In a series (McMaster New Testament Studies) designed to address particular themes in the New Testament that are of concern to Christians today, Reading the New Testament brings contemporary gospels study to the general reader. This edited volume is a collection of eight essays that were originally presented at the 2002 H. H. Bingham Colloquium in New Testament at McMaster Divinity College in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The editor, Stanley Porter, hopes ‘that this volume will be of interest to general readers and serve as a useful textbook for issues in contemporary Gospels study’ (p. vii). The essays cover a broad range of interpretive issues used in contemporary gospels research. A brief summary of the eight essays is now in order.

After a brief introduction by Porter, the collection of essays begins with ‘Sorting Out the Synoptic Problem: Why an Old Approach is Still Best’, by Craig A. Evans. Evans makes clear that working through the synoptic problem is a beneficial task (p. 2). After arguing that Markan priority is still the best explanation for originating order of the gospels, Evans shows that ‘old-fashioned’ redaction criticism yields much fruit for the gospel interpreter (p. 25). The synoptic problem, in a sense, impresses upon the interpreter that the individual Evangelists are ‘theologians in their own right’ (p. 26). In this way, the ‘old approach’ is to have a continuous role in our reading of the synoptic gospels.

In the second essay, ‘Reading the Gospels and the Quest for the Historical Jesus’, Stanley Porter has two goals. First, he tries to correct the common assumption of several different ‘quests’ for the historical Jesus. As Porter explains, ‘I believe that we can see a single yet multi-faceted quest. . .since the earliest reflection upon Jesus’ (p. 37). Second, the quest for the historical Jesus assists the reader of the gospels, most notably concerning the genre of the gospels, the language of Jesus and the criteria for authenticity.

In ‘Reading Matthew: The Gospel as Oral Performance’, Michael Knowles argues that reading with an understanding of orality ‘presents us with a new set of questions and concerns’ (p. 57). Such a reading posture forces us to become an active audience member under the Matthean performance, not merely a passive ‘reader’.

In the fourth chapter, ‘Reading Mark 11:12-25 from a Korean Perspective’, Yong-Eui Yang provides a thorough exegetical survey of this pericope. Yang admits that the goal is not to ‘add a new approach but present and discuss some of the major ways of interpretation advanced to date and evaluate them in order to identify those that are most reliable and profitable in reading the Markan story today’ (p. 79). The ‘Korean perspective’ is merely added ‘to the surface [of the exegetical conclusions] so as to point out the differences’ (p. 79). Unfortunately, although the exegetical work is good and thorough, the ‘Korean’ peppering is difficult to find.

In ‘Salvation Today: Reading Luke's Message for a Gentile Audience’, Allan Martens explores Luke's theology of salvation. For Martens, salvation is centred not in the death alone, although it is the pinnacle, but in the whole Christ-event. ‘Jesus’ death is a saving event, but must be seen alongside many other saving events.’ This, then, allows Martens to show the importance of Israel in salvation, and, therefore, the salvation of the Gentiles.

In ‘Reading John: The Fourth Gospel under Modern and Postmodern Interrogation’, Andrew T. Lincoln provides a helpful analysis of ‘truth’ in the fourth gospel. But even more, Lincoln explores how John might be true in its own voice, not merely by a contemporary, epistemological definition. In the end, for Lincoln, John is a ‘witness to its own truth’: ‘Readers enter and experience the narrative world of this Gospel and then return to their own world with the possibility of an alternative perspective on it’ (p. 147).

In ‘The Gospels in Early Christianity: Their Origin, Use, and Authority’, Lee Martin McDonald places the gospels in their original, worshipping contexts for the modern reader. The title of the essay summarises well McDonald's valuable exploration and analysis.

In the final essay, ‘Reading the Gospels Canonically: A Methodological Dialogue with Brevard Childs’, Al Wolters engages with Childs's Biblical Theology of the Old and New Testaments and argues that Childs is logically inconsistent in his appropriation of ‘secular biblical criticism’ amidst a defence of ‘defending orthodox Christian theology’ (p. 192). Wolters argues that the best approach is one that will ‘openly, from the outset, bring its religious commitment to the God of the Bible into the academic arena and unashamedly forge a Christian way of doing biblical criticism’ (p. 192).

This collection does assist the student of the gospels in his or her reading of them. The variety of the essays and the excellent overview of the many different approaches to gospel hermeneutics make it an excellent resource to students of the gospels. Several different avenues of examination, historical, literary and theological, are brought to the forefront for the modern reader.