular New Testament books and topics but also for a refreshed and deepened perception of how a transcendent message has been uttered through temporally and spatially fixed actions and words.  
  
The translation, prepared by a leading American scholar who knows the author well and shares similar qualifications and commitments, achieves the literary quality of an original English composition while conveying accurately the sense of the original German and adding bibliographic adaptations for English-language readers.

__Udo Schnelle__ (DrTheol, University of Göttingen) is professor of New Testament at the University of Halle. He is the author of numerous works, including Apostle Paul: His Life and Theology and History and Theology of the New Testament Writings, both translated by M. Eugene Boring. __M. Eugene Boring__ (PhD, Vanderbilt University), before retiring, was the I. Wylie and Elizabeth M. Briscoe Professor of New Testament at Brite Divinity School, Texas Christian University.

Following his well-received Apostle Paul, prominent European scholar Udo Schnelle now offers a major new theology of the New Testament. The work has been translated into English from the original German, with bibliographic adaptations, by leading American scholar M. Eugene Boring.  
  
This comprehensive critical introduction combines historical and theological analysis. Schnelle begins with the teaching of Jesus and continues with a discussion of the theology of Paul. He then moves on to the Synoptic Gospels; the deutero-Pauline, catholic, and Johannine letters; and Revelation, paying due attention to authorship, chronology, genre, and canonical considerations. This is an essential book for anyone with a scholarly interest in the New Testament.

A major international scholar offers a New Testament theology textbook that is critically astute and theologically attuned.

__Contents__ 1. Approach: Theology of the New Testament as Meaning-Formation  
2. Structure: History and Meaning  
3. Jesus of Nazareth: The Near God  
4. The First Transformation: The Emergence of Christology  
5. The Second Transformation: The Early Christian Mission without the Precondition of Circumcision  
6. Paul: Missionary and Thinker  
7. The Third Transformation: Composition of Gospels as Innovative Response to Crises  
8. The Sayings Source, the Synoptic Gospels, and Acts: Meaning through Narration  
9. The Fourth Transformation: The Gospel in the World  
10. The Deutero-Pauline Letters: Paul's Thought Extended  
11. The Catholic Letters: Voices in Dangerous Times  
12. Johannine Theology: Introduction to the Christian Faith  
13. Revelation: Seeing and Understanding  
Indexes

