About the Book:

The third of IVP's critically acclaimed series of dictionaries of the New Testament provides focused study on the often-neglected portions of the New Testament: Acts, Hebrews, the General Epistles and Revelation. Furthermore, its scope goes beyond the life of the New Testament church to include the work of the apostolic fathers and early Christianity up through the middle of the second century.

The Dictionary of the Later New Testament & Its Developments offers a summa of New Testament studies. Designed to bring students, teachers, pastors and general readers up to date and up to speed, this one-of-a-kind reference volume presents more information than any other single work—dealing exclusively with the theology, literature, background and scholarship of the later New Testament and the apostolic church.

In-depth, comprehensive articles focus on theological themes, methods of interpretation, background topics and various other subjects specifically related to the study of New Testament theology and literature. Expert contributors include Darrell Bock, George R. Beasley-Murray, I. Howard Marshall, Ben Witherington III and James D. G. Dunn. Wide-ranging articles range from the books of James and Jude to household codes, from the Roman emperor cult to gnosticism and docetism, questions of canon to second-century church leaders like Ignatius and Polycarp.

The Dictionary of the Later New Testament & Its Developments takes its place alongside the Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels and Dictionary of Paul and His Letters in presenting mature evangelical scholarship—committed to the authority of Scripture, utilizing the best of critical methods, and maintaining a dialogue with contemporary scholarship and the challenges facing the church.

Features & Benefits:

"Named a Top 10 Book for the year 1997."

"The Dictionary of the Later New Testament & Its Developments is a welcome—and much-needed—companion to the DJG and DPL. Written by a broad range of contributors, it covers a wide range of topics, not only on the rest of the New Testament but also on the early second-century church. The articles are of consistently high quality, with superb bibliographies that should cause them to be the first place one turns for most of the topics covered in this excellent volume."

"This volume is a worthy companion to the two previous ones. Its deep, detailed and rigorous coverage of every topic one can think of in the later New Testament is enhanced by taking the discussion forward well into the second century. A book no serious student will want to be without."

"The Dictionary of the Later New Testament & Its Developments continues in the formidable tradition pioneered by the DJG and DPL, covering Acts, Hebrews, James and Jude, the letters attributed to Peter and John, and Revelation. The articles are weighty, written on the whole by people who are experts in the respective areas....This volume extends the treatment of the various topics into the middle of the second century, by including treatment of the respective themes by the apostolic fathers....This initiative informatively sets the later New Testament writings in the ongoing historical trajectory of reflection on the gospel and apostolic teaching. The DLNTD will join the two volumes that precede it and the projected Dictionary of New Testament Background as one of the most useful resources of the century available to students of the New Testament."

" This volume provides an excellent reference tool that matches the excellent quality of the Dictionary of Paul and His Letters. Numerous articles offer constructive help and contain very useful up-to-date bibliographies. I gladly commend this volume to students of the subject."

" The coverage of this Dictionary embraces not only the remaining books of the New Testament but also includes the apostolic fathers and other related topics. The volume will thus provide assistance to pastors and students alike in understanding the broader historical context of early Christianity and its literature. Both IVP and the editors of the volume are to be congratulated on producing such a helpful dictionary."

" IVP's Dictionary of the Later New Testament & Its Developments is a very useful, even indispensable, companion for all scholars working in this field but also for pastors and teachers interested in the Bible and New Testament scholarship. The articles give a solid overview of modern scholarship and basic information. The bibliographies are well founded and concise. The Dictionary should get a standard place in biblical libraries."