The Puzzle of the Gospels

by Peter Vardy, Mary E. Mills

First Published in 2015. The gospels tell a story. There are many types of story ranging from fiction through biographies to attempts at historical accounts. Even so-called 'true' stories will be affected by the perception of the writer. It is impossible to present any book without taking the viewpoint of the author into account - which is one reason why this book will be devoting considerable time to understanding the purpose and intention of the individual gospel writers. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John present different accounts of the life and death of Jesus of Nazareth, as one might expect from four people who, although they use some common material, nevertheless present this material in distinctive ways. This book will be concerned with helping you, the reader, to understand the gospel stories and how they came to be written; to bring to light the implicit references that were being made of which modern readers may be unaware; and also to consider the issue of the truth of the stories.

256 pages, Paperback

First published December 31, 1995

About the author

Dr. Peter Vardy (born 1945) is a British academic, philosopher, theologian and author. Since 1999 he has held the post of Vice Principal at Heythrop College, London.

Vardy was originally a chartered accountant before becoming an academic. He holds a Masters Degree in Theology (with distinction) and a Ph.D (on ‘The Concept of Eternity’) from King's College London and has lectured in Philosophy of Religion at King's and also at the Institute of Education, London on their Masters Degree in Education programme.