Co-author Michael Bird takes us through the text he wrote with N.T. Wright, this episode focusing on the practical application of the New Testament to 21st-century life. What does an understanding of its historical context do to help us live out the New Testament? Mike demonstrates the divisions between the Old Testament and the New, explains how it alters our world view as believers and draws out the mission implications from life in the 1st century.

On the chopping block are important questions like,

• Isn't the New Testament ultimately a revision of the Old Testament - the followers of God used to do things that way, now we do them this way?
• What does reading the New Testament do to our worldview?
• How does understanding the New Testament affect our pilgrimage to Heaven - are we in fact 'going' anywhere?

You can buy a copy of The New Testament In Its World here.

If you're following along with The New Testament In Its World, this episode covers key issues in Part IX: Living the story of the New Testament:

1. Bringing it all together
2. Making the New Testament matter for today

Co-author Michael Bird takes us through the text he wrote with N.T. Wright, this episode focusing on the Catholic Letters - the collection of epistles following Paul's letters that embrace the church at large and offer a balance to some of the Apostle's more controversial teaching. In addition, Mike shows how these letters provide us a more detailed view of the world in which the New Testament was written.

On the chopping block are important questions like,

• Why is it important that we have other authors in the New Testament?
• What is the difference in the audience that Paul and the Catholic Letters address?
• Is there a sense in which the Catholic Letters balance out the Letters of Paul?

You can buy a copy of The New Testament In Its World here.

If you're following along with The New Testament In Its World, this episode covers key issues in Part VII: The Early Christians and the Mission of God:

1. The canonical function of the Catholic Epistles

Co-author Michael Bird takes us through the text he wrote with N.T. Wright, this episode focusing on how the Gospels came together. The piecing together of the four biographies of Jesus' life has been a puzzle that has tested historians for centuries. Mike teases apart the layers of contribution to show us not only the sources we didn't suspect but the reliability of the works as a whole. 

On the chopping block are important questions like,

• Mark's Gospel is the earliest in the Bible - but is it the earliest Gospel?
• What part did the 'Jesus tradition' play in the Gospels coming together?
• Why does John's Gospel stand apart as an account of Jesus' life?

You can buy a copy of The New Testament In Its World here.

If you're following along with The New Testament In Its World, this episode covers key issues in Part VI: The Gospels and the Story of God:

1. The Gospel according to Mark
2. The Gospel according to Matthew
3. The Gospel according to Luke and the Acts of the Apostles
4. The Gospel according to John
5. The Making of the Gospels

Co-author Michael Bird takes us through the text he wrote with N.T. Wright, this episode examining the historical figure of the Apostle Paul, a figure who has come to represent the most hard-line aspects of the Christian faith. 

On the chopping block are important questions like,

• What was Paul's significance to the early church?
• Where does the controversy emerge in his work?
• How does Paul's work lead us to rethink God?

You can buy a copy of The New Testament In Its World here.

If you're following along with The New Testament In Its World, this episode covers key issues in Part V: Paul and the Faithfulness of God:

1. The Story of Paul's Life and Ministry
2. A Primer on Pauline Theology

Co-author Michael Bird takes us through the text he wrote with N.T. Wright, this episode examining the identity of Jesus as an historical figure. 

On the chopping block are important questions like,

• Is there a difference between studying the Jesus of the Bible and the Historical Jesus?
• Who did Jesus think he was?
• Did Jesus ever claim to be God?

You can buy a copy of The New Testament In Its World here.

If you're following along with The New Testament In Its World, this episode covers key issues in Part II: The World of Jesus and the Early Church,  and Part III: Jesus and the Victory of God:

1. The Jewish context of Jesus and the Early Church
2. The Greco-Roman context of the Early Church
3. The Study of the Historical Jesus
4. Who did Jesus think he was?

Co-author Michael Bird takes us through the text he wrote with N.T. Wright, this episode examining the importance of an historical approach to the New Testament. 

On the chopping block are important questions like,

• How does Christianity differ from most other religions when it comes to history?
• Is there a difference between Christian history and 'real' history?
• In a post-modern world, it is even possible to understand what the authors were trying to say?

You can buy a copy of The New Testament In Its World here.

If you're following along with The New Testament In Its World, this episode covers key issues in Part I: Reading The New Testament:

1. Beginning Study of the New Testament
2. The New Testament as History
3. The New Testament as Literature