The Dictionary of the Later New Testament and its development follows the Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels and the Dictionary of Paul and His Letters as the third in a celebrated series of reference works on the Bible. Picking up where the previous volumes left off, this volume includes in its scope the book of Acts, the general epistles of Peter, James, Jude and John, and the books of Hebrews and Revelation. This Dictionary is without peer in its in-depth coverage of the most neglected books of the New Testament.
In addition to its coverage of this New Testament literature, a unique and valuable feature of this Dictionary is its extended coverage of developments in early Christianity through AD 150. Some articles, such as those on each of the apostolic fathers, focus exclusively on this postapostolic period. But nearly all topical articles take into consideration the writings of the apostolic fathers. Readers will enjoy a deeper and expanded understanding of how orthodox Christianity continued and developed in the years just following the New Testament era. No other single-volume reference work provides comparable coverage and assessment of the early patristic era and its theology.
The Dictionary of the Later New Testament and its developments is a timely response to post-Enlightenment Christians who are seeking to rediscover their ancient roots in the soil of the first two centuries of the Christian era. And it lays the foundation for budding students of the New Testament who are now being challenged to expand their field of vision to include the broader crucible in which the Christian tradition developed.
Ralph Martin (1925-2013) was a distinguished New Testament scholar and a significant figure in the post-World War 2 resurgence of British evangelical scholarship. Born in Anfield, Liverpool, England, his early education was interrupted in 1939 by the war, and he was conscripted to work in the coal mines of Lancashire. After the war he pursued ministerial training at Manchester Baptist College and in 1949 earned his B.A. at the University of Manchester. In 1963 he completed his Ph.D. at King’s College, University of London. In 1969 Martin joined the faculty of Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, where he would serve as professor of New Testament from 1969 to 1988, and director of the graduate studies program beginning in 1979. He resumed his teaching there in 1995 as Distinguished Scholar in Residence. Throughout his academic career he stayed involved in preaching, teaching laypeople and other pastoral ministry. He was the author of numerous studies and commentaries on the New Testament, including Worship in the Early Church, the volume on Philippians in The Tyndale New Testament Commentary series, and 2 Corinthians and James in the Word Biblical Commentary, for which he also served as New Testament editor.
