Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)This book offers some good information for considering different aspects about the new testament literature. However, I'd recommend "Fortress Introduction to the Gospels" by Mark Allan Powell as a place to start, rather than this book.
Patzia sometimes makes incredible statements of fact, which in reality are points of debate among scholars. For example, in one half sentence, Patzia declares (with no backing) that the Gospel of John was written in Ephesus in the late 1st Century. Contrast that with Powell's two page discussion of the when and where questions of that same gospel.
Basically, there is not enough discussion of the reasoning of the scholars on particular points. In one odd twist, the Patzia states that the authorship of some of Paul's letters is questioned. This includes, among others, 2 Thessalonians. A couple of pages later, though, he makes the statement that "Paul himself" gives (in 2 Thessalonians) an explanation about how to tell that the letter is authentic. Of course, if Paul didn't write 2 Thessalonians, then the explanation is bogus, a point that Patzia seems to miss.
I have to admit that I was surprised that the book didn't contain more information about the decision making process for what was considered canon. This work only gives the Council of Carthage of 397 brief treatment.
The book does contain some valuable information, but it wouldn't be my first choice. It's too bad the author (or editor) didn't spend a little extra time refining the material.
Click Here to see more reviews about: The Making of the New Testament: Origin, Collection, Text & Canon
What motivated the early Christians to commit teaching and events and visions to papyrus?How were the stories and sayings of Jesus circulated, handed down and shaped into Gospels?Why were four Gospels included instead of one?What do we know about ancient letter writing, secretaries and "copy shops"?Would a first-century librarian have known how to classify a Gospel, an Acts or an Apocalypse?How were Paul's letters, sent here and there, gathered into a single collection?Are there other documents that almost made it into the New Testament but didn't?The narratives and letters of our New Testament were shaped by worn pens gripped by calloused, ink-stained fingers. Their authors' ears were more likely assaulted by the urban clatter of busy intersections and bustling markets than attuned to a still small voice. Scrolls that bumped across cobbled Roman roads and pitched through rolling Mediterranean seas found their destination in stuffy, dimly lit, crowded Christian house churches in Corinth or Cenchreae. There they were read aloud and reread, handled and copied, forwarded and collected, studied and treasured. Their ordinary story is true to their extraordinary message: the mystery of the Word that became flesh.In The Making of the New Testament Arthur Patzia retells that story. His textbook study of the origin, collection, copying and canonizing of the New Testament documents answers a myriad of questions--cultural, historical, geographical, linguistic and spiritual.
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