Journal: Southern Baptist Journal of Theology
Volume: SBJT 28:3 (Fall 2024)
Article: Book Reviews
Author: Anonymous

Book Reviews

New Testament Theology. By Eckhard J. Schnabel. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2023, xxxviii + 1176 pp., $69.99 hardcover.

In New Testament Theology, Eckhard J. Schnabel, the Mary French Rockefeller Distinguished Professor of New Testament at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, presents a substantial contribution to the field of NT theology that seeks to incorporate the historical, literary, and theological nature of the NT, the audiences of both the NT texts and the apostolic preaching, the NT’s focus on Jesus, and the NT’s relevance for modern readers (sec. 1.2). For Schnabel, NT theology is “the reflection on the proclamation of Jesus and the convictions of his earliest followers” (3). In addition, he seeks to make a unique contribution by taking seriously “the historical context of the ecclesial and missionary realities of the early congregations and their theologians” (xxiii).

The book is divided into six parts that includes a discussion of introductory issues (part 1), an analysis of the NT message (parts 2–5), and a synthesis of NT themes (part 6). The introductory section includes a brief history of the discipline, the characteristics that will mark Schnabel’s work, a survey of the NT authors, the historical contexts of the NT, and a chapter highlighting how Jesus is “the foundation and heart of the New Testament texts” (58). In this section, chapter 2 is particularly important for Schnabel’s unique contribution because it establishes 4 imaginary believers that would be a part of the early church, and 4 imaginary unbelievers that would represent the early church’s missionary audience. These 8 figures are then used in parts 2–4 to illustrate how various people would respond to the issue being discussed. The book then turns to a detailed analysis of the message of the NT by following a historical framework that moves from the message of John the Baptist and Jesus (part 2), to the message of the Jerusalem apostles—Peter, Stephen, Philip, James, Jude, Matthew, John, and Thomas (part 3), to the message of Paul (part 4), and finally to “the consolidation of the apostolic mission” (part 5). For each figure discussed in parts 2–4, Schnabel surveys (1) the person’s life, (2) the person’s teaching,

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and (3) the person’s significance filtered through the eight imaginary first century hearers. In part 5 on the consolidation of the apostolic mission, Schnabel follows a different structure, omitting the typical analysis of the person’s life. Instead, he examines the theology of Mark, Matthew, Luke, John, and the author of Hebrews in terms of key themes, Jesus, and the church. Finally, in part 6 Schnabel pulls together the various theological emphases of the apostolic church to present a coherent NT theology, focusing on the u...