Schnelle, Udo

Cover

Title Page

Copyright Page

Translator’s Preface

Author’s Preface to the German Edition

Abbreviations

1. Approach: Theology of the New Testament as Meaning-Formation

1.1 How History Is Made and Written

1.2 History as Meaning-Formation

1.3 Understanding through Narration

2. Structure: History and Meaning

2.1 The Phenomenon of the Beginning

2.2 Theology and the Academic Study of Religion

2.3 Diversity and Unity

2.4 New Testament Theology as Meaning-Formation

3. Jesus of Nazareth: The Near God

3.1 The Quest for Jesus

3.2 Beginning: John the Baptist

3.3 Point of Departure: The Coming of the One God in His Kingly Power

3.4 Center: The Proclamation of the Kingdom of God

3.5 Ethics in the Horizon of the Kingdom of God

3.6 Jesus as Healer: God's Miraculous Power

3.7 The Imminent Judgment: Nothing Is without Its Consequences

3.8 Jesus and the Law: To Will the Good

3.9 Jesus's Self-Understanding: More Than a Prophet

3.10 Jesus's Destiny in Jerusalem: End and Beginning

4. The First Transformation: The Emergence of Christology

4.1 Jesus's Pre-Easter Claim

4.2 The Resurrection Appearances

4.3 Experiences of the Spirit

4.4 The Christological Reading of Scripture

4.5 History-of-Religions Context

4.6 Language and Shape of Early Christology: Myth, Titles, Formulae, and Traditions

5. The Second Transformation: The Early Christian Mission without the Precondition of Circumcision

5.1 The Hellenists

5.2 Antioch

5.3 The Stance of Paul

6. Paul: Missionary and Thinker

6.1 Theology

6.2 Christology

6.3 Pneumatology

6.4 Soteriology

6.5 Anthropology

6.6 Ethics

6.7 Ecclesiology

6.8 Eschatology

6.9 Setting in the History of Early Christian Theology

7. The Third Transformation: Composition of Gospels as Innovative Response to Crises

7.1 Death of the Founders

7.2 Delay of the Parousia

7.3 Destruction of Jerusalem and the Earliest Christian Congregation

7.4 The Rise of the Flavians

7.5 The Writing of Gospels as Innovative Response to Crises

8. The Sayings Source, the Synoptic Gospels, and Acts: Meaning through Narration

8.1 The Sayings Source as Proto-Gospel

8.2 Mark: The Way of Jesus

8.3 Matthew: The New and Better Righteousness

8.4 Luke: Salvation and History

9. The Fourth Transformation: The Gospel in the World

9.1 Social, Religious, and Political Developments

9.2 Pseudepigraphy/Deuteronymity as a Historical, Literary, and Theological Phenomenon

10. The Deutero-Pauline Letters: Paul’s Thought Extended

10.1 Colossians: Paul in Changing Times

10.2 Ephesians: Space and Time

10.3 Second Thessalonians: Date (of the End) as Problem

10.4 The Pastoral Epistles: God's Philanthropy

11. The Catholic Epistles: Voices in Dangerous Times

11.1 First Peter: Testing by Suffering

11.2 James: Acting and Being

11.3 Hebrews: The God Who Speaks

11.4 Jude and 2 Peter: Identity through Tradition and Polemic against Heresy

12. Johannine Theology: Introduction to the Christian Faith

12.1 Theology

12.2 Christology

12.3 Pneumatology

12.4 Soteriology

12.5 Anthropology

12.6 Ethics

12.7 Ecclesiology

12.8 Eschatology

12.9 Setting in the History of Early Christian Theology

13. Revelation: Seeing and Understanding

13.1 Theology

13.2 Christology

13.3 Pneumatology

13.4 Soteriology

13.5 Anthropology

13.6 Ethics

13.7 Ecclesiology

13.8 Eschatology

13.9 Setting in the History of Early Christian Theology

Bibliography

Index of Subjects

Index of Greek Words and Phrases

Index of Modern Authors

Index of Ancient Sources

Notes

Offers a different theology of the New Testament. Translated into English from the original German, this title begins with the teaching of Jesus and continues with a discussion of the theology of Paul. It is suitable for those with a scholarly interest in the New Testament.

Following his well-received "Apostle Paul", prominent European scholar Udo Schnelle now offers a major new theology of the New Testament. The work has been translated into English from the original German, with bibliographic adaptations, by leading American scholar M. Eugene Boring. This comprehensive critical introduction combines historical and theological analysis. Schnelle begins with the teaching of Jesus and continues with a discussion of the theology of Paul. He then moves on to the "Synoptic Gospels"; the deutero-Pauline, catholic, and Johannine letters; and "Revelation", paying due attention to authorship, chronology, genre, and canonical considerations. This is an essential book for anyone with a scholarly interest in the New Testament.

Eden Customer

Originally published in German in 2007, Schnelle?s Theology of the New Testament has been translated by Eugene Boring and has brought the German Professor?s thought to a wider audience. As a result the non-German speaker has the valuable opportunity to engage with a stream of thought which is quite often divergent from English speaking scholarship, particularly that of British academics. This fact is borne out by the preponderance of German language texts in the Bibliography. Schnelle has organised his Theology into a number of sections. He begins by discussing the issue of history and its use in the formation of meaning before turning to the issue of how any ?historical Jesus? might arise from the New Testament. After these introductory issues, the bulk of the writing is grouped around four ?transformations? experienced by the burgeoning Christian understanding. Firstly, a Christology begins to emerge informed by the resurrection appearances and experience of the Spirit. This leads to a re-reading of the Old Testament in the light of this understanding. The second transformation is an understanding of mission without the necessity of circumcision which leads to a discussion of Paul. The third transformation is the compilation of the Gospels in response to various crises, with a discussion of sources. The final transformation is entitled ?The Gospel in the World? and is followed with sections on the Deutero-Pauline epistles, the Catholic epistles, Johannine theology and Revelation. It will be clear from this structure that Schnelle is seeking to reconstruct a broadly chronological development in New Testament Theology, rather than carrying out a thematic investigation. This is a logical consequence of his reluctance to perceive of a unity within New Testament thought, and to prefer a variety of thoughts. There is also little consideration given to the relationship between the Old and New Testaments, and to broader Second Temple Judaism. It is in this point that his work does not follow recent trends within English speaking New Testament Theology and, of course, the broader Biblical Theology field. All in all, this is a useful book and one which will serve as a counterpoint to much recent New Testament Theology, as well as a good introduction to recent German scholarship. At almost 900 pages, it is not a short read but one would imagine readers dipping into various chapters.

A useful counterpoint to much recent NT Theology

The Good Book Stall

Originally published in German in 2007, Schnelle’s Theology of the New Testament has been translated by Eugene Boring and has brought the German Professor’s thought to a wider audience. As a result the non-German speaker has the valuable opportunity to engage with a stream of thought which is quite often divergent from English speaking scholarship, particularly that of British academics. This fact is borne out by the preponderance of German language texts in the Bibliography.  
Schnelle has organised his Theology into a number of sections. He begins by discussing the issue of history and its use in the formation of meaning before turning to the issue of how any ‘historical Jesus’ might arise from the New Testament.  
After these introductory issues, the bulk of the writing is grouped around four ‘transformations’ experienced by the burgeoning Christian understanding. Firstly, a Christology begins to emerge informed by the resurrection appearances and experience of the Spirit. This leads to a re-reading of the Old Testament in the light of this understanding. The second transformation is an understanding of mission without the necessity of circumcision which leads to a discussion of Paul. The third transformation is the compilation of the Gospels in response to various crises, with a discussion of sources. The final transformation is entitled ‘The Gospel in the World’ and is followed with sections on the Deutero-Pauline epistles, the Catholic epistles, Johannine theology and Revelation.  
It will be clear from this structure that Schnelle is seeking to reconstruct a broadly chronological development in New Testament Theology, rather than carrying out a thematic investigation. This is a logical consequence of his reluctance to perceive of a unity within New Testament thought, and to prefer a variety of thoughts. There is also little consideration given to the relationship between the Old and New Testaments, and to broader Second Temple Judaism. It is in this point that his work does not follow recent trends within English speaking New Testament Theology and, of course, the broader Biblical Theology field.  
All in all, this is a useful book and one which will serve as a counterpoint to much recent New Testament Theology, as well as a good introduction to recent German scholarship. At almost 900 pages, it is not a short read but one would imagine readers dipping into various chapters.

Theology of the New Testament

Navigation Bar

Header Default

Download the Christian360 App to read eBooks and listen to Audiobooks bought at Christian360

Download the App

Theology of the New Testament

Description

Need support?

Customer reviews

Download the App

Download the App