Method, Context, and Meaning in New Testament Studies

by C. Kavin Rowe

A masterful collection of essays in New Testament studies connecting Scripture, theology, and human life 
 
What is the purpose of studying the New Testament, and how is it best approached? Esteemed professor C. Kavin Rowe explores these questions in sixteen incisive essays covering a range of topics,   
     • the state of New Testament studies as a field 
     • the relationship between historical criticism and theological reading 
     • interdisciplinary methodology 
     • comparative religion and New Testament Christianity 
     • truth claims of the New Testament 
 
What unites these diverse chapters is a holistic approach to the New Testament. Against the modern tendency to separate disciplines, Rowe unites philosophy, theology, history, and biblical studies in fruitful conversation. Most crucially, he emphasizes the essential purpose of this academic its implications for human flourishing.  
 
With an insightful and bold approach, Rowe’s essays should be read by anyone interested in New Testament studies. Scholars and students will find the essays in this critical volume challenging and rewarding.

440 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 21, 2024

Reviews

[Caleb Rolling · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really remarkable collection of essays. I think some of these essays are nothing short of miraculous. Let he who has ears hear.

[Ched Spellman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent collection of essays!

[Scott Kohler · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been reading Kavin Rowe with great interest since around 2010, so it was exciting to see that most of his essays were being published in a couple of collected volumes over the past year or so. This one focuses on the areas of interest reflected in the title: there are essays that deal with how biblical scholars (and, by extension, I would say preachers and other Bible readers too) are to proceed with their work, especially as it relates to theological interpretation; there are others that focus on contextual issues, namely the work of comparison between Christian and Greco-Roman (especially Stoic) ways of conceiving life; and finally, there are reflections on what the Christian faith has to say about being human.

Rowe's interests are wide and deep, and I consider him to be a very wise voice. When I first encountered his work, I searched for any piece he had written and collected them in a duo-tang folder. He is an elegant writer whether he is writing formally or in a more casual style (some of these pieces were originally talks to students and their informality remains).

Aside from making available in one place a number of essays that readers might not track down, Method, Context, and Meaning in NT Studies is valuable as an introduction to Rowe's other work. The essays on Stoicism, which were written in response to critics of his book One True Life: The Stoics and Early Christians as Rival Traditions (which I've not yet read), serve as a great window on what he aims to achieve with One True Life. After reading those four essay-chapters, I am eager to read the book in the near future. And the essays on being human in the closing section of this collection point to what his little book Christianity's Surprise might have looked like if he had written it as the larger project it was originally intended to be.

The most significant achievement in almost all of Kavin Rowe's work is one that we should treasure: he sends us back to the Bible eager not only to understand it as the story of the God who has revealed himself to us savingly in Jesus Christ but also to live as the people of Jesus Christ today. To live this life is something that doesn't happen either in our work life or our home life or our church life in isolation, but in the integrated whole that in Christ we have been summoned to become.