Four Gospels, One Jesus? A Symbolic Reading, 2nd ed.

by Richard A. Burridge

Publisher:

SPCK

, 2005

Overview

Four Gospels, One Jesus? introduces Jesus through the four Gospel authors’ portraits of him. Burridge gives a clear interpretation of each author’s depiction of Jesus and compares the Gospels with classical biographies. He also uses symbols to represent each image of Jesus, including a human face, a lion, an ox, and an eagle.

The text of this new edition has been updated to include developments in New Testament scholarship since the publication of the first edition. Connections with the The Lord of the Rings films and with the Revised Common Lectionary have been added.

In the Logos edition, all Scripture passages in Four Gospels, One Jesus? A Symbolic Reading are tagged to the original language texts and the English translation of your choice, which makes this resource more powerful and easier to access than ever before. With Logos’ advanced features, you can perform powerful searches by topic or Scripture reference—finding, for example, every mention of “Jesus” or “resurrection.”

Key Features

• Preface by the author
• Suggestions for further reading

Contents

Top Highlights

“This book is an exercise in redaction criticism in its attempt to avoid boiling down the four portraits of Jesus into one lowest common denominator, and its concern to look separately at each gospel’s interpretation.” (Page 17)

“While the author may claim to provide information about his subject, often his underlying aims may include apologetic (to defend the subject’s memory against others’ attacks), polemic (to attack his rivals) or didactic (to teach his followers about him).” (Page 7)

“Composition criticism looks at how the author has composed or ordered his narrative” (Page 18)

“This pace continues, with euthus occurring over 40 times in Mark, about as often as the rest of the New Testament put together.” (Page 37)

“Matthew carefully and cleverly draws his portrait of Jesus as another Moses, the new Teacher of Israel” (Page 73)

Endorsements

Here is an introduction to the gospels which, because it combines so well prayer and worship and scholarship, has a vitality and freshness about it which I find immensely appealing. Richard Burridge’s ‘symbolic reading’ allows the four evangelists to tell their stories, respecting their individuality and differences, thus introducing the reader to both the fact and the mystery of the incarnate Lord.

—David Hope, former arch-bishop of York

Novices and old hands alike will read the gospels with new eyes. Four Gospels, One Jesus? is a considerable achievement: scholarly yet accessible.

—Graham Stanton, Lady Margaret’s Professor of Divinity, University of Cambridge

Product Details

• Title: Four Gospels, One Jesus?: A Symbolic Reading
• Author: Richard A. Burridge
• Publisher: SPCK
• Print Publication Date: 2005
• Logos Release Date: 2011
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Bible. N.T. Gospels › Criticism, interpretation, etc; Jesus Christ › Biography--History and criticism
• ISBNs: 9780281056781, 9780802808769, 0281056781, 080280876X
• Resource ID: LLS:4GOSP1JESSYMBL
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-28T20:27:40Z

About Richard A. Burridge

Richard A. Burridge is dean of King’s College London, where he is also professor of biblical interpretation and director of New Testament studies. Winner of the 2013 Ratzinger Prize, he is the first non-Catholic ever to receive that prestigious award.