The discussion initiated by The Gospels for All Christians: Rethinking the Gospel Audiences, edited by Richard Bauckham, has had a profound effect on gospel study and has been probed and debated at major conferences, as well as at an international conference on the Gospel of John (2002). Almost every commentary or major monograph on the gospels has had to deal with its thesis.
In light of this ongoing debate stretching nearly a decade, it seems that a further volume is sorely needed. Even more, there is now a pressing need for further definition and clarification of the concepts and ideas that were originally presented, as well as a more precise dialogue over these hotly debated issues in gospel interpretation, with scholars who have been participating in the discussion since its inception.
This multi-contributor volume will press forward an important discussion centered upon the audience of the gospels, continuing further the quest for understanding the origin and function of the gospels in early Christianity.
Edward W. Klink III is Assistant Professor of New Testament at Talbot School of Theology, Biola University in La Mirada, California.
Chris Keith is Research Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society, Norway. He is the author of
The Pericope Adulterae, the
Gospel of John and the Literacy of Jesus, a winner of the 2010 John Templeton Award for Theological Promise, and
Jesus' Literacy: Scribal Culture and the Teacher from Galilee. He is also the co-editor of
Jesus among Friends and Enemies: A Historical and Literary Introduction to Jesus in the Gospels, and was recently named a 2012 Society of Biblical Literature Regional Scholar.