( 6 reviews )
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Posted: Aug 5 2009
Outdated as can be evidenced by FF Bruce3's canon of scripture. Too much speculation such as most people in Palestine were illiterate when the Jewish religion taught everyone to be literate. Bruce also contradicts this premise concerning the Gentiles in Greco Roman civilisation. Better get a book, such as Guthrie's New Testament introduction for something more objective and illuminating concerning many different views of Synoptic sources.
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Posted: May 13 2008
As one who uses this great resource to teach, I was very happy with Nickle's Second Edition Revised and Expanded version of the Synoptic Gospels. I had been using this book for several years. In 1998, I was asked to teach a course entitled "The Intertestamental Period." While preparing for this course, I realized that this period of history was an important prelude to the time of Christ and the Synoptic Gospels. Following my exposure to this era, I added a brief summary of this material to my Syllabus, whenever I taught the Synoptic Gospels. Nickle's Second Edition contains much of the material and now my students can have the advantage of having this information all in one resource. So, I give this book five stars, without any reservation.
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Posted: Dec 30 2007
Here is a very intelligent sort of survey of the synoptic gospel literature, Matthew, Mark and Luke. At close to 200 pages, this clearly written introduction explains the rise of the "gospel" literature/events, the nature of the gospel literature/formation, the historical/religious background to the gospel literature, as well as discussing each particular gospel account on it's own terms. also included is a chapter dealing with diversity in new testament christianity, the quest for the historical Jesus, extracanonical literature, the canon of the new testament and the authority of the gospels. Being more of an introductory sort of work, it is not meant to be a final say on the subject or a complete coverage type of study, but it serves it's purposes well for getting one started on an intelligent, historically, realistically responsible study of gospel literature. Doesn't go too far to the left or right, takes what might be deemed a 'moderate' stance. Some other very good works of like nature are: Mitchell Reddish, An Introduction To the Gospels (Moderate) Craig Blomberg, Jesus and The Gospels (Conservative) Mark Strauss, Four Portraits One Jesus (Conservative) David Aune, The New Testament In It's Literary Environment (Conser./Mod.) These works will provide one with an even and wide pespective on the gospel literature.
