Reading the Gospels Wisely: A Narrative and Theological Introduction

This textbook on how to read the Gospels well can stand on its own as a guide to reading this New Testament genre as Scripture. It is also ideally suited to serve as a supplemental text to more conventional textbooks that discuss each Gospel systematically. Most textbooks tend to introduce students to historical-critical concerns but may be less adequate for showing how the Gospel narratives, read as Scripture within the canonical framework of the entire New Testament and the whole Bible, yield material for theological reflection and moral edification.

Pennington neither dismisses nor duplicates the results of current historical-critical work on the Gospels as historical sources. Rather, he offers critically aware and hermeneutically intelligent instruction in reading the Gospels in order to hear their witness to Christ in a way that supports Christian application and proclamation.

Jonathan T. Pennington (PhD, University of St. Andrews), a popular speaker, teacher, and preacher, is professor of New Testament interpretation at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is also on staff as a preaching pastor at Sojourn East Church in Louisville, Kentucky. Pennington is the host and coproducer of the popular web series Cars, Coffee, Theology and has written numerous books, including The Sermon on the Mount and Human Flourishing, Reading the Gospels Wisely, and Heaven and Earth in the Gospel of Matthew.