This new version of [the authors'] 1998 textbook involves a general updating that covers the whole book but does not change its essential content and structure...This is a beautifully produced, user-friendly book introducing students to the NT.
-Peter Oakes,
Journal for the Study of the New Testament
A great amount of the rewriting is found in the focus boxes; twelve of the twenty-five have been changed in the second edition...The bibliographies have also been updated and a few new footnotes have been added to reflect works not available in 1998 when the first edition appeared...The textbook continues to be pedagogically sound, visually oriented, with a good introduction to the historical background of the NT and a satisfactory discussion of the purpose, structure, and major themes of each NT book...This second edition of Encountering the New Testament will continue to find a prominent place in the undergraduate study of the NT.
-Keith Essex,
Master's Seminary Journal
This highly colorful, visually-pleasing New Testament survey is part of the excellent Encountering Biblical Studies series...[It] comes with a bonus that should become the standard for survey texts: a helpful website...The book is well organized. Written for college students as well as laity, it is certainly attention-getting. Every other page contains at least one colorful picture, map, chart, or highlighted text box...The writers present an excellent survey of the New Testament. The material is accurate and well researched...This book will work well as a text for college New Testament survey class. Icons clearly delineate the focus of each section of text: from primary source quotations to focus boxes highlighting key issues. Chapters begin with a clear outline and stated objectives, and they conclude with summary statements, review questions, study questions, and suggestions for further reading--all helpful to encourage further study for the reader...Encountering the New Testament makes a fine college textbook as well as an excellent text for lay people to learn more about the New Testament.
-James R. Wicker,
Southwestern Journal of Theology
With this textbook we have arrived at an entirely new era in theological publishing. This volume is a production masterpiece...This textbook has so many strengths that it may well become the standard for the next generation of teaching college and university freshmen in the United States.
-Craig Blomberg,
Themelios
This is the best, most useful college textbook for introduction to the NT that I have seen. It covers all the essential areas of such a course with clarity, scholarship, and a pleasing visual appeal...I highly recommend the text to all teachers and students who want to understand the NT while remaining confident of its inspired authority and power to transform the individual.
-Edwin Reynolds,
Andrews University Seminary Studies
I may perhaps be bold enough to predict that Encountering the New Testament...will become a classic...Encountering the New Testament is clearly and flatly that unmistakable thing--a masterpiece.
-David Alan Black,
Faith and Mission
Encountering the New Testament is a highly commendable introduction to the study of the New Testament. The text provides a fine foundation upon which a professor in a classroom can build.
-Robert W. Bernard,
Southwestern Journal of Theology
