Most Influential NT Studies Books: Insights from the #50-2-Follow Series

This is PART 2 of the insights blogs from the #50-2-Follow series

Each of the 50 scholars I interviewed mentioned books they read as students that left a strong impression on them. I noticed that some books came up more than once. So, here is the list of the top books that shaped these scholars.

Keep in mind, most of these books were published between 1975-2005 due to the career stage of the people interviewed. There have been many books of excellence written in the last 15 years, of course.

Top 15 Books

Richard Bauckham, God Crucified (now included within Jesus and the God of Israel)

Richard B. Hays, Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul

N.T. Wright, Jesus and the Victory of God (honorable mention: Paul: Fresh Perspectives)

Cain Felder Hope, Troubling Biblical Waters and Stony the Road We Trod

N.T. Wright, The New Testament and the People of God

Wayne Meeks, The First Urban Christians

Jaqueline Lapsley, Whispering the Word: Hearing Women’s Stories in the Old Testament

Gordon D. Fee, Paul, the Spirit, and the People of God

James D.G. Dunn, The Theology of Paul the Apostle

J. Louis Martyn, Theological Issues in the Letters of Paul (honorable mention: Galatians)

E.P. Sanders, Paul and Palestinian Judaism (honorable mention: Judaism: Practice and Belief)

R. Alan Culpepper, Anatomy of the Fourth Gospel

Richard B. Hays, Moral Vision of the New Testament

Hans Frei, The Eclipse of Biblical Narrative

R. S. Sugirtharajah, The Bible and the Third World