To Christians worldwide, the man Jesus of Nazareth is the centerpiece of history, the object of faith, hope, and worship. Even those who do not follow him admit the vast influence of his life. For anyone interested in knowing more about Jesus, study of the four biblical Gospels is essential.

An abridged edition of the bestselling textbook Four Portraits, One Jesus by Mark Strauss, this simple, easy-to-understand guide introduces the four biblical Gospels and their subject, the life and person of Jesus.

Like different artists rendering the same subject using different styles and points of view, the Gospels paint four distinctive portraits of the same remarkable Jesus. With clarity and insight, Mark Strauss addresses questions that surround the study of Jesus and the Gospels. What are the Gospels - are they history, theology, biography? Where did they come from? What do we know about their context? What does each Gospel uniquely teach us about Jesus? Finally, he pulls it all together illuminating what the Gospels together teach about Jesus' ministry, message, death, and resurrection, and how do we know we can trust their witness.

Including questions at the end of each chapter for group discussion or personal reflection, Introducing Jesus makes the words, history, and context of the Gospels come alive for readers.

As most readers of the New Testament know, the words of Jesus are often spoken in riddles--in parables and other sayings that were and continue to be difficult to understand. In Jesus the Riddler, Tom Thatcher explains that Jesus may have been intentionally ambiguous, using riddles to establish his authority as a teacher and to encourage his followers to think more deeply about the nature of truth. Jesus' riddles, like riddles across many cultures, potentially refer to many different things, and they challenge those who hear them to decode the meaning the riddler intends. Figuring out the riddles in which Jesus spoke requires a depth of faith and close attention to the words of the gospel. With text boxes and other helpful features, this book guides readers through discerning these puzzling and important words.

This innovative study is the first to consider the Gospel of John as story in the ancient media context of oral communication and oral performance. Horsley and Thatcher creatively combine concerns from the fields of Jesus studies and ancient media studies in their analysis. Taking the main conflict evident in John's story of Jesus as the key to its plot, they discern how this Gospel -- usually read as "spiritual" -- portrays Jesus engaged in a concrete program of renewal and resistance.