Why another book on New Testament background, particularly a collection of essays written chiefly for a Latter-day Saint audience? Do we not already possess two such volumes, How the New Testament Came to Be, edited by Kent P. Jackson and Frank F. Judd Jr. (2006), and New Testament History, Culture, and Society, edited by Lincoln H. Blumell (2019)?1
The answer comes in three parts. First, this volume establishes a foundation for readers that stands at the head of the massive, years-long effort of this series. Because of the Brigham Young University New Testament Commentary’s thorough approach, these introductory articles aid the reader in understanding how each volume in the series engages with the ancient world and the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. Not all topics treated in the prior publications match those dealt with in this volume. Why not? We come back to the Commentary project. Because of its character, it needs a guiding volume to begin exploration of questions and events that the Commentary series will illuminate—questions and events that do not typically require explanation apart from an extensive commentary. Second, we judge that teachers and students who begin to read the studies published in this tome will come upon new, fresh ways of reading and thinking about scripture. They will discover that historical approaches and topics that illuminate the nature and origin of the Greek texts bear wondrous fruit in unexpected ways. Third, they will find answers to questions specific to a Latter-day Saint reading of the New Testament, such as what are effective approaches to the King James Version for English readers, and how might the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible aid us when we come to scriptures that differ from our own?
Of course, books like this one don’t just fall together. Unseen but steady work lies behind each contribution as well as beneath this entire collection of intriguing, instructive, and clarifying articles. At the top of any list stand two organizations—the generous people at the John A. Widtsoe Foundation and the team at BYU Studies. The Widtsoe Foundation, as it is called, provides the generous financial support that has brought one volume after another in the Commentary series to publication. On the BYU Studies side, without the committed assistance of Editor in Chief John W. Welch and his successor, Steven C. Harper, this volume would still be a mere idea enhanced by the existence of a few disparate studies. Shouldering the huge load of bringing this volume to light as a product that reflects consistency in its pages based on long-honed skills were Marny K. Parkin and Katie Lewis, each of whose handprints are visible in the final product. And of course, there is the cluster of student assistants whose abilities and efforts have ensured a high-quality presentation in the accompanying pages. Surrounding all these BYU Studies people, providing ongoing and timely supervision and support, were Melanie von Bose and Derek Gurr. Our deepest heartfelt thanks go to each and all of them.
1. Kent P. Jackson and Frank F. Judd Jr., eds., How the New Testament Came to Be: The Thirty-fifth Annual Sidney B. Sperry Symposium (Provo, Utah: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2006); Lincoln H. Blumell, ed., New Testament History, Culture, and Society: A Background to the Texts of the New Testament (Provo, Utah: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2019).
