Recent years have witnessed the publication of a vast amount of material on New Testament theology. Many theologians, unable to agree on the nature, function, method, and scope of this discipline, have offered their own interpretations of the subject. Unfortunately, this increasing variety of approaches has resulted in a tension and confusion among scholars and students.

Gerhard Hasel addresses the situation with an in-depth discussion of the basic issues of the debate. He begins with a comprehensive survey of the emergence and development of New Testament theology over the last two centuries. From this overview he discerns various issues which have led to the present state of crisis in this area of study. Professor Hasel examines the issues related to methodology, to the unity of the New Testament, and to the relationship between the New and the Old Testaments. He concludes with some basic proposals for doing theology with an historical and theological method which seeks to be faithful to the biblical material.