"This volume is written for anyone who, for watever reason, is drawn to the New Testament. it is also for those who are not so drawn. It is written out of the conviction that good readers need to be formed. Anyone can read the Bible. No particular level of education is required. To appreciate it fully, however, requires some kind of knowledge, some reading habits, and suspicions as well as fruitful prejudices. Readers need to learn what to look for in stories that may seem distant and strange. The long tradition of reading the scriptures in the church is not the enemy in such an enterprise, but audiences change, and the Bible must be heard and wrestled with in each new situation." Back cover.