Encountering Biblical Studies. Walter Elwell, Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies at Wheaton College, and Robert Yarbrough, Associate Professor of New Testament at Trinity International University, have combined their efforts to produce the first volume in Baker's new series of textbooks designed for undergraduate biblical studies courses. For those chapters devoted specifically to discussing Bible books the treatment of the material follows that of other NT survey books. When discussing the message of the books, the Gospel discussion is organized around themes, whereas the epistles are discussed in relation to their outline. Scattered throughout every chapter are yellow, blue, and tan boxes.
Blue boxes provide primary source material, including biblical and extrabiblical texts.
Each chapter ends with summary items, review questions, study questions, key terms, and further reading. The suggestions given for further reading do provide a good sampling of introductory level readings and more advanced reading material, but the two categories are not always differentiated. Also, the revised editions of books are not always listed. In a couple of places, the intended audience was forgotten. Concerning the citation of sources, often the European publisher is listed.