"Clearly a book from a master teacher, this text provides an eminently accessible introduction to the complexities of historical study of Jesus and the Gospels, as well as to the challenges of their interpretation for today's readers."

Adela Yarbro Collins, Yale University Divinity School

"Written with attention to the latest scholarship on the Gospels, especially to their Jewish matrix, and with the skill of a seasoned teacher, this work provides one of the very best introductions to the Gospels. A welcome addition to standard introductions is a fine chapter on the historical Jesus that integrates the best research of the last two decades, while avoiding its excesses. The work is a fine example of 'one-stop shopping,' by including descriptions of  methods of inquiry, study of the background and context of the Gospels, along with attention to more recent studies of the narrative dynamics of each Gospel--with a helpful addition on the canon. Murphy accompanies the students through a reading of each Gospel, before engaging their major theological themes. This should be an ideal text for both college and seminary students."

John R. Donahue, S.J., St. Mary’s Seminary and University

"As in his previous work, Professor Murphy shows himself to be a scholar who is also a first-rate teacher. It is no small task to write a textbook that introduces undergraduates in a clear and intelligible way to a whole range of subjects encompassing: (1) an overview of the ancient worlds that were the contexts of the Gospels, (2) a survey of the four canonical gospels, along with Acts and the Johannine Epistles, (3) a consideration of important noncanonical gospels, (4) the quest for the historical Jesus, and finally (5) the process of the canonization of the books of the New Testament. This is an achievement that Professor Murphy's colleagues will not only applaud but also use."

                                 John P. Meier, University of Notre Dame