Book Review of The Voices of the New Testament: Invitation to A Biblical Roundtable by Derek Tidball

The Voices of the New Testament: Invitation to A Biblical Roundtable
by Derek Tidball
978-0-8308-5148-5
IVP Academic
Reviewed by Clint Walker

I absolutely loved this book. The Voices of the New Testament attempts to bring biblical writers into dialogue with one another in order to highlight different perspectives on biblical texts, as well as biblical and theological issues. It does not attempt, like some more liberal scholars might try, to have different writers of different texts represent competing views of the message of Christ. Instead, Tidball illustrates how the Biblical witness brings differing voices with differing viewpoints that help us understand the truth about God in a fuller, more unified way.

One example is how the Scripture treats the Sonship of Christ. Some gospels use the term Son of God, while others use the term Son of Man. Hebrews takes the concept in one direction, while the gospel of John takes the understanding of the "Son" in a different direction. Together, when you read the dialogue between these fictional writers, you get a fuller picture of all of Biblical revelation.

This study is also a lot more readable than more pedantic academic works. The dialogical method and narrative structure of the conversations make the theology more readable, and more thought provoking.

This would be a great book for a class looking at themes in biblical history, whether in the church or in a college Bible class.