Thomas R. Schreiner - Handbook on Acts and Pauls Letters

It has been a delight to reflect on and write about the content of Acts and the Pauline Letters. Many introductions effectively discuss author, date, setting, and other critical questions. Many readers, however, desire an introduction that in a simple and nontechnical way discusses the content of the NT. It is comparable to having a class on Shakespeare in which most of the discussion centers on whether Shakespeare wrote his plays, the situation and background to each play, other literary influences on Shakespeare, and so on. What may be neglected, however, is significant discussion and reflection on what Shakespeare actually wrote, and thus here the focus is on the content of the books studied. The descriptive outlines are intended to give the big picture and are overly simplistic, but the intention is to help readers get a quick grasp of the contours of the book in question.

I am grateful to Ben Gladd for asking me to contribute to this series, for his vision for biblical theology, and for his helpful comments on this work. Bryan Dyer and Eric Salo deserve thanks for shepherding this book expertly through the publication process, sharpening and correcting what has been written. I am also thankful to Andrs Vera, who arranged and formatted each bibliography, which I sent to him in a most unorganized form! I am so thankful for Andrss friendship, his careful work, and how he models Christ every day. Since this book is nontechnical and an introduction, there are no footnotes, but I hope the bibliography for each book will introduce readers to other resources worth consulting. In one sense every line could be footnoted, for I am indebted to a plethora of scholars who have shaped me in lectures and through their writings. There are places in the book where I draw on what I have written elsewhere, especially on Romans, 1 Corinthians, and Galatians. Since there are no footnotes, I did not quote myself, and even when I drew on what I wrote elsewhere, I revised what had been written earlier. The bibliographies, of course, are also selective, and in a day in which so much has been written, many other works could have been included.

I dedicate this book to my dear friend for many years, Eric Johnson. Eric has been a model of a Christian psychologist and one of the godliest and wisest people I know. I am eternally grateful for his love and friendship.