Most readers assume the twenty-seven-book New Testament arrived intact and unquestioned. The history is far messier. Drawing on canon history, the Synoptic Problem, and a close comparison of the Gospels, this book argues that the earliest and most reliable witness to Jesus and the apostolic gospel is preserved in Luke-Acts and the letters of Paul, and that a leaner, earlier core stands behind the canon we received.
Rigorous yet readable, The Case for the Core New Testament is written for students of scripture, pastors, and serious readers who want to follow the evidence rather than inherited assumptions. Read alongside its companion volume, The Core New Testament, it offers a complete picture: the recovered text, and the case that justifies it.
The Case for the Core New Testament is the scholarly companion to The Core New Testament, a minimalist edition of New Testament scripture centered on the writings of Luke and Paul. Where the companion volume presents the text, this book makes the argument for it.
