title: Invitation to the New Testament: Participant Book (A Short-term DISCIPLE Bible Study)
author: David A. deSilva
description: <b>David A. deSilva</b> (Ph.D., Emory University) is Trustees' Distinguished Professor of New Testament and Greek at Ashland Theological Seminary in Ohio and an ordained elder in the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church. He is the author of over twenty books, including <i>The Jewish Teachers of Jesus, James, and Jude: What Earliest Christianity Learned From the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha</i> (2012), <i>Global Readings: A Sri Lankan Commentary on Paul's Letter to the Galatians</i> (2011), <i>Seeing Things John's Way: The Rhetoric of the Book of Revelation</i> (2009), <i>An Introduction to the New Testament: Contexts, Methods & Ministry Formation </i>(2004), <i>Introducing the Apocrypha: Message, Context, and Significance</i> (2002), <i>Perseverance in Gratitude: A Socio-rhetorical Commentary on the Epistle "to the Hebrews"</i> (2000), and <i>Honor, Patronage, Kinship & Purity: Unlocking New Testament Culture</i> (2000), as well as over one hundred journal articles and contributions to reference works and collections of essays.<br><br><b>Emerson Powery</b> (Ph.D., Duke University) is Professor of New Testament at Messiah College. He is the author of <i>Jesus Reads Scripture: The Function of Jesus' Use of Scripture in the Synoptic Gospels</i> (2003) and <i>Mark: Immersion Bible Studies</i> (2011). He also served as host for the revised video series accompanying United Methodist Publishing House's <i>DISCIPLE I</i> curriculum.
zlib_text: The Bible
  A Beginner’s Guide
  “With her characteristic clarity and ability to make biblical
  scholarship accessible to all, Paula Gooder here provides a
  valuable overview of key issues that affect how one should
  approach the Bible.”
  Christine Joynes – Director, Centre for Reception History of
  the Bible, University of Oxford, UK
  “Gooder is a rare combination of distinguished scholar and
  superb communicator. Here, she combines these gifts to
  outstanding effect. Her learning is worn very lightly indeed.
  Highly recommended.”
  Paul Joyce – Samuel Davidson Professor of Old
  Testament/Hebrew Bible, King’s College London, UK
  “In a clear, thoughtful and accessible way, this book succeeds
  in introducing the interested reader to the many complexities
  connected with the Bible, its history, reception and
  interpretation, from antiquity to the present day.”
  James Carleton Paget – Senior Lecturer in New Testament
  Studies, University of Cambridge, UK
  “A wonderful balance. Very engaging and remarkably
  compl