David T. Landry with John W. Martens. Inquiry into the New Testament. Ancient Context to Contemporary Significance. Winona, MN: Anselm Academic (www.anselmacademic.org), 2019. Pages, 467. Paper, $44.95.

The Bible Today

The quest of college and university professors to find the most useful New Testament introduction is neverending. This work by David Landry and John Martens, both members of the theology faculty at St. Thomas University in Saint Paul, Minnesota, is an admirable attempt to find the right balance, size, and level of comprehension needed for a textbook to be in college or university courses. The type of course the authors have in mind is one in a religious studies context rather than as part of a proper theological curriculum. Thus they aspire to approach the biblical text “free of bias” regarding its theological significance or authority, although leaving some openings for teacher and student to move in that direction if desired. The exposition of the social and religious context of the New Testament and the descriptions of the contexts of the individual books are well done and pedagogically attractive. Given the spirit of the book, perhaps a bibliography with leads to theological interpretation of the New Testament writings would be useful. overall, those teaching in a mainly religious studies context will want to take a look at this resource.