ABSTRACT
N. T. Wright's The New Testament and the People of God explores how a knowledge of the beliefs of Jews living in the first century enables modern readers to better understand several of the key subjects addressed in the New Testament. Wright argues that a proper understanding of the New Testament writers rests on the common Jewish assumptions of the time. The New Testament and the People of God Wright reveals the religious world of the first century and so gives scholars a key to the worldview of the writers of the New Testament. While few of Wright's key ideas are entirely original or altogether unique, his work has nonetheless received widespread acclaim for its treatment of first-century Judaism and how its beliefs may have influenced early Christians. Wright certainly acknowledges the diversity, but many of his critics have suggested that he sometimes overlooks references in the primary sources in order to emphasize only particular aspects of first-century Jewish life.
