Reading the Gospels Wisely: A Narrative and Theological Introduction

by Jonathan T. Pennington, Richard Bauckham (Foreword by)

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781441238702
Publisher:	Baker Publishing Group
Publication date:	07/01/2012
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	861,441
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Jonathan T. Pennington (PhD, University of St. Andrews) is associate professor of New Testament interpretation and director of research doctoral studies at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. He is the author of Heaven and Earth in the Gospel of Matthew and has published a number of tools for learning biblical languages, including New Testament Greek Vocabulary and Old Testament Hebrew Vocabulary.

Table of Contents

Foreword Richard Bauckham ix

Preface xi

Part 1 Clearing Ground, Digging Deep, and Laying a Good Foundation

1 What Are the Gospels? Defining "Gospel" 3

2 What Are the Gospels? Understanding the "Gospel" Genre 18

3 Why Do We Need the Gospels? (Or Why Saint Paul Is Not Enough) 36

4 The Joy and Angst of Having Four Gospels 50

5 Texts and History: The Testimony of the Fourfold Witness 74

6 Reading Holy Scripture Well: Three Avenues 108

7 Reading Holy Scripture Well: Intent, Meaning, and. Posture 122

8 Foundations for Reading the Gospels Well 143

Part 2 Building the House through Wise Reading

9 Reading the Gospels as Stories: The "Whatever Strikes Me" (WSM)Hermeneutic versus Narrative Analysis 169

10 Reading the Gospels as Stories: Circles of Contextual Meaning 183

Part 3 Living in the Gospels House

11 Summing It All Up: Applying and Teaching the Gospels 213

12 The Gospels as the Archway of the Canon 229

Scripture Index 259

Author Index 265