There is no denying, writes Allen Verhey, that churches today are called to discern the shape and style of life "worth of the gospel of Christ" in the twentieth century. Even in the face of changing situations and new moral problems to address, the contemporary church stands self-consciously in a tradition of which the New testament is a normative part.

In this major new study of New Testament ethics, Verhey examines first of all the ethic of Jesus, for it is there that the tradition begins. He then analyzes the different forms in which the early church handed down the memory of Jesus' words and deeds in the development of a moral tradition. Next he deals with that tradition as it came to canonical expression in the New Testament writings.

In the last part of the book Verhey focuses on the use of the New Testament in the continuing moral tradition of the church, surveying proposals for the use of Scripture, identifying the critical methodological questions, and defending a "modest proposal" for the use of Scripture.