Dale B. MartinResenhas

The author demonstrates that the concept of superstition was invented by Greek intellectuals to condemn popular religious practices and beliefs, especially the belief that gods who are the superhuman beings would harm people or cause disease.

Martin regularly reads Biblical interpretation and ancient Jewish, Christian, and Greco-Roman history in ways that remind me of how Foucault reads history. You may disagree, even deeply, with his reading. It’s never boring, though. Martin is an anti-foundationalist. I am not. But this book so consistently made me think more deeply about Scripture, Biblical interpretation, Biblical interpreters, the Church, and the formation of Christian ethics that it deserves the highest marks from me. And some further reading, including a few rereads of chapters here.

In this engaging introduction to the New Testament, Professor Dale B. Martin presents a historical study of the origins of Christianity by analyzing the literature of the earliest Christian movements. Focusing mainly on the New Testament, he also considers nonbiblical Christian writings of the era.

Martin begins by making a powerful case for the study of the New Testament. He next sets the Greco-Roman world in historical context and explains the place of Judaism within it. In the discussion of each New Testament book that follows, the author addresses theological themes, then emphasizes the significance of the writings as ancient literature and as sources for historical study. Throughout the volume, Martin introduces various early Christian groups and highlights the surprising variations among their versions of Christianity.

This book is an outstanding introduction to the new Testament and is highly recommended.

This is the second from the Yale Lecture series that I have read and was very impressed. Both were so good, I am inspired to read more of these Yale books.