The Story Retold:
A Biblical-Theological Introduction
to the New Testament
by G. K. Beale, Benjamin L. Gladd
DETAILS:
Publisher: IVP Academic
Publication Date: February 24, 2020
Format: Hardcover
Length: 490 pg.
Read Date: January 2-August 14, 2022
What’s The Story Retold About?
From the Publisher’s Website:
New Testament introductions fall into two categories: those that emphasize the history behind the text through discussions of authorship, dating, and audience, and those that explore the content of the text itself. Few introductions weave the Old Testament into their discussions, and fewer still rely on the grand narrative of the Old Testament.
But the New Testament was not written within a vacuum. Rather, it stands in continuity with the Old Testament. Israel’s story is the church’s story.
In The Story Retold, G. K. Beale and Benjamin L. Gladd explore each New Testament book in light of the broad history of redemption, emphasizing the biblical-theological themes of each New Testament book. Their distinctive approach encourages readers to read the New Testament in light of the Old, not as a new story but as a story retold.
As an NT Introduction
After three chapters of introductory material: “The Story Line of the Bible,” “The Use of the Old Testament in the New,” and “Introduction to the Gospels” (all pretty self-explanatory), we get a chapter on each book of the New Testament (with some chapters combining multiple books—e.g., The Pastoral Epistles).
Like most NT Introductions (as the description above says), Beale and Gladd discuss authorship, dating, and so on, with a good outline and overview of the book. Some of the ways they phrase things, or organize the material are helpful and unique—but on the whole, they’re helpful and pretty much what you get in every NT Introduction out there.
This isn’t a good or a bad thing, it’s simply saying that on the basics this is a pretty good Introduction.
The Little Something Extra in Each Chapter
The thing that separates this from similar works is the way that the authors tie the particular Biblical book into the overall storyline of the Bible. By focusing on the Biblical Theological/Redemptive Historical themes of the books—specifically grounding them in one or more Old Testament books about the same themes, it helps the reader to deal with, wrestle with, and (frequently) review the use of the OT by the NT in order to further cement and to expand the reader’s understanding of how the Bible as a whole tells the same story about Jesus Christ and His people.
Some of these sections blew me away—all deepened my understanding of the various books. Not just the NT, but seeing how the OT is used by the apostles helps understand those books/passages.
Format
This was produced as a textbook and it’s nice to read one of these again—I haven’t since my undergrad days. It’s a heavy tome, with thick, glossy paper and a lot of pictures. Sure, it’s a bit difficult to curl up with to read—but you can’t help but feel that it’s going to last for years as you read it.
Also, it’s heavy enough to use as a self-defense device.
The format does make this a pretty spendy book (although cheaper than most textbooks I bought in my undergrad days). But it’s worth the purchase price (as I said, it feels like it’s going to last for years).
So, what did I think about The Story Retold?
This isn’t an overly technical read—I think it could be used by older high school students. But sure, it’s aimed at college/early grad-school students, so go to it with the right expectations.
I really don’t know what to say about it at this point—I spent months reading this thing, it feels as if I should have several more pages of things to say. Basically, if the description sounds good to you, it’s going to deliver exactly what it promised.
It’s not what most people think of as devotional material—but it worked for me as such. This is definitely one of the better and more useful books I read this year. It’s also going to serve well as a reference book. Whether you dip in and out or read cover-to-cover, The Story Retold is worth its weight.
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