DESCRIPTION
The dynamic teachings of the New Testament are often lost in the dryness and formality of academic study. In
The New Testament with Imagination William Loader seeks to solve this conundrum. He brings imagination into play to enter the world of the New Testament and carefully reads key sample passages to go right to the heart of its message.
This book offers a unique new way of approaching the New Testament -- nothing else like it is in print -- and will be accessible to a broad readership, although it will also give longtime students of scripture a fresh perspective. Loader's historically sound methodology remains focused on imagining what we know through established research, not fanciful reconstruction.
Loader's distinctive work has the strength of a standard introduction, but without an overload of information, and the depth of a New Testament theology, but written in language accessible to readers new to the New Testament.
REVIEWS
Carolyn Osiek
— Brite Divinity School, Texas Christian University
"This book is a delightful exercise in reimagining the New Testament by creative storytelling about Jesus, Paul, and the early Christians. It engages discussion of key texts, sometimes difficult ones, in new ways for the general reader who wants to know more about the New Testament without intimidation by scholarly apparatus. Yet the solid foundation it provides will serve well for personal reading or Bible study groups."
Judith Lieu
— King's College London
"The gap between the insights of critical study of the New Testament and the picture available to the interested reader, whether inside or outside of the church, is often bemoaned. William Loader builds a steady bridge across that gap through both his seasoned, firmly rooted scholarly understanding and his invitation to readers to imaginatively enter into the world of the texts. The journey on which Loader leads his readers will still be a challenging one, but he is a reliable guide; newcomers should find the effort rewarding, and even those who feel familiar with the territory will discover new ways of envisaging the world of the New Testament."
John P. Meier
— University of Notre Dame
"Bill Loader is not only a superb scholar but also a great teacher with the heart of a pastor. . . Here he does in a contemporary style what great spiritual masters of the past did when they taught people how to meditate by having them imagine themselves in a specific biblical locale, taking part in the action. To weld this traditional technique of 'composition of place' to modern biblical scholarship in an easy-to-read form is a notable feat of academic imagination in itself. One hopes that, as in Mark 3:9-10, so with this book, a large multitude will press close to touch something of the Word."