Introduction to the New Testament, written by Henry C. Thiessen, is an avowedly "conservative" examination of the manifold documents which collectively have come to comprise and support the canon of the New Testament as we have it today. First published in 1943, the work was reprinted and reissued in 1989 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Inc.
By the author's own admission, this work was prepared specifically to contradict the "modern" (or, liberal) theologies --particularly the Formgeschichte of the German schools--which the author perceived as having overtaken and undermined many of the religious institutions of his time. He states, "while the testimony of the apostolic and church Fathers is not infallible, we should put more confidence in it than modern criticism is inclined to do."
Thiessen identifies four principal fields of New Testament study: 1) critical; 2) historical; 3) exegetical; and, 4) theological. Although he defines critical study of the New Testament as "Introduction or Isagogics," Thiessen observes that others have included an assortment of other topics of discussion, such as "grammar, philology, archaeology, geography, hermeneutics, dogma, the history of the translation and interpretation" in their definitions and, hence, in their published works. The present work is primarily concerned with critical studies, which, the reader will ultimately discover, necessarily comes into contact with each of the other three to various degrees.
Additionally, Thiessen identifies three principal groups of critical scholars of the New Testament. The first of these he labels the "Radical" group, which includes scholars such as Bruno Bauer, Pierson, Loman, and who, he maintains, "have been refuted by both liberal and conservative writers and can practically be ignored in New Testament study." The second, the "Liberal" group, includes well-known scholars such as Holtzman, Harnack, Jnlicher, Cadbury, ...