The concise and more pedagogical version of The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings, Fourth Edition, Bart D. Ehrman's A Brief Introduction to the New Testament, Second Edition, is the intriguing story of the early Christian writings - their authors, theirsubject, and their influence. How were they formed? Why were they written? What do they mean? How do they differ? And how did they come to be collected into a canon of Scripture as the New Testament? Presenting challenging material in a way that is both accessible and understandable, Ehrman takes ahistorical approach to these questions and builds his discussion based on context; he situates the writings of the New Testament in the social, cultural, and literary world of the early Roman Empire. His approach is also comparative, emphasizing similarities and differences between the texts.Bringing forth a multitude of perspectives, including those of various scholars in the field, he raises critical issues while also exemplifying the richness and diversity to be found in the study of early Christian literature. Further enhancing the text, Ehrman incorporates time lines, maps, anextensive box program, a comprehensive glossary of over 200 hundred key terms that are also boldfaced at their first appearance in each chapter and conveniently collected at the end of that chapter, and over seventy photos - now in full color throughout.