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5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent resource book, Mar 26 2002
Witherington has written an excellent history in this fine book. It is a 10,000 foot view of New Testament issues hung on the framework of a history. He sets up the meat of the book with the history from Alexander the Great through the Hasmoneans to the time of Christ. It is here that the dynamics and some of the later players are introduced, such as the Hasmoneans, the politicization of the high priesthood and Herod and his family are introduced. It sets the stage and makes the context of the New Testament very understandable. The primary source he uses for his historical framework is Hayes and Mandell's "The Jewish People in Antiquity". They provide the bulk of his footnotes and explanations. He utilitzed them to the extent that I also purchased their book for further reading. Witherington is not content to give a "just the facts" narrative of the years of Christ and the spread of Christianity. He gives an introduction to Jesus and how His message and ministry was seen as radical. He demonstrates that it was no accident that Jesus went to the cross. The brilliant part in all of this is that he does it without the academic tedium. If you want it, he points you to fuller discussions through the footnotes. These usually point to his other works, primarily "Christology of Jesus" and his commentaries on Mark, Acts, and Galatians. The point is that the text holds together without the fuller discussion. I have the books mentioned and have read Christology. It is interesting reading, but isn't necessary to get full benefit from this book. Witherington spices up the text and story with theories and other research. For instance, he states that the "Beloved Disciple" is a Judean disciple, not a Galilean, thus ruling out John, son of Zebedee. He presents the Last Supper as a furtively held celebration that would be seen by the powers that be as insurrection. He doesn't stick to the main roads in his presentation while presenting plausible and thought-provoking narratives of the ministry of the Lord. His presentation of the spread of Christianity presents a lot of great material on the social, cultural and political context into which Christianity spread. These insights almost become a Biblical backgrounds resource. The discussion of the North/South Galatian theory and his background on the major cities and the churches therein make the New Testament come alive. He has many "Closer Look" sections and backgrounds on principle cities that add much insight to the narrative. During the last few chapters, he goes into the writing of the New Testament books. You may disagree with his dates and theories, but he gives his rationale and you understand where he is coming from and how he got there. I agree with the previous reviewer that the illustrations are sub-par as to quality. Also, there is no bibliography. But, this is a profitable introduction and guide to the history of Christianity and a valuable general resource book. I have read the detailed treatises on Jesus and New Testament studies and still found this book as informative as it was delightful to read.
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