In this short book, Alicia Myers takes readers on a journey through the Gospels and Acts, introducing them to the world of Jesus of Nazareth and of the believers who composed and shared stories inspired by him. Myers provides overviews of context and major passages in each canonical work, and also introduces readers to the Apocryphal Gospels and Acts to demonstrate the larger phenomenon of early Christian writing. Using six themes to explore canonical and apocryphal works, Myers takes readers into the Roman world to encounter these ancient writings from new perspectives to discover their enduring relevance.

Alicia D. Myers is Associate Professor of New Testament and Greek at Campbell University And Research Fellow at the University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa. Her work focuses on how Greco-Roman contexts aid our understanding of the NT. Previous publications include Blessed Among Women?: Mothers and Motherhood in the New Testament (Oxford, 2017) and Reading John and 1, 2, 3 John.

• Figures


• Acknowledgements


• Abbreviations


• Series Introduction


• Chapter 1. Introduction


• Chapter 2. Mark's Story: The Gospel in Roman Palestine


• Chapter 3. Matthew's Story: The Gospel in Jewish Contexts


• Chapter 4. Luke's Story, part 1: The Gospel as a Message of Inclusion


• Chapter 5. Luke's Story, part 2: God's Spirit-Driven Mission in the Book of Acts


• Chapter 6. John's Story: Recognizing the Incarnate Word


• Chapter 7. Apocryphal Gospels and Acts: Stories beyond the New Testament


• Chapter 8. Conclusion: Reading the Gospels and Acts Today


• Notes


• Bibliography


• Index