Jesus According to Scripture: Restoring the Portrait from the Gospels - Paperback

by Darrell L. Bock (Author), Benjamin I. Simpson (Author)

Updated Edition of a Bestselling Study of Jesus and the Gospels

In this work Darrell Bock, a leading evangelical New Testament scholar who speaks and teaches around the world, and Benjamin Simpson show that a coherent portrait of Jesus emerges from the four Gospels when they are taken seriously as historical documents. When read together, the Gospels provide a clear picture of Jesus and his unique claims to authority. This book surveys all the Gospel units and relates them to their parallel passages, showing how the literary and canonical relationships work. Offering up-to-date interaction with the latest discussions about Jesus, the second edition has been substantially revised and updated throughout and includes three new chapters on how we got the Gospels.

Back Jacket

I am pleased that a second edition of Bock's Jesus according to Scripture is now available. This book offers a needed corrective to the quirky portraits of Jesus that have appeared in recent years. As the title implies, Bock and Simpson present Jesus in the light of what the Gospels actually say. Readers will especially appreciate the accessible layout.
--Craig A. Evans, Houston Baptist University

"The four Gospels are a vast forest in which even the well-initiated can lose their way, especially among the thickets of burgeoning scholarship. We should all be grateful not just for a big handy map like this but also for the experienced trail guides putting it into our hands."
--Nicholas Perrin, president, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

"Two centuries of scholarly inquiry have demonstrated that the 'canonical Jesus' is the closest we will ever get to the 'real Jesus.' Jesus according to Scripture presents a portrait of this canonical Jesus through a detailed engagement with the Gospel material. Assuming a historically and theologically complementary relationship among the diverse and complex materials in the four Gospels, Bock and Simpson have with the second edition strengthened this important resource for assessing the meaning of Jesus of Nazareth for the twenty-first-century church."
--Joel Willitts, North Park University

"That there are four canonical Gospels has always presented challenges for studying the life and teaching of Jesus of Nazareth. Although reading each Gospel on its own terms is an essential step, and commentaries on the Gospels abound, all four need to be read together for the full picture of Jesus they provide. Jesus according to Scripture offers something of undeniable value: a comprehensive investigation of the portrayal of Jesus in the four Gospels informed by the best historical Jesus research, taking careful note of similarities and differences among the four accounts. The book represents a major resource for restoring the full portrait of Jesus from the Gospels."
--Brian Rosner, Ridley College

Author Biography

Darrell L. Bock (PhD, University of Aberdeen) is executive director for cultural engagement at the Hendricks Center at Dallas Theological Seminary in Dallas, Texas, where he also serves as senior research professor of New Testament studies.

Benjamin I. Simpson (PhD, Dallas Theological Seminary) is associate professor of New Testament studies at the Washington, DC, campus of Dallas Theological Seminary.