God in the New Testament

The New Testament writers construct God as active in the world and among human beings. These pictures of God are more functional than ontological, concerned with God's activity rather than pondering God's being. In this insightful book Warren Carter offers both a descriptive and critical look at key "snapshots" depicting God-at-work in the New Testament and asks readers to contend with the implications of these God-portraits for life in the world today. Rather than offering a single picture of God, Carter helps readers discover the power of engaging the sometimes competing images of God-at-work in the New Testament. This critical tension can lead to a more discerning understanding of what God is up to in the world today and how individuals and communities are called to live in light of God's good news in Jesus Christ. Rarely does one exclaim, "This is a real page-turner!" when describing a book on the New Testament--but I must say it. With his characteristic concision and clarity, not to mention wit and conversational style, Carter leads us on a tour of "God-at-Work" in fifteen closely-read texts. What claims do the various texts make about God? What questions or "red flags" do these texts raise? What effect do or should these texts have upon us as readers today? Carter intrepidly takes up some of the more challenging and cryptic NT texts and asks aloud many of the uncomfortable questions we've wondered about but might not have voiced so pointedly. He does not provide tidy answers, but his approach entices us not to give up, but rather to dive even deeper into the texts, their world, and ours. In reading this book, I was variously educated, entertained, challenged, and even moved. -Jaime Clark-Soles Professor of New Testament and Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor, Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas