The New Testament - Its Background Growth and Content

In a crowded and competitive field, Bruce Metzger's The New Testament: Its Background Growth and Content is my tried and trusted introduction of preference.  Metzger consistently garners student enthusiasm, supplying all the information essential to an understanding of the New Testament without saying too much or being too technical.  This third edition includes more than thirty new pictures, chapters on the formation of the New Testament canon, scribes and ancient texts, the history of English Bibles, plus a top-notch glossary of terms, all clearly and cogently presented by America's leading biblical scholar.  -- James R. Edwards