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