New Testament theology

New Testament theology (NTT) is the branch of biblical theology that concerns the study and interpretation of the New Testament (NT). It seeks to explain the meaning of NT texts in their own grammatical, historical and cultural terms. It is separate from dogmatic theology and systematic theology. It is related but distinct from historical theology.

There are two main approaches to NTT. The first is reconstructing the theology of the NT writers. The second approach is to offer a systematic presentation of NT teaching. Frank Thielman uses a "canonical and synthetic approach" that addresses each NT book separately or canonically but also includes thematic or synthetic summaries.

1700s–1914
In the 17th century, attempts to prove that Protestant dogmatic theology was based in the Bible were described as biblical theology. These early works explained biblical texts according to standard outlines used in systematic theology. In the 1770s, Johann Salomo Semler argued that biblical theology needed to be separated from dogmatic theology.

Johann Philipp Gabler's 1787 lecture "On the Proper Distinction Between Biblical and Dogmatic Theology" is considered the beginning of modern biblical theology. Gabler believed the Bible was "the one clear source from which all true knowledge of the Christian religion is drawn". For Gabler, dogmatic theology must be based on a biblical theology that is "pure and unmixed with foreign elements". Gabler identified two tasks for biblical theology. The first task was to provide an accurate historical description of the ideas found in the Bible. He argued that the interpretation of biblical texts needed to be informed by the language and customs of the relevant historical period. Significantly, Gabler did not assume that the OT and NT possessed a uniformity in beliefs. Gabler's second task was to compare biblical ideas with each other to discover universal scriptural truths on which dogmatic theology could be based. While scholars took up Gabler's first task, his second task was forgotten. According to biblical scholar Frank Matera, "Instead of becoming a servant of dogmatic theology, biblical theology soon became its rival."

George Lorenz Bauer's four-volume theology published 1800–1802 marked the emergence of NTT as an independent discipline. In 1864, Ferdinand Christian Baur set forth the controversial view that early Christian beliefs were shaped by a struggle between Gentile and Jewish Christianity. Other important works of NTT were written by Bernhard Weiss (1868), Willibald Beyschlag (1891–1892), and Heinrich Julius Holtzmann (1897). Weiss and Holtzmann produced "comprehensive handbooks of NT theology that meticulously examined the doctrinal systems (Lehrbegriffe) of the various NT writers."

In his 1897 essay "The Task and Methods of 'New Testament Theology, William Wrede criticized the work of Weiss and Holtzmann and called for a history of religions approach to NTT. This would not be limited to the biblical canon but would account for all early Christian literature. Wrede believed the field should be renamed "history of early Christian religion and theology" and that it should explain "what was believed, thought, taught, hoped, required, and striven for in the earliest period of Christianity; not what certain writings say about faith, doctrine, hope, etc." (emphasis in original). Wrede's project was never completed; although, Johannes Weiss came close with his unfinished Earliest Christianity: A History of the Period A.D. 30–150, originally published in 1914.

1914–1990
After World War I, the rise of dialectical theology led to a renewed interest in the theological elements of the NT. The most important work of this era was Rudolf Bultmann's Theology of the New Testament, originally published in 1948. Bultmann's work was based on three concepts. First, the primary topic of NTT is the kerygma (proclamation) about Jesus Christ. Second, this kerygma must be interpreted existentially in order to understand the human condition. Third, Bultmann rejects salvation history.

Bultmann's interpretation was shaped by form criticism, according to which the authors of the synoptic gospels mainly collected and compiled traditions about Jesus. These traditions, for the most part, were not historically authentic. While the historical Jesus was a Jewish rabbi and end-time prophet, the Christian church later proclaimed him to be messiah and lord after the Easter event. This is why Bultmann can say, "The message of Jesus is a presupposition for the theology of the New Testament rather than a part of that theology itself... Christian faith did not exist until there was a Christian kerygma; i.e., a kerygma proclaiming Jesus Christ—specifically Jesus Christ the Crucified and Risen One—to be God’s eschatological act of salvation". Bultmann divided early Christianity into a Palestinian church and a syncretistic Hellenistic church, which included Paul and the Johannine tradition. Bultmann's Theology of the New Testament focuses mainly on Pauline and Johannine theology, which he viewed as deeply influenced by Gnosticism.

NT professor C. Kavin Rowe describes the 50 years after Bultmann as a "sterile" phase in the NTT field. Other NT theologies were written, but these failed to match Bultmann's impact.

Joachim Jeremias presented an alternative to Bultmann in his 1971 NT theology. Utilizing the criterion of dissimilarity and other techniques, Jeremias concludes in contrast to Bultmann's form criticism that "[i]n the synoptic tradition it is the inauthenticity, and not the authenticity, of the sayings of Jesus that must be demonstrated". For Jeremias, the message and work of the historical Jesus is inseparable from the church's post-Easter proclamation. In the words of Peter Stuhlmacher:

"Jeremias presents us with a historically argued reversal of Bultmann’s kerygma theology: the decisive ground of faith is not found for the first time in the apostolic preaching of the crucified and risen Christ, but already in Jesus's word and work, as reliably attested in the Synoptic Gospels."

French theologian Oscar Cullmann's Salvation in History (1965) was well received among Catholic exegetes, the ecumenical world, and OT scholars. Cullmann traces salvation history to the history of Israel in the OT and sees in all the NT writings an inaugurated eschatology: salvation is already accomplished in Jesus' life, death, and resurrection, but it is not yet consummated. This consummation awaits the second coming of Christ, the final judgment, and the ultimate establishment of the kingdom of God.

Important NT theologies produced in the English-speaking world included Alan Richardson (1958), George Eldon Ladd (1974), Donald Guthrie (1981), Leon Morris (1986).

1990–2000s
NT professor C. Kavin Rowe wrote in 2006 that the field of NTT had experienced a "revival" in recent years. Georg Strecker (1996) and Joachim Gnilka (1994) continue in the Bultmannian tradition. Both highlight the NT's theological diversity in ways that Rowe believes "render questionable its existence as a collection."

Other German scholars have moved beyond Bultmann. Reviewing the work of German scholars Ferdinand Hahn (2001, 2005), Ulrich Wilckins (2002–2005), and Peter Stuhlmacher (1991, 1999), Rowe writes:

"In multiple and important ways—and regardless of their many differences—their theologies converge to provide a coherent alternative to the larger Bultmannian paradigm in NTT. Where Bultmann famously side-stepped the significance of the OT, Hahn, Wilckens, and Stuhlmacher all affirm the inseparability of the Old from the New. Where Bultmann refused the historical Jesus a part in the theology of the NT, Hahn, Wilckens, and Stuhlmacher press for the necessity of Jesus' earthly life as an essential ingredient of NTT. Where Bultmann saw deep and irreconcilable theological contradiction within the NT (the radical divergences between Paul/John and Frühkatholizismus [Early Catholicism], for example), Hahn, Wilckens, and Stuhlmacher argue for a discernible theological unity amidst the obvious and real diversity of the NT writings. And, finally, where Bultmann's existential interpretation clearly placed the accent on theological anthropology (human 'self-understanding'), Hahn, Wilckens, and Stuhlmacher all insist on the centrality of theology proper: the NT is first of all about God."

William Wrede's ideas continue to have influence among scholars, including Heikki Räisänen (1990), Klaus Berger (1994), Walter Schmithals (1994), and Gerd Theissen (1999).