The Synoptic Gospels usefully fills the gap between the brief treatments of the synoptics to be found in New Testament introductions, and exhaustive commentaries. Taking into account the many important advances made in the study of the gospels in recent years, not least the new questions being asked,
Dr Nickle writes especially for the non-specialist and the teacher or student who values clarity and objectivity.
He begins by sketching the process by which the earliest Christians retold selectively some of the stories they remembered about Jesus. He considers how they, and other early Christians after them, interpreted and adapted those stories to meet the needs of their communities. He then enquires after the motives and the concerns which prompted each of the first three evangelists to compose their narrative versions of the public ministry and death
of Jesus.
The book does not try to cover the whole content of the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. Rather, it places before the reader preliminary considerations which will inform and enrich reflections that occur as the content of the documents is investigated. So this is really a prelude, a preface to gospel study, which holds the reader's interest to the end and whets the appetite for more.
