A comprehensive introduction to New Testament study, showing how even the most familiar passages can benefit from closer reading.Why do we have to study the New Testament? Is it not simply enough to read it? Beginning with a reading of the Lord's Prayer, Brian Beck sets out to show how even the most familiar passages may benefit from more detailed study. He writes simply and directly about the problems which arise from translation, not only for the student but for every Christian who cares enough about the New Testament to want to understand it better. He then goes on to show the way in which the different books came to be written and how they were brought together. Though he is ready to criticise a number of scholars when he thinks they are mistaken, he nevertheless yields to nobody in his high regard for many of the fruits of contemporary New Testament scholarship.