Rating: 
Summary: The mystery continues...
Review: Being a Methodist, of liberal persuasion, I was not surprised by what Dr. Helms presents in this thoroughly researched study of the gospels. Dr. Randel McCraw Helms, at times, is obsessed with scholarly arguments with his academic colleagues. The book is short and relatively easy to read, even for the layman with a cursory knowledge of the scriptures. The narrative could have been edited with greater care, reducing the length of many of the author's sentences. The use of internal footnotes are beneficial, at times seemingly to add exclamation points to Helm's arguments. Helms scholarship and those many sources he examines are obviously known to the clergy, from Rome to America's Bible belt. One wonders why this and other similar studies are not being addressed in Christian churches. If you accept Helms' conclusions, and it's difficult not to, then what motivated the early Christians, the authors' of the gospels, to embellish the oral traditions. Were the " Gospel Fictions" [according to Helms], created by the anonymous authors of the Gospels, divinely inspired? After reading this well-researched treatise -- for believers -- will their faith been shattered? I doubt it -- mine hasn't?
Rating:
Summary: The mystery continues...
Review: Being a Methodist, of liberal persuasion, I was not surprised by what Dr. Helms presents in this thoroughly researched study of the gospels. Dr. Randel McCraw Helms, at times, is obsessed with scholarly arguments with his academic colleagues. The book is short and relatively easy to read, even for the layman with a cursory knowledge of the scriptures. The narrative could have been edited with greater care, reducing the length of many of the author's sentences. The use of internal footnotes are beneficial, at times seemingly to add exclamation points to Helm's arguments. Helms scholarship and those many sources he examines are obviously known to the clergy, from Rome to America's Bible belt. One wonders why this and other similar studies are not being addressed in Christian churches. If you accept Helms' conclusions, and it's difficult not to, then what motivated the early Christians, the authors' of the gospels, to embellish the oral traditions. Were the " Gospel Fictions" [according to Helms], created by the anonymous authors of the Gospels, divinely inspired? After reading this well-researched treatise -- for believers -- will their faith been shattered? I doubt it -- mine hasn't?
Rating: 
Summary: Well-written, succinct literary analysis
Review: Dr. Helms covers new ground in this excellent literary deconstruction of the Gospels. His goal is to see what we can learn of the actual authors of the Gospels, then secondarily to see what we can logically deduce from those findings. What's revealed is the human side of the fledgling Jesus movement that will certainly remain controversial. Why no one else has done this to the Gospels before is clearly a mystery. I highly recommend this book for anyone at all curious as to who the writers of the Gospels might really have been.
Rating:
Summary: bold & eye opening
Review: easy to read for laymen. the only gripe is it ends a little abruptly.
Rating:
Summary: Excellant Book for moderately to well to read Bible Reader
Review: Fascinating if not a little repetitive description of how the Gospels were composed. The author seems a little presumptuous sometimes, in assuming that the reader is more than familiar with certain details. Then I realized that the audience he is writing to would be more familiar with all these details from similar works.
I also liked reading it with a bible right in front of me. Every controversy he brought up was right there verifiable in the bible.
Certain theories I held are no longer theories for me, but facts after reading this book.
Rating: 
Summary: A powerful indictment of Christian gospel mythology.
Review: Helms provides a step by step analysis of each of the NT "authors", and their reliance on Mark and the "Q" - the common source of oral traditions regarding the life and words of JC. At times Helms buldgeons his readers with his points of reference, and at times he overstates the argument, calling to service several times misstatements of Mark in particular. But the argument is compelling all the same, and should give any serious reader of Gospel texts pause regarding the extent to which these texts are actually inspired or conspired to achieve theological ends. The book slips for me when Luke is cast as the woman merely by reference to the number of times "he" brings women into the narrative. This was poor deduction for me. All the same, the book clarified many points and shifted the search for the truth of Jesus all the more difficult. Not being one to accept on faith alone the Christian inheritance, nor one to speculate from a late 20th century composition of secular truth, I must say that theologians have their work before them to move beyond "faith" alone in establishing the veracity of NT claims.
Rating:
Summary: Highest praise for Helms. This book is a rare treasure.
Review: Helms tracks down the evolution and true authorship of the Gospels with painstaking detail. Anyone who believes the traditional story of who wrote the Gospels will find their view of the Bible undergoing a dramatic gestalt shift after reading this book.
Rating:
Summary: This Would Not Stir A True Believer
Review: I am an agnostic who received this book as a gift. I was very enthusiatic about the book, but it has been a bit disappointing. I disagree with the other reviewers, in that I don't think it's an easy read for the lay person. The author does not lay down sufficient groundwork before delving into his theses about the identities of the authors of the gospels. He assumes that the reader knows what Source Q and Septuagint Isaiah are, for instance. The book brings up some thought-provoking points but is generally disorganized and rambling. The result is a watered-down text that is not forceful enough to stir the intellect of a true believer. It preaches to the choir of skeptics. Because I am already cynical about the Bible and religious texts in general, I waded through it, but I would not recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: This Would Not Stir A True Believer
Review: I am an agnostic who received this book as a gift. I was very enthusiatic about the book, but it has been a bit disappointing. I disagree with the other reviewers, in that I don't think it's an easy read for the lay person. The author does not lay down sufficient groundwork before delving into his theses about the identities of the authors of the gospels. He assumes that the reader knows what Source Q and Septuagint Isaiah are, for instance. The book brings up some thought-provoking points but is generally disorganized and rambling. The result is a watered-down text that is not forceful enough to stir the intellect of a true believer. It preaches to the choir of skeptics. Because I am already cynical about the Bible and religious texts in general, I waded through it, but I would not recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: bold & eye opening
Review: I was looking for a new Bible to read during this first year of the new millenium (I'm on my fourth pass through the Bible) and came across this book by Helms. I went home without buying it, even though the jacket stired my interest. It was no use. I couldn't get it out of my mind. So several days later I went back and bought the remaining copy. I've always enjoyed the thrill of well thought-out new ideas and logically explained differences of opinion. And Helms does an excellent job of leading the reader, step-by-step, through his thought processes. Describing very thoroughly how and why he reached his conclusions. In addition, Helms has the ability to transmit enthusiam for his research through the written word. Whether or not your religious convictions allow room for what Helms puts forward is a personal choice. Being a liberal (some would say - radical) Presbyterian, I see no harm in questioning any ideas put forward. It then becomes a personal choice as to whether or not the idea is accepted in part or in its entirety. The only shortcoming in the book was the absence of the presentation of acceptable or plausible alternatives to Helms thesis, and a discussion as to why those alternatives fell short of the mark. Along with providing some interesting ideas, Helms fired my desire to undertake additional reading in this area.
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