This volume examines and outlines the Systemic Functional Linguistic (SFL) model of discourse analysis and its relationship to New Testament Greek. The book reflects upon how SFL has grown as a field since it was introduced to New Testament Greek studies by Stanley E. Porter in the 1980s.

The first part introduces basic concepts regarding discourse analysis and the major approaches to discourse analysis within New Testament studies. The second part provides a detailed exploration of discourse analysis in terms of the textual metafunction, beginning with an introduction to the architecture of language within SFL, before exploring several individual elements within it. By focusing upon these individual components - in particular, theme and information structure, markedness and prominence, and coherence and cohesive harmony - Porter and O'Donnell introduce and exemplify the major resources of the textual metafunction.