Sherri Brown and Francis J. Moloney, Interpreting the New Testament: An Introduction. Grand Rapids MI, William B. Eerdmans, 2019, 19 × 24 cm, xv-271 p., ISBN 978-0-8028-7519-8

The book is divided into 9 chapters including the conclusion. The illustrations and the short descriptions of terms in almost all the pages add to the simplicity of the presentation of the work. It is a textbook designed for the students of the New Testament and for classroom teachers. The arrangement of the presentation follows this order: the overview of the origin of the Bible (both the Old and the New Testaments), methods of biblical interpretation, exposition of biblical narrative, and the introduction of Jesus, his teaching and followers. The authors, Sherri Brown and Francis Moloney (henceforth: B & M) note that it is necessary to understand this process before one could delve into a sound interpretation of the texts of the New Testament. The book is not a work on the exegesis of the texts but a general background to prepare students for proper exegesis of each text of the New Testament. In the introductory section, B & M discuss some basic terminologies in the New Testament (NT) as a sacred text and theology of Christianity, such as scripture, sacred scripture, Christ Event, apocalypse, exegesis, ethics, morality, ecclesiology, cosmology, eschatology, soteriology. The definitions of these terms are useful for the beginners of the NT studies. Setting out these at the outset of a textbook like this aids the readers to comprehend their usages in the following chapters. B & M also explain the literary approach which forms the foundation for their analyses in the entire book. At the end of each chapter, they try to give theological insights into the subject (s) discussed with the title “what have we learned so far?” after which some questions for reflection and review based on the topic of each chapter are provided. In chapter one, they discuss the origins and development of the Bible which touch on the history and development of the Jewish and Christian canons. The complexity of the collection of the books/texts of the Bible is exposed and shown why it is important to understand this beginning for proper discussion of the contents of the biblical texts. The Bible as a Sacred Scripture of Christians is born out of the believing communities through their experiences of God and relationship to the rest of the society. They mention the world that gave birth to the Bible starting from the word of mouth (called the oral tradition), sharing and passing on human-God relationship experience from one generation to the next. Owing to internal and external forces, the communities of faith decided to commit the oral tradition into writing. The Jewish people started the literal form of their history around 1000 BCE during King David’s reign. Likewise, the early Christians moved from oral tradition to writing beginning with Paul’s writings. B & M explain how the books of the NT came to be regarded as canon, following the list of twenty-seven books in the Easter Letter (367 CE) of Athanasius after years of debate. The list was accepted in the West (Latin tradition) under Pope Innocent I. There are three major criteria that a book must possess in order to be included in the canon: 1) apostolic authority, 2) usefulness for morals and faith, 3) popularity and early communities’ usage. They identify the influence of Hellenism on the production of the Scripture aided by cultural and linguistic unity in the Greek colonies. Hebrew Scriptures were translated to Greek which eventually came to be called the Septuagint with four-part division: Pentateuch, Historical Books, Wisdom Books, and Prophets. This was what the early Christians adopted in the Greek-speaking world. By the time of the …