following jesus christ -- a book review

John Goodrich and Mark Strauss have edited one of the most important collections of essays about discipleship in the New Testament:  Following Jesus Christ: The New Testament Message of Discipleship for Today.  Bringing together 21 contributors, this volume of around 350 pages and 20 essays provides a clear, thorough biblical picture of the nature of discipleship to Jesus Christ in the world.  17 of the chapters explore the message of discipleship in each of the major New Testament writers/books, and it is written for pastors, seminary students and advanced college classes in mind.

The material here is comprehensive, but in an accessible way.  Not one of the chapters is overwhelming, but each is as complete as one might expect from a scholarly work such as this.  For example, readers will encounter some occasional discussions about the Greek text, but not in a way that makes the work inaccessible to lay readers. 

I only wish Part 2 -- "Discipleship Today" -- had been given a more thorough treatment.  But that may well work into a second, subsequent volume.

I cannot too highly recommend this book!
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I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review here.