Looking at fine details in the testimony to Jesus given in the Gospels, professor Timothy Wiarda helps to enrich others' Gospel exegesis and knowledge of Christ.

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.

Popular writer and teacher Jeannine Brown shows how a narrative approach illuminates each of the Gospels, helping readers see the overarching stories. This book offers a corrective to tendencies to read the Gospels piecemeal, one story at a time. It is filled with numerous examples and visual aids that show how narrative criticism brings the text to life, making it an ideal supplementary textbook for courses on the Gospels. Readers will gain hands-on tools and perspectives to interpret the Gospels as whole stories.

A comprehensive handbook for understanding and communicating the Gospels and Acts In this final volume of the Handbooks for New Testament Exegesis series, David Turner provides a comprehensive guide for interpreting and conveying the lives of Jesus and his early followers. Key background information such as literary genres, historical setting, and theological themes lay the groundwork for properly reading these five books. This is followed by practical guidance on textual issues and original-language exegesis passages from the Gospels and Acts. The final chapter offers an extensive bibliography of books and digital resources useful for instructors, students, and church leaders alike. Interpreting the Gospels and Acts is an essential resource for anyone teaching and preaching these foundational books.

Introduces literary, historical, and theological issues of Luke and Acts. Biblical texts create worlds of meaning, and invite readers to enter them. When readers enter such textual worlds, which are often strange and complex, they are confronted with theological claims. With this in mind, the purpose of the Interpreting Biblical Texts series is to help serious readers in their experience of reading and interpreting by providing guides for their journeys into textual worlds. The controlling perspective is expressed in the operative word of the title--interpreting. The primary focus of the series is not so much on the world behind the texts or out of which the texts have arisen as on the worlds created by the texts in their engagement with readers. In keeping with the goals of the series, this volume provides an introductory guide to readers of the New Testament books of Luke and Acts. It focuses on both the synchronic and diachronic dimensions of the literature in an effort to acquaint readers with literary, historical, and theological issues that will facilitate interpretation of these important books. F. Scott Spencer is Professor of New Testament at Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond.

"An array of New Testament scholars here document the profound shift in Gospel research away from narrow preoccupation with traditional historical questions and toward investigation of the literary dimensions of the Gospels. The contributors focus on the plot, characters, and theological themes and points of view peculiar to Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John and on the societal and cultural milieu in which each of the original Gospel audiences was at home."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

In this accessible guide to interpreting the Bible, senior New Testament scholar Robert Stein helps readers identify various biblical genres, understand the meaning of biblical texts, and apply that meaning to contemporary life. This edition has been completely revised throughout to reflect Stein's current thinking and changes to the discipline over the past decade. Students of the Bible will find the book effective in group settings. Praise for the first edition "Stein's work is both a fine introduction to the task of biblical hermeneutics for the novice and an innovative refresher for the veteran teacher or pastor."--Faith & Mission