Includes bibliographical references (pages 189-194) and indexes.

Foreword / George R. Beasley-Murray -- Part I: he literary world of the New Testament -- General considerations -- The Hebrew scriptures -- The Septuagint (LXX) -- The Old Testament Apocrypha -- The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha -- The Dead Sea scrolls -- Greco-Roman literature -- Part II: The Gospels -- Jesus of Nazareth -- The formation of oral tradition -- From oral to written gospel -- The gospel genre -- Summary -- The fourfold gospel collection -- The need for a collection -- The stages of collection -- The authority of the written gospels -- Part III: The Pauline literature -- Paul -- Paul and Greco-Roman literature -- The form of Paul's letters -- The content and context of Paul's letters -- The writing of Paul's letters -- The collection of Paul's letters -- The canonicity of Paul's letters -- Part IV: Other New Testament literature -- The Acts of the Apostles -- The catholic letters -- Part V: The criteria of canonicity -- The authority of Jesus -- Apostolicity -- Usage in the church -- Orthodoxy -- Inspiration -- Excursus: The arrangement of the New Testament books -- Part VI: Writing, copying & transmitting the New Testament manuscripts -- Paleography -- Materials for writing -- The form of books -- Writing New Testament manuscripts -- Transmitting the New Testament -- Part VII: Textual variants & the practice of textual criticism -- Unintentional variations -- Intentional variations -- Evaluating the evidence.

In affirming the divine inspiration of Scripture, we too often forget the human side of the story. The narratives, letters and Apocalypse of our New Testament were shaped by worn pens gripped by calloused, ink-stained fingers. Their authors' ears were more likely assaulted by the urban clatter of busy intersections and bustling markets than attuned to a still small voice. Scrolls that bumped across cobbled Roman roads and pitched through rolling Mediterranean seas found their destination in stuffy, dimly lit, crowded Christian house churches in Corinth or Cenchreae. There they were read aloud and reread, handled and copied, forwarded and collected, studied and treasured. Their ordinary story is true to their extraordinary message: the mystery of the Word that became flesh.

The Making of the New Testament is a textbook study of the origin, collection, copying and canonizing of the New Testament documents. Like shrewd detectives reading the subtle traces of evidence, biblical scholars have studied the trail of clues and pieced together the story of these books.