Why Four Gospels

Pages: 120
ISBN:
Pages: 120
ISBN: 1-893729-87-7
SKU: 1893729877
Price: $11.99
Author: Black, David Alan
Note: The new edition of Dr. Black's book traces the history, origin, and development of the four NT Gospels.

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In Why Four Gospels? noted Greek and New Testament scholar David Alan Black, concisely and clearly presents the case for the early development of the gospels, beginning with Matthew, rather than Mark. But this is much more than a discussion of the order in which the gospels were written. Using both internal data from the gospels themselves and an exhaustive and careful examination of the statements of the early church fathers, Dr. Black places each gospel in the context of the early development of Christianity.

Though Markan priority is the dominant position still in Biblical scholarship, Dr. Black argues that this position is not based on the best evidence available, that the internal evidence is often given more weight than it deserves and alternative explanations are dismissed or ignored. If you would like an outline of the basis for accepting both early authorship of the gospels and the priority of Matthew, this book is for you.

Black, David Alan

Dr. David Alan Black has taught New Testament Greek for over 30 years. He holds a Doctor of Theology from the University of Basel and is currently professor of New Testament and Greek at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Wake Forest, NC. He has published over 20 books, including The Myth of Adolescence, Interpreting the New Testament, It's Still Greek to Me, and The Jesus Paradigm. He and his wife, Becky live on a 123-acre working farm in southern Virginia.

Author Page

Reviews and Discussion

This section includes other writings by this book\'s author, other pages about the book and reviews, including the data pages on Energion.com, our web magazine.

Notes from Midwest Center for Theological Studies
Review at Thinking in Christ

Dr. Black’s thesis is well founded, and most likely comes closer to the reality of the origins of the gospels than the Markan priority theory.

Extract:

As I began reading the book I understood Bob's high regard for Black's work. Black's theory of the reliability of the Gospels depends entirely on the explanation of the early Church Fathers, such as: Papias of Hierapolis (60-130), Justin (100-165), Irenaeus (130-200), Clement of Alexandria (150-215), Tertullian (160-225), Origen (185-254), Eusebius (260-340), and others. Black lists all the fathers and their statements about the gospels in order to display the weight of Patristic evidence. These Fathers and others of the Ancient Church not only attest to the authority and reliability of the Four Gospels, but provide the historical process of their transmission.