Part 1: The world of the New Testament -- 1. The political world -- The empire of Rome -- The provincial government -- The Hellenistic kingdoms -- The Jewish state -- 2. The social world and the economic world -- A. The social world -- Jewish society -- Pagan society -- Cultural attainments -- Moral standards -- B. The economic world -- Agriculture -- Industry -- Finance -- Transportation and travel -- 3. The religious world -- The Graeco-Roman pantheon -- Emperor worship -- The mystery religions -- The worship of the occult -- The philosophies -- 4. Judaism -- Origin -- Theology -- The Temple -- The synagogue -- The sacred year -- The educational system -- The literature -- The sects of Judaism -- The Diaspora -- 5. Jewish background for the New Testament, 200 B.C. -- A.D. 200 -- The nature of Judaism -- Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha -- The Dead Sea Scrolls -- Basic characteristics of the Qumran community -- Comparisons with the New Testament -- Part II: The Gospels: The records of the life of Christ -- The period of inception: 6 B.C. to A.D. 30 -- 6. The New Testament: Its name and content -- The name -- The content -- 7. The Gospels as literary works -- The synoptic problem -- Proposed solution -- 8. The Gospel of Matthew -- Origin -- Date and place -- Content -- Outline -- Emphasis -- Characters -- Special features -- 9. The Gospel of Mark -- Origin -- Date and place -- Content -- Outline -- Emphasis -- Characters -- 10. The Gospel of Luke -- Origin -- Author -- Date and place -- Content -- Outline -- Emphasis -- Characters -- 11. The Gospel of John -- Origin -- Author -- Date and place -- Content -- Outline -- Emphasis -- Purpose -- Characters -- 12. The life of Christ -- The secular sources of information -- The periods of Jesus' life -- The geography of Jesus' life -- The teaching of Jesus. Part 3: The records of the early church -- The period of expansion: A.D. 30 to 60 -- 13. The establishment of the church: Acts 1:1 to 8:3 -- The record: Acts -- The foundation: Acts 1:1 to 8:3 -- The first dispersion -- 14. The transition: Acts 8:4 to 11:18 -- The preaching in Samaria -- The Ethiopian eunuch -- The conversion of Paul -- The preaching of Peter -- 15. The Gentile church and the Pauline mission: Acts 11:19 to 15:35 -- The church at Antioch -- The mission to the Gentiles -- The Council at Jerusalem -- The literature of protest -- The Epistle of James -- The Epistle to the Galatians -- 16. The Pauline program: Acts 15:36 to 21:16 -- The second mission to Asia Minor -- The mission to Macedonia -- The Thessalonian letters -- The mission to Achaia -- The mission to Asia -- The Corinthian correspondence -- Background -- The "lost letter" -- The last visit to Corinth -- The projected mission -- The Epistle to the Romans -- The mission concluded -- 17. The Pauline imprisonment: Acts 21:17 to 28:31 -- Jerusalem -- The Epistles -- Philemon -- Ephesians -- Colossians -- Philippians -- Results of the Pauline imprisonment -- Part 4: The problems of the early church -- The period of consolidation: A.D. 60 to 100 -- 18. The institutional church: The pastoral epistles -- Background -- 1 Timothy -- Titus -- II Timothy -- Evaluation -- 19. The suffering church: 1 Peter -- 20. The break from Judaism: Hebrews -- 21. The peril of heresies: II Peter, Jude; I, II, II John -- 22. The expectant church: Revelation -- Part 5: The canon and text of the New Testament -- 23. The canon of the New Testament -- Definition -- Internal testimony -- External testimony -- Conclusions -- 24. The text and transmission of the New Testament. Published in: Grand Rapids, Mich Physical description: xix, 454 p. : ill., maps ; 23 cm.

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