The HarperCollins Visual Guide to the New Testament: What Archaeology Reveals about the First Christians

by Jonathan L. Reed

This one-of-a-kind presentation of the New Testament world and its archaeological treasures provides a new, more complete understanding of the world in which Christianity was born. Through lavish photographs, architectural plans, extensive maps, and detailed charts, you can explore the landscape of Nazareth where Jesus grew up; sit at the shores of Galilee where he preached; and enter the streets and temple of Jerusalem where his ministry was fulfilled. An experienced archaeologist and biblical expert will guide you throughout your journey around Israel and beyond—on the Mediterranean voyages of Paul to the homes and synagogues of the Roman Empire, where he planted the seeds of Christianity. Visit Emperor Nero's "Golden House," witness the desperation of the Jewish revolutionaries at Masada, and explore the magnificent basilicas of Constantine the Great.

The HarperCollins Visual Guide to the New Testament features:



Rich descriptions of the worlds of Jesus, Paul, and the first Christians

Full-color photographs of excavations, artifacts, coins, and pottery from New Testament sites

Extensive maps

Architectural floor plans of temples, palaces, and synagogues

Commentary on how archaeology relates to the Bible

Examination of modern excavation techniques and methods

A beginners' guide to understanding pottery, coins, temples, and inscriptions

Genres: Religion, History, Christianity, Reference, New Testament, Archaeology, Christian

169 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2007

Reviews

[Pete daPixie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having read and enjoyed Reed's co-authoring of 'Excavating Jesus', with John Dominic Crossan, I wanted to read this one. Only just over 160 pages in this HarperCollins Visual Guide, but they are big pages and there is a lot of archaeology covered here.
The book is written and directed towards the none archaeologist reader.
The goal of this book is to provide those curious about Christian origins, with a survey of the key discoveries, excavations and artifacts that relate to the New Testament. Such a lot has happened over the last century in this field that it has been neccessary for the author to simplify many issues etc., even so, this guide scores as a great introduction to the Hellenist/Roman and Judaic worlds over a considerable time span, right up to the latest digs and finds.

[Birgitte · Rating 3 out of 5]

Moderately informative, but the captions given for images charts and illustrations left much to be desired. It reads like a tirade against popular biblical scholarship. I agree with the author's points, but the data could have been allowed to speak for itself, rather than repeating those points in every section of every chapter. If those paragraphs has been taken out, there would have been plenty of room to explain the illustrations to my satisfaction.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very accessible and enjoyable read.

[Jordan Varey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fascinating read. The author explains off the hop that there is very little actual archaeological evidence to definitively prove the events of the New Testament. That being said, there is ample evidence to support the plausibility of many of the events of the New Testament and to fill out the readers cultural understanding of the Bible. It is kind of amazing that I made it through 7 years of Christian higher education without learning much about archaeology at all. Being exposed to this stuff now has revolutionized my understanding of the Bible and I could see myself picking more of this type of book in the future.

Many of the "mysterious" things that biblical authors say actually make a lot of sense in light of the times they were writing in. Some cool examples include the fact that Nero's name translated into numbers is 666. The idea that he is probably the person being referenced in book of revelation is strengthened by the fact that manuscripts exist that use the number 616 as the mark of the beast which is Nero's other name in numbers (Neron). It was also interesting to learn that the Roman political cult used terms like "son of god" to refer to their leaders and that every Emperor after Augustus was thought to have been a divine being that ascended to heaven after their death. The shock of Jesus would have been that he was a Carpenter from a small strange Jewish province not the parts of the story that we find earth shattering (i.e. claims of divinity, ascension, etc.)

The book is loaded with pictures, maps, drawings etc. My one complaint is that the descriptions of the images are not always clearly demarcated meaning that it was sometimes a pain to figure out which blurb matched which picture.

[Ted · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the book to be very informative and interesting, offering clues and information that can be gleaned from the archeological evidence about the New Testament and its times. Helpful information also about how archeologists read the evidence that exists.

[James Hansee · Rating 4 out of 5]

An absolute must read for anyone interested in the Holy Land or is traveling to the Holy Land. The pictures and charts alone are worth having this book.