What the Gospels Meant

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Praise for What the Gospels Meant -Full of riches . . . Wills brings to bear the skills that have justly brought him renown as America's greatest public intellectual: encyclopedic erudition, concise prose and a polyglot's gift for ancient languages. . . . This introduces . . . biblical scholarship as a whole to a wide audience of readers hungry for a sophisticated account of those eternally curious texts.- --Chicago Tribune -What readers will find here is an engaging look at the Gospels, informed by the best biblical scholarship, as well as by Wills's own faith. . . . This eminently readable volume . . . underscores the attributes of each narrative to highlight truths more crucial than whether there were four discrete Evangelists.- --The New York Times Book Review -Wills's scholarship . . . is impeccable, placing the gospels within their original cultural and religious context . . . A book that offers profound spiritual and historical insight in an accessible and intriguing format.- --BookPage -Poetic, penetrating, and moving. General readers and scholars alike will profit from Mr. Wills's basic contention, that reason and faith are not antinomies.- --The New York Sun -An engrossingly concise sequel to his Paul book. Wills . . . shows that [the Gospels are] theological statements, applying Jesus to the different situations confronting each writer's community.- --The Boston Globe -Readers willing to have their impressions about these texts challenged by an erudite scholar will find this to be fascinating and worthwhile reading.- --Publishers Weekly -A remarkable achievement--a learned yet eminently readable and provocative exploration of the four small books that reveal most of what's known about the life and death of Jesus.- --Los Angeles Times