The Literature and History of New Testament Times
By J. Gresham Machen
Release : 2013-09-10
Genre : Bible Studies, Books, Religion & Spirituality, Christianity
Kind : ebook
A highly regarded scholar and theologian, Machen took it upon himself to write a Sunday school curriculum in 1915 for The Presbyterian Board of Publication and Sabbath School Work. Machen never states the intended age of the audience, although it is my guess given the language and subject matter that he is addressing high-school-aged students. This work is the accompanying teacher's manual. I have been unable to locate the original student's manual Machen references, which is larger, but it was republished by Banner of Truth in 1976.
First and foremost a New Testament scholar, Machen plays to his strengths in this book. It is divided into 52 lessons, which cover history and culture of the 1st century, the individual books of the New Testament, and finally the nature of the church and service and the interaction between Christians and the world. Each lesson ends with recommended supplementary reading.
Machen deplores the lack of learning among Christians regarding the history and nature of the early church. He claims in no uncertain terms that, “such neglect will inevitably result in a loss of power.” This short work serves as a handy overview to the time of the apostles, and due to its basic level, will be a useful work to begin study of this era. Although he does not dwell much on them, Machen does highlight various debates that exist, such as the authorship of Hebrews, but he leaves the supplementary reading to give the detailed answers. By nature of its age, this work is somewhat dated in places, but that does not detract much at all from its value. As Machen says at the end of the introduction, “Ignorance is weak; sound knowledge, sought with prayer, and blessed by the Spirit of God, will lead to a more stalwart and more intelligent faith.”
This book was created using OCR software, and was subsequently proof-read closely by a human. While we proof our texts carefully before selling them, occasionally errors do creep in. Please help us perfect our titles by submitting errors to [email protected].
Roman numerals for chapters and Bible quotations have been updated to modern numbers. Footnotes have been converted to end notes connected by hyperlinks.
The Literature and History of New Testament Times
By J. Gresham Machen
Release : 2013-09-10
Genre : Bible Studies, Books, Religion & Spirituality, Christianity
Kind : ebook
