What Is a Gospel? by Francis Watson is a scholarly look at the Gospels.
It’s one of the works I’m citing in my revised and expanded version of The Untold Story of the New Testament Church, which is forthcoming.
The book is academic, but contains numerous insights that are helpful.
This is an excellent description of the book from the publisher:
When Christians speak of “the gospels” they’re usually referring to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Other ancient writings about the life of Jesus are generally considered noncanonical or heretical. But what if these other gospel writings—including the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Judas, and the Protevangelium of James—aren’t fundamentally different from the four canonical gospels?
In this follow-up to Gospel Writing: A Canonical Perspective, noted biblical scholar Francis Watson makes the case that viewing early gospel literature as a unified genre—sharing significant similarities in sources, content, and goals—allows us to discern important interrelated aspects that are lost amid the usual categories.
Watson’s critical approach enables modern readers of the Bible to break free of fraught scholarly assumptions in order to better understand early Christian identity formation and beliefs.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In