Leading experts in New Testament studies discuss the origins, composition and reception of the canonical gospels in the early church within this volume. Beginning with their earliest oral forms during the lifetime of Jesus and moving through the processes of oral tradition to their written composition by the evangelists, the book then traces the continuation of this history in the gospels' subsequent reception among pagans, Jews and Christians--down to the emergence of the earliest gospel commentaries.

Leading experts in New Testament studies discuss the origins, composition and reception of the canonical gospels in the early church within this volume. Beginning with their earliest oral forms during the lifetime of Jesus and moving through the processes of oral tradition to their written composition by the evangelists, the book then traces the continuation of this history in the gospels' subsequent reception among pagans, Jews and Christians--down to the emergence of the earliest gospel commentaries.