The world of the New Testament can seem at first a strange and distant one, far removed from our complex, technological age. The New Testament World is a lively and stimulating, verbal and pictorial account of life in the time of Jesus. Drawing on the discoveries of archaeologists, sociologists and historians, it presents a vivid insight into both this ancient world and the gospels themselves.

Structured in three parts, this book is designed to build up a complete picture of the people who created the literature and of their world. The introduction includes background evidence, a discussion of critical method, and important indications of continuity and positive relationship between the Old and New Testaments. The core of the book examines each of the gospels, Paul's letters and other New Testament writings, to reveal the diversity of outlook of their writers, and the different communities in which they lived and for which they wrote. Each chapter examines the writer's distinctive representation of Christ, in particular of his death, and looks in detail at the nature of the writer's theology and history, the ethics of his community and its relationship to Judaism. The final part discusses the church's attitude to the world, and the pressures towards unity.