The New Testament and Literature
A Guide to Literary Patterns

Stephen Cox

The New Testament is perhaps the most influential book in the world from both an intellectual and a literary standpoint. But many people have only a vague idea of what they should look for when they try to read it.

In The New Testament and Literature, Stephen Cox offers a guide to the New Testament and the classic works of Christian literature that have followed it, focusing on the underlying patterns that combine ideas with literary devices. Step by step, the patterns in the New Testament are revealed, starting with the fundamental questions of the origin and nature of the New Testament, moving on to the literary methods of the gospels, church history, epistles, etc., and finally illuminating the development of Christianity's core ideas, showing how they evolve in the New Testament itself and how they have shaped English and American literature.
 

Stephen Cox is Professor of Literature and Director of the Humanities Program at the University of California, San Diego.