Jonathan M. Watt

Encountering the New Testament

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“We have been using the various editions of Elwell and Yarbrough's Encountering the New Testament for many years, having appreciated from the outset the attention given not only to each New Testament book but also to necessarily related topics such as geography, geopolitical environment, archaeological discoveries, matters of scholarly criticism, and key theological themes--all with sensitivity to different streams of theological interpretation. The visuals, charts, and inset boxes with focus topics provide a rich learning environment that has worked admirably for our undergraduate students, and I note as well that the text can aid even seminary students as they lay the initial groundwork for advanced study. The authors' awareness of globalized Christianity, especially apparent in this fourth edition, along with electronic support materials, all render this updated edition a welcome development for students open to a holistic acquaintance with Christ's new covenant.”

Linguistics and the Bible

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“One cannot possibly read what emanates from McMaster Divinity College without treading across that intersection between Hellenistic Greek and cutting edge linguistic exploration. Whether it's text corpora, discourse analytical, clausal, lexical, or other issues, the payoff is always fresh exegetical understanding allied with pastoral implications—i.e., exactly what is needed in study and informed ministry today, and presented here via a pleasant diversity of conceptual and textual connections.”

Putting the Pieces Together

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“The title says it well: ten seasoned scholars bring together important facets of discourse analysis in the Systemic-Functional (i.e., Hallidayan) Linguistic tradition that press beyond mechanistic conceptions of language and encourage consideration of the semantics of circumstantials, the roles of semantic units, the interpretation of conditional particles, speech functions, cohesion and coherence, register analysis, and the import these play today as we draw personal, social meaning from ancient texts.”