Asks how the term 'gospel' came to be used both for proclamation and narrative, and why the church in forming the canon of scripture chose to include four different and sometimes contradictory accounts of the life of Jesus.
'This is a scholarly study of many areas of the historical origins and nature of the Gospels, taking up basic introductory questions for a historical critical approach to Gospel study. (...) Hengel shows his mastery of the areas of the history of the early Church and his great familiarity with the text of the Gospels themselves and early Christian writings. (...) A book for good libraries and for serious teachers and students of the Gospels.'
