Book Review: "Reading the New Testament for the First Time"

Reading the New Testament for the First Time by Ronald J. Allen (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2012), paperback, 216 pages

For over a century, Gideons International has placed millions of Bibles in hotel rooms around the world and has distributed countless others, particularly pocket New Testaments, on college campuses, in prisons, and elsewhere.  Part of the rationale for the effort is to evangelize, believing that some might become Christians simply by reading through the Bible on their own.

The practicality of this approach, though, is questionable, which may come as a surprise to those who learned Bible stories from parents and Sunday School teachers before they ever tried to read the scriptures on their own.  For those who approach the Bible, especially the New Testament, without much religious background, it can be an intimidating text to read and understand.

Ronald Allen, a professor at Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis, tries to offer an encouraging introduction in Reading the New Testament for the First Time.  Clearly he believes that some people, at least in the American culture, will read the New Testament out of curiosity and might appreciate some help in understanding the ancient writings.

Personally, I find it rather odd to imagine there is much market for this book.  While I'm sure there are people who would like to read the New Testament without pushy church folks scrambling to get them to join their congregations or tell them exactly what they're supposed to believe, I can't imagine them reaching for this book.  Maybe they might seek out some form of The Bible for Dummies, but probably not a book from a religious publisher.

This is just as well.  Whatever Reading the New Testament for the First Time might be, it is not a book for first-time readers of the Bible.  It starts off reasonably well, with a brief and inviting introduction followed by a chapter explaining what a reader will encounter in the New Testaments (divisions into books, chapters, and verses; kinds of writings; how the New Testament was transmitted from ancient times to the present).  After this, though, it quickly develops into a book that will likely confuse a new reader more completely than trying to read Matthew 1 in the King James Version.

Frankly, this was surprising, as I know that Allen has an excellent reputation for good teaching and writing.  (Also, my colleagues who know him tell me he is a genuinely kind person.)  But as a pastor, I found his approach consistently baffling, raising issues that seem mostly tangential, especially for first-time readers, and overlooking helpful context (maybe to keep the book short?) all too often.  Worse, although Allen claims to write in a conversational way, "avoiding technical language," too often he seems more worried about colleagues criticizing him for oversimplification than offering clear (if oversimplified) entry points for new readers.

This is most apparent in Allen's persistent talk about "the Realm of God," in place of the Kingdom of God.  While there are certain reasons to appreciate an attempt to use non-gendered language, and while it is also clear that American readers have little understanding of what a kingdom is, I find it inconceivable that this is the time and place for such language adjustment.  If we are trying to make someone comfortable reading the New Testament for the first time, it is important to use the actual words they will find in their reading, especially something so often mentioned as the Kingdom of God.  Allen's unwillingness to adjust his preferred language to meet his readers where they are is troubling; worse, this unwillingness furthers the presumed first-time reader's assumption that the New Testament might be too challenging to even begin.

Allen's ill-conceived intended audience makes Reading the New Testament for the First Time unhelpful for another group that seems more likely to purchase such a book -- a church study group seeking some friendly help in learning to read the Bible better.  Most such readers would decide the book is not for them in the first chapter that explains things they already know; few would likely make it beyond chapter 2, which includes one of the oddest synopses of the Hebrew Scriptures that I have ever encountered.

Unfortunately, this book is a maddening, disheartening mess.  While it is clear that Allen knows his subject matter, too often he has no real audience to share that knowledge with.  He goes from defining seminary to asking his reader "to take a moment and write down what you think was at the core of Jesus' message" before beginning his introduction to the story of Jesus.  If someone is looking for help in reading the New Testament for the first time, he or she is unlikely to find much here.