The Voices of the New Testament: Invitation to a Biblical Roundtable

by Derek J. Tidball

Is there a single message of the New Testament?

Genres: Theology, New Testament

279 pages, Paperback

Published October 6, 2016

Reviews

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is the result of a New Testament Course at Colombo Theological Seminary. It is an entirely innovative approach. It is in response to a question, “ Is there a single message of the New Testament” Derek Tidball invites you to imagine that panelists are the various writers of the New Testament. There is an imaginary person called the CHAIR. There is also an Observer who allows contemporary comments. The main texts are included in the dialogue, but there is a shadowed box for additional Biblical references. It is hard to imagine how this will all work. There are 10 dialogues about 15 pages long. A very extensive Bibliography and scripture index completes the book. This unusual book has won high praise from students and teachers alike. Instead of a boring class series, you meet with a dialogue which tackles the 27 books and 9 different authors. It is exciting and entertaining. I think it would be hard to not own this book. Having it as a book in your library might be a little hard, the borrower would want to use a pen and dog ear the pages, after keeping it for months.
If you enjoy conversations, this would delight you, just imagine sitting down with a bunch of old friends (from the Bible) and kicking around the various questions and themes. I liked the book very much but felt like I rushed it. I think you would want to look at it before buying it. It certainly would be cheaper than a theology course. For more theological look at how the author handles disagreements of the same event, look at Amazon reviews..

[Karen R. Dickson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thankful to my daughter Chloe who gifted me this wonderful book! I have long been fascinated to view the writers and people of the Bible as flesh-and-blood people, wondering about how they would feel in the circumstances they found themselves. This book imagines a round table discussion of all the New Testament writers. It is very well-documented, as every comment they make has scripture references in the text, so one could easily read it with the Bible in hand to see every reference the writers make. But somehow, Tidball does a wonderful job of giving real life to each character, so you feel you are actually hearing their voice when they speak. Those chosen to pen the New Testament gospels and letters are unique in the history of the world, and this book truly helps to bring them to life. I will add that the book is not light reading. I took it slowly, as every topic should be well digested before moving on to the next. Well worth the read!

[Jimmy Reagan · Rating 5 out of 5]

At first glance this is a book idea that seemed a little cutesy, or at least that’s what I was thinking. In fact, this idea of having the different New Testament writers discuss theology as if they were around the table seemed like a gimmick. It wasn’t until I actually read the book that I found it to be a unique and engaging way to think about how doctrine is presented in the New Testament.

Derek Tidball’s first chapter gave a good, brief overview to the different approaches to New Testament theology. When he discusses the authorial approach, you can’t help but think how many such works set the writers of the New Testament against each other almost as competing voices for Christianity. That is not the case here. Besides an imaginary Chair and observer, his panel is made up of Luke, James, John, Jude, Mark, Matthew, Paul, Peter, and the Hebraist.

In chapter 2 he goes big picture and discusses the common thread of the New Testament as being the Good News. It’s in this first chapter of the panel going at it that you find out just how interesting and helpful this work is. The quality is maintained all the way to the end and the great doctrines of the New Testament are gone through in a very logical sequence. The amazing part is that this method actually reads much better than many other such theologies.

In addition to the theology, you get a great picture of the emphasis of each New Testament writer. For example, if you were study in Matthew you can go through this book and read Matthew’s statement in each of the theological discussions and you have a good idea of the uniqueness of the book of Matthew. Not only does this book read well, it lends itself to future consultation on a variety of New Testament subjects.

You won’t agree with every single theological description in this book, but you will get a conservative, Scripture-affirming treat for your studies. To my mind, this volume can take his place among much larger works on our shelves and I highly recommend it.

I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.