Cover; Title Page; Copyright; Contents; List of Maps; List of Tables; Abbreviations; Preface: The Perspective of This Introduction; Using the "Exegetical Skill" Sections; 1 THE NEW TESTAMENT AS PASTORAL RESPONSE; Issues in the First-Century Church; Formation of a "New" Testament; 2 THE ENVIRONMENT OF EARLY CHRISTIANITY: ESSENTIAL LANDMARKS; Prologue: Important Developments in the Intertestamental Period; The Septuagint; The Old Testament Apocrypha; Key Players and Plots in the World of the Gospels and Their Readers; Torah, Temple, and Tradition: The Common Focal Points of Jews; The Shema. The "Eighteen" BenedictionsThe Diversity Within Judaism; The Dead Sea Scrolls; Gnosticism, the Nag Hammadi Library, and the Hermetica; Greco-Roman Religion; Greco-Roman Philosophical Schools; Jews in the Greco-Roman World; Christians in the Greco-Roman World; 3 THE CULTURAL AND SOCIAL WORLD OF THE EARLY CHURCH: PURITY, HONOR, PATRONAGE, AND KINSHIP; Purity and Pollution; Purity and Pollution in the Oedipus Plays of Sophocles; Honor and Shame; Patronage and Reciprocity; The Shape and Significance of Family in the Ancient World. 4 THE FOUR GOSPELS AND THE ONE JESUS: CRITICAL ISSUES IN THE STUDY OF THE GOSPELSWhat Is a Gospel?; From the Historical Jesus to the Canonical Gospels; The Building Blocks Behind the Gospels: Oral Tradition; The Composition and Relationship of the Gospels; The Contents of Q; The Fourfold Gospel Collection; From the Evangelists to Us: Handing Down the Gospel Texts; Searching for the Jesus of History; Criteria of Authenticity: A Summary; Just the Facts; 5 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK: FOLLOWING IN THE WAY OF THE CROSS; The Historical and Pastoral Context of Mark's Gospel. Who Was the Evangelist's Audience?An Outline of Mark's Gospel; Mark's Message; John the Baptist; Exegetical Skill: Examining Literary Context; Cultural Awareness: Jewish Purity Codes and Mark's Gospel; Mark and Ministry Formation; 6 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW: FOLLOWING THE WORDS OF THE MESSIAH; The Historical and Pastoral Context of Matthew's Gospel; An Outline of Matthew's Gospel; Matthew's Use of Other Early Christian Resources; The Message of Matthew; Matthew's Special Material (M); The Continuity of the Ekklesia and the Heritage of God's People. Matthew as the Manifesto of a Jewish Messianic SectExegetical Skill: Redaction Criticism; Matthew's Formation of the Church's Ethos and Discipline; Exegetical Skill: The Use of Comparative Material in New Testament Exegesis; Cultural Awareness: Honor Discourse in Matthew; Matthew and Ministry Formation; 7 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE: FOLLOWING THE HEART OF THE FATHER; The Historical and Pastoral Context of Luke's Gospel; Exegetical Skill: Textual Criticism; An Outline of Luke's Gospel; Luke's Use of Other Early Christian Resources; Luke's Message; Luke's Special Material (L).