The Gospels and Christian Life in History and Practice

The four canonical gospels arose in unique circumstances in different parts of the Roman Empire. This book studies the gospels as formative documents that reveal how these four communities refracted the life of Jesus to express their unique community life in their historical contexts. Reading Mark, Matthew, Luke and Acts, and John as distinct communities with particular systems of formation, this book explores the differences between thegospels, while providing four windows on the development of primitive Christianity.