Well written, good ideas, relies on "could have been" too much (Rating 4 of 5)
» J. Bickford
This is the first book by Wills that I have read and it seems from other reviews that this might be better if it had followed some of his other books.
Overall I found the book to have some interesting ideas and was very easy to read in format and flow. Wills takes each gospel one at a time, covers the basic topics of each and shows what each means when seen by a different audience. He is well organized, logical in his layout and keeps the structure easy to follow. His ideas add a unique interpretation to each of the narratives based on the context of each audience.
Two points that I which would have been covered:
1. How did he come up with each of the audiences?
I saw no real historical data to show that these groups existed. It could be that they are well known to his circle and I am expected to understand this, but references for those of us who are not familiar would have been helpful. Without that knowledge it becomes an 'if' it was written for these people 'then' this is how it would be seen.
2. I was disappointed in the fact that he seemed to gloss over the sermon on the mount.
Here is what is considered some of the world's greatest writings and I was expecting much more insight. A tribute to his writing is that after reading his background for the gospel audience I was seeing unique ways to view many of the stories and was reading on to see if he agreed with my ideas
What the Gospels meant to 1st and 2nd century people (Rating 4 of 5)
» Brian Griffith
Wills gives a patient, scholarly exploration of what the Gospels meant to contemporary Jews and Christians. At each turn of the story he explores the meanings people of that time drew, from associations they made with the whole Hebrew Bible. And being a Greek scholar, Wills does his own translations of the New Testament, often giving the lines fresh force. Among the Beatitudes, Wills translates "Happy those who yield", and explains "Jesus praises those who could be aggressive but refuse to be".
Wills' writing is more careful than dramatic. He's devout and scrupulous at the same time. With deepest respect for the Gospel writers', he shows how variant copies of the text sometimes tried to correct its message. Some copyists deleted the lines "Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do", because they assumed it wrong to promote forgiveness for such terrible deeds.
Basically, the book focuses on how Hebrew heritage informed the Gospel accounts. It neglects other influences, such as how Greek culture influenced the probably Greek authors of Luke and John.
--author of "Different Visions of Love"
Continuing the Search for the Real Jesus (Rating 4 of 5)
» Mary Carhart
Garry Wills' knowledge of ancient Greek drives this discourse where he continually reminds us to consider the historical setting of Jesus' life, the motivation of each gospel writer in telling his story, and the importance they all placed on linking Jesus with the Jewish scripture and prophecies. For myself? I see the search for Jesus' true mission and message going on and on, but with his core teachings of love, acceptance, and faith in God surviving the scrutiny
What the Gospels Meant (Rating 5 of 5)
» Jerrica Barksdale
In extremely good shape! I was both surprised and pleased by what I saw :)
Thought provoking (Rating 4 of 5)
» Cookie
If you have ever had questions about Biblical history this will give you cause for much thought. The author remains true to the truth that salvation is only through Christ. He utilizes his own translation, which makes a reader compare to their own favorite translations. Very conservative readers might be offended by Wills' pointing out differences between the book of Acts and the Pauline letters. I found myself studying the Scriptural references more carefully
(Rating 4 of 5)
(Rating 5 of 5)
