The first part engages in an actual theology of the New Testament in the
context of early Christianity. Michael Bird argues for the possibility
of a New Testament theology, identifies the relationship between a text
and its community in the construction of a theology, and sets forth the
methodological approach for the study. He looks at the challenges to New
Testament Theology and questions their assumptions. Then he gives an
overview of the theology of the New Testament where the texts are
sometimes grouped by a common socio-religious context in early
Christianity.
The second part engages the problem of unity and diversity in the New
Testament. Bird argues for the abandonment of the terms 'unity' and
'diversity'. and in their place he advocates 'complexity' and
'accordance'. He looks at the problem of finding a centre or centres to
a New Testament and surveys proposed centres. Then he gives explicit
examples of complexity related to a number of subjects, and of
theological accordance in the New Testament. Bird identifies the actual
central nodes (fulcrum) of a New Testament theology, and then
demonstrates the relative homogeneity of the early Christian movement
and thus the possibility of a theology of early Christianity.
