The Synoptic Gospels: An Introduction

Very good work - Nickle does a great job of developing reasons why the synoptics are different ....and similar. The depth of his analysis is impressive, using cultural, political and religious reasons to support his views. And he does this with clarity and conciseness.

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.

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.

This book presents an analysis of the 3 Synoptic Gospels: Mark, Matthew, and Luke through the use of "Form Criticism". The basic argument behind this literary criticism is that since these 3 gospels each follow the same basic narrative of the story of Christ, a careful study of the similarities and differences of each of them can lead to indications which community the author was addressing his gospel to, when the author was perhaps writing his gospel, and finally can provide indications on how his portrait of Christ addresses the various challenges of Christianity that the author and his community was facing at that time period. Keith Nickle's presents his argument in a very logical manner which is both easy to follow, but gives a good introductory basis not only for the information he is trying to present, but also to allow the reader to delve into the New Testament themselves in order to gain a better understanding. One important piece of information which any potential reader should take note of is the fact that Keith Nickle's does present this book on the theory that Mark was written first and that Matthew and Luke were both using a copy of Mark and another document/collection of oral traditions commonly called "Q" in each of their writings of the gospels. Nickle's belief is that the gospels originated as oral traditions/Jesus one-liners/written bits and pieces and that Mark first took these various elements and combined it into the basic story of Christ which was circulating among the various early Christian communities of the era. This anonymous author of Mark did this both to provide a secure story of Christ his community could use to learn more about Jesus, but also to address concerns his community had over various challenges they were faced with. I found this book to be very enjoyable and a good introduction to modern Biblical scholorship. It did not get a 5 star rating because I have spoken with other Biblical scholars who provide just as good an argument that Matthew was written first or that Luke perhaps was. The point is no one will ever really know for sure, but Nickle's is able to present his argument for why he believes Mark was created first in a way that is both convincing and informative.

True to his title, Nickle provides a great introduction to the study of the Synoptic Gospels. He discusses the issues of authorship, date, purpose, recipients, literary dependence, and distinct characteristics of each of the three. These discussions are sandwiched between an opening chapter concerning the gospel tradition and a closing chapter of other considerations related to the Synoptic Gospels. Although Nickle is a scholarly writer, he manages to write with a style that fits an audience much wider than New Testament specialists. In fact, I became acquainted with this work through a college-level introductory course on the teachings of Jesus. This book is ideal for that kind of situation, and it would probably fit well in seminary courses also. One of the best things about Nickle's style is the emotion that seeps through in his writing. The reader encounters in _The Synoptic Gospels_ not a dry and detached academician, but a man with great reverence for the gospel tradition who shares in the faith about which he writes. Many times while reading, I could imagine Dr. Nickle's voice raising with excitement as he shared with me the fruits of his study. Such an excitement can have a tendency to rub off on the reader.I have withheld a perfect score of 5 stars because of some of the presuppositions that are implicit in the author's methods and conclusions. In line with modern critical scholarship, Nickle does not hold to the traditional authorship of the synoptic gospels, gives them late dates, and believes that the early Church was in the habit of creating pericopes and sayings of Jesus that became authoritative gospel material. As a conservative, I had a problem with these implicit assumptions and felt that they were not defended well. However, those matters are minor in light of the book's overall value. It is a wonderful introduction to the subject that would be useful in any minister's library.