1st Edition

The Puzzle of the Gospels

By Peter Vardy, Mary E. Mills Copyright 1995
    256 Pages
    by Routledge

    256 Pages
    by Routledge

    First Published in 2015. The gospels tell a story. There are many types of story ranging from fiction through biographies to attempts at historical accounts. Even so-called 'true' stories will be affected by the perception of the writer. It is impossible to present any book without taking the viewpoint of the author into account - which is one reason why this book will be devoting considerable time to understanding the purpose and intention of the individual gospel writers. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John present different accounts of the life and death of Jesus of Nazareth, as one might expect from four people who, although they use some common material, nevertheless present this material in distinctive ways. This book will be concerned with helping you, the reader, to understand the gospel stories and how they came to be written; to bring to light the implicit references that were being made of which modern readers may be unaware; and also to consider the issue of the truth of the stories.

    Part 1 Introduction; Chapter 1 Two Stories; Part 2 The Individual Gospels; Chapter 2 The Core Ideas in the Gospels; Chapter 3 The Gospel Story of Matthew; Chapter 4 The Gospel Story of Mark; Chapter 5 The Gospel Story of Luke; Chapter 6 The Gospel Story of John; Part 3 Background and Analytic Tools; Chapter 7 Analysing the Gospel Books; Chapter 8 The Search for the Historical Jesus; Chapter 9 The Four and Forty Gospels; Chapter 10 Dissecting the Evidence; Chapter 11 The Synoptic Tradition; Chapter 12 The Johannine Tradition; Part 4 Some Themes; Chapter 13 The Miracle Stories; Chapter 14 The Parables of Jesus; Chapter 15 Women in the Gospels; Chapter 16 Jesus, Community and Church; Part 5 The Question of Truth; Chapter 17 Biblical Language and Truth; Chapter 18 God and Jesus; Chapter 19 Resurrection; Chapter 20 The Significance of Jesus; Chapter 21 Jesus’ Life and Message; Chapter 22 The Last Week; Chapter 23 Bringing the Threads Together; post Postscript;

    Biography

    Peter Vardy, Mary Mills