ABSTRACT
This chapter contains questions formulated with the aim of facilitating close reading and engagement with major exegetical, theological, and historical issues raised by the New Testament texts. Since the rise of modern biblical criticism in the seventeenth century, scholars have tended to regard as "the right questions" those that seek to clarify what is often referred to as "the world behind the text". This phrase refers to the real-world circumstances that contributed to the composition of the texts. The "world of the text" refers to the literary, aesthetic, or structural characteristics of the author's work, with minimal concern for "the world behind the text". This approach usually applies to narrative works such as the gospels, with analysis of plot and character, but it also applies to writings with rhetorical features such as the speeches in the Acts of the Apostles or the letters of Peter and John.
