A classic kind of introduction to the New Testament, Schnelle's book presents full and up-to-date information about the individual writings with respect to date, author, place of writing, structure of the document, current scholarship, and themes and theological aims.

The book, intended to supersede W. G. Kummel's introduction, informs the reader of all the important historical issues and describes the range of scholarly opinion and literature, preparing the reader to pass judgment. After providing an overview of the development of the New Testament canon, Schnelle then takes up, in turn, the letters of Paul, the Synoptic Gospels (including Q), Acts, the Deutero-Paulines, the Catholic letters, the Gospel of John, and Revelation. With extensive anglicized bibliographies.