The New Testament in its World (Wright & Bird)

In their book The New Testament in its World, prominent Biblical scholars N.T. Wright and Michael Bird offer "an introduction to the history, literature, and theology of the first Christians." The nine parts of this work cover:

• Reading the New Testament (the NT as history, literature, and theology)
• The World of Jesus and the Early Church (history of the Jews, and the Jewish and Greco-Roman contexts of the early Church)
• Jesus and the Victory of God (studying the historical Jesus)
• The Resurrection of the Son of God (studying the Afterlife and Easter story)
• Paul and the Faithfulness of God (background on Paul and introduction to each of his letters)
• The Gospels and the Story of God (introduction to each gospel)
• The Early Christians and the Mission of God (introduction to the other NT letters)
• The Making of the New Testament (the canon of Scripture)
• Living the Story of the New Testament (the relevance today)

I read the first four parts- 33% of the ~900-page work- as much of the rest is a book-by-book introduction to and summary of each New Testament work, best used as a reference.

I have mixed feelings about this one. The authors are outside of my tradition, and my disagreements with their theological statements became more evident as I progressed. At times, I felt they were trying to address common modern evangelical biases to Scripture by overreacting to the problem and exaggerating alternative interpretations (and consequently introducing a different, but also incorrect, bias).

It is good to understand different perspectives, and I benefitted from that, but there is a reason I follow the Reformed tradition (I believe it is the most faithful interpretation of Scripture). That said, there is value here; I especially enjoyed the historical section and cultural contexts of the New Testament era. The Bible is applicable to all people at all times, but was written to a specific people in a specific time (well, times- over centuries), and it is important to understand the original context to more accurately interpret the meaning and significance for us today. 

Rating: B