No other book of the New Testament has attracted as much attention from commentators as the Fourth Gospel. It has stirred minds, hearts, and imaginations from Christianity's earliest days. In The Gospel of John, Francis Moloney unfolds the identifiable "point of view" of this unique Gospel narrative and offers readers, heirs to its rich and widely varied interpretative traditions, relevance for their lives today. The Gospel of John's significance for Christianity has been obvious from the time of Irenaeus. It was also fundamental in the emergence of Christian theology, especially in the trinitarian and christological debates that produced the great ecumenical Councils, from Nicaea to Chalcedon. What sets this commentary on the Fourth Gospel apart from others is Moloney's particular attention to the narrative design of the Gospel story. He traces the impact the Johannine form of the Jesus story has made on readers and explicates the way in which the author has told the story of Jesus. Through this he demonstrates how the Gospel story articulates a coherent theology, christology, and ecclesiology.

With clarity and verve, Mark Allen Powell introduces the beginning student to the contents and structure of the Gospels, their distinctive characteristics, and their major themes. An introductory chapter surveys the political, religious, and social world of the Gospels, methods of approaching early Christian texts, the genre of the Gospels, and the religious character of these writings. This second edition has been updated to take fuller account of different theories regarding the Gospels, with new chapters on the historical Jesus and on gospel literature not included in our New Testament, and with a pleasing new format. Special features include illustrations and more than two dozen special topics.

"Magisterial. . . . A learned, brilliant and enjoyable study."—Géza Vermès, Times Literary Supplement In this exciting book, Paula Fredriksen explains the variety of New Testament images of Jesus by exploring the ways that the new Christian communities interpreted his mission and message in light of the delay of the Kingdom he had preached. This edition includes an introduction reviews the most recent scholarship on Jesus and its implications for both history and theology. "Brilliant and lucidly written, full of original and fascinating insights."—Reginald H. Fuller, Journal of the American Academy of Religion "This is a first-rate work of a first-rate historian."—James D. Tabor, Journal of Religion "Fredriksen confronts her documents—principally the writings of the New Testament—as an archaeologist would an especially rich complex site. With great care she distinguishes the literary images from historical fact. As she does so, she explains the images of Jesus in terms of the strategies and purposes of the writers Paul, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John."—Thomas D’Evelyn, Christian Science Monitor

An Introduction to the Gospels is designed to be a textbook for courses on the Gospels, for use at the college and beginning seminary level. Reflecting the most recent scholarship and written in an accessible style, the volume covers all four of the Gospels, including a survey of "the world of the Gospels". The book opens with a discussion of the origin, development, and interrelationships of the Four Gospels. After a chapter-length treatment of each canonical Gospel and the non-canonical Gospels, the work concludes with a discussion of the "historical Jesus" debate. In An Introduction to the Gospels, Mitchell G. Reddish: - provides a solid, convenient survey of the Gospels in an accessible textbook format - presents up-to-date scholarship in a field that has been dominated by older texts - gives a balanced presentation of the content of the Gospels

After two millennia, Jesus remains as fascinating and compelling a figure as ever, not only for Christian communities but also for countless others in diverse contemporary cultures. In this fresh introduction to Jesus and the Gospels, prominent scholar John T. Carroll offers a thoughtful reading of the four Gospels, paying close attention to narrative structure and rhetorical strategies, with an appreciation of the contexts that shaped and continue to shape their interpretation. Informed by the best recent scholarship, Carroll's clear and accessible presentation examines the connections between the Gospels and contemporary life and the challenges these narratives might present to twenty-first century readers. Introductory students will appreciate the use of call-out boxes throughout the book that highlight important points and themes. This engaging volume will introduce Jesus and the Gospels to a whole new generation of readers in the culturally and religiously plural world of today. Instructor and Student Resources Available! Visit jesusandthegospels.wjkbooks.com to find resources for instructors, including a sample syllabus; questions for study, reflection, and discussion; and maps and images that can be incorporated into presentation materials. In addition to teaching materials, resources for students include chapter summaries, flash cards, study questions, and fast facts.

Examines "christology's"--Or evaluations of Jesus' identity and divinity--based upon his words, his public ministry, and the Resurrection.

In this book Charles Puskas and David Crump provide a solid, student-friendly introduction to the four Gospels and the book of Acts. Leading students through the texts, highlighting the various literary devices and themes, and pointing out the historical and cultural contexts, An Introduction to the Gospels and Acts is a fruitful collaboration between a mainline scholar (Puskas) and a more evangelical scholar (Crump), who clearly articulate their own opinions while charitably engaging a wide spectrum of scholarship. The coverage of the Gospels and Acts throughout is clear, comprehensive, and well documented. Maps, charts, outlines, and tables round out the wealth of information offered here. Evenhanded and nonpolemical, this text will be valuable both for students with a previous foundation of biblical study and for those with little or no Bible background.

"Jesus and the Gospels" is one of the most popular religion courses at colleges, and it is required at many seminaries and divinity schools. This textbook, written by an award-winning educator, is designed for a semester-long course in both these settings. Moreover, it could be used as a supplementary text in courses on christology, the historical Jesus, New Testament literature, and the Bible. Murphy will provide an introduction to the gospels that does justice to the full range of modern critical methods and insights. He will discuss the implications of these methods for how we understand the nature of the gospels and how we can read them today. The chapters will sketch the portrait of Jesus that emerges from each gospel, and then examine the "canonical" view of Jesus by comparing and contrasting these pictures, as well as the ones that emerge from the non-canonical gospels and from the modern quest for the historical Jesus. Chapter list: Introduction, Theological and Historical Backgrounds; Chapter 1, What is a Gospel? Chapter 2, History of Critical Methods for Gospel Study; Chapter 3, The Gospel of Mark; Chapter 4, Q; Chapter 5, Matthew; Chapter 6, Luke; Chapter 7, John; Chapter 8, Other Gospels (Gospel of Thomas, Infancy Gospels, other Apocryphal Gospels); Chapter 8, Christian Interpretations of Jesus; Chapter 9, The Historical Jesus; Chapter 10, Conclusion; Glossary; Further Reading; Notes; Subject Index. (Charts, sidebars, illustrations, and maps.)

This textbook on how to read the Gospels well can stand on its own as a guide to reading this New Testament genre as Scripture. It is also ideally suited to serve as a supplemental text to more conventional textbooks that discuss each Gospel systematically. Most textbooks tend to introduce students to historical-critical concerns but may be less adequate for showing how the Gospel narratives, read as Scripture within the canonical framework of the entire New Testament and the whole Bible, yield material for theological reflection and moral edification. Pennington neither dismisses nor duplicates the results of current historical-critical work on the Gospels as historical sources. Rather, he offers critically aware and hermeneutically intelligent instruction in reading the Gospels in order to hear their witness to Christ in a way that supports Christian application and proclamation.

This second edition of Jesus and the Gospels prepares readers for an intensive study of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and the events they narrate. Craig Blomberg considers the historical context of the Gospels and sheds light on the confusing interpretations brought forth over the last two centuries. The original 1997 book won a Gold Medallion Award from the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association, and this updated version, factoring in new scholarship, debate, critical methods, and the ongoing quest of the historical Jesus, ensures the work will remain a top tool for exploring the life of Christ through the first four books of the New Testament.