New Testament, Its Background, Growth and Content

Reverend Professor Bruce Manning Metzger was educated at Lebanon Valley College, Princeton Theological Seminary and Princeton University (USA). He worked as Professor of New Testament Language and Literature at Princeton Theological Seminary. He has given many lectures to academic institutions in several countries such as England, South America, Germany, Greece. His other publications include: The Text, Canon, and Principal Versions of the Bible (1956), The Oxford Concise Concordance to the Revised Standard Version of the Holy Bible (1962), and The Oxford Companion to the Bible (1993).

• PART ONE: The Background of the New Testament Period1. THE POLITICAL AND SOCIAL BACKGROUND OF PALESTINIAN JUDAISMI. SURVEY OF THE POLITICAL HISTORY OP PALESTINE PROM ALEXANDER THE GREAT TO THE FALL OF JERUSALEM (A.D. 70)II. THE ROMAN PROVINCIAL SYSTEMIII. THE LANGUAGES CURRENT IN PALESTINE2. THE CULTURAL AND RELIGIOUS BACKGROUND OF PALESTINIAN JUDAISMI. SURVEY OF INTERTESTAMENTAL JEWISH LITERATUREII. SECTS, PARTIES, AND CLASSES WITHIN PALESTINIAN JUDAISMIII. SCRIBES AND RABBIS: THEIR DUTIES AND METHODS OF TEACHINGIV. THE TEMPLE AND ITS RITUALV. THE SYNAGOGUE AND ITS WORSHIP3. THE PHILOSOPHICAL AND RELIGIOUS BACKGROUND OF GRECO-ROMAN PAGANISMI. SCHOOLS OF PHILOSOPHY IN THE GRECO-ROMAN WORLDII. MYSTERY RELIGIONS IN THE GRECO-ROMAN WORLDPART TWO: Aspects of the Life and Teaching of Jesus Christ4. THE SOURCES FOR OUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE LIFE AND TEACHING OF JESUS CHRISTI. NON-CHRISTIAN SOURCES - JEWISH AND PAGANII. CHRISTIAN SOURCES-CANONICAL AND APOCRYPHAL5. A SUMMARY OF THE LIFE OF JESUS CHRISTI. THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE LIFE OF JESUS CHRISTII. THE EARLY YEARS OF JESUS' LIFEIII. THE BAPTISM AND TEMPTATION OF JESUS CHRISTIV. THE PUBLIC MINISTRY OF JESUS CHRISTAPPENDIX: MIRACLES IN THE GOSPELS6. ASPECTS OF THE TEACHING OF JESUS CHRISTI. THE FORM OF JESUS' TEACHINGII. BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE TEACHDNG OF JESUS CHRISTAPPENDIX: THE ORIGINALITY OF JESUS' ETHICAL TEACHINGPART THREE: The Apostolic Age7. THE SOURCES AND THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE APOSTOLIC AGEI. THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLESII. THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE APOSTOLIC AGE8. PRIMITIVE JEWISH CHRISTIANITYI. PENTECOST AND THE EARLIEST EVANGELISMII. THE CHURCH'S CONFLICT WITH JUDAISM AND THE MARTYRDOM OF STEPHEN9. THE EXPANSION OF CHRISTIANITY THROUGH THE WORK OF THE APOSTLE PAULI. PAUL'S EARLY TRAINING AND CONVERSIONII. PAUL'S FIRST MISSIONARY JOURNEYIII. THE APOSTOLIC COUNCIL AT JERUSALEMIV. PAUL'S SECOND MISSIONARY JOURNEYV. PAUL'S THIRD MISSIONARY JOURNEYVI. PAUL'S ARREST AND IMPRISONMENT10. PAUL'S LETTERS TO CHURCHES AND INDIVIDUALSI. PAUL'S LETTERS IN GENERALII. SUMMARIES OF PAUL'S LETTERSAPPENDIX: LEADING IDEAS IN PAUL'S THEOLOGY11. THE GENERAL LETTERS AND THE BOOK OF REVELATIONI. THE GENERAL LETTERSII. THE BOOK OF REVELATIONAPPENDIX I: THE FORMATION OF THE CANON OF THE NEW TESTAMENTAPPENDIX II: THE TRANSMISSION AND TRANSLATION OF THE BIBLESELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHYBIBLIOGRAPHYINDEX OF PRINCIPAL NEW TESTAMENTREFERENCESGENERAL INDEXMAPSPALESTINE - A. D.THE MEDITERRANEAN WORLD AT THE TIME OF PAUL