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Summary: The Jesus Seminar Sucks, but this book is pretty good
Review: O.K. I've spent 4 years studying Christianity at a secular College, so i think I have a pretty good perspective on a lot of stuff. I've taken classes from one of the members of the jesus seminar, and he is very quick to point out that many, many of the people in the Jesus Seminar are only out for publicity and Yes, their methods concering miricles are very, very flawed (i.e Talmud and Mishnah scholars would NEVER think about ignoring the miricles. That's the most important stuff sometimes). But many of the books written against the Jesus Seminar are just as flawed. Anyway, this book is a good, albeit VERY literal translation of the Gospels, plus some nice gnostic stuff tossed in for the heck of it. I don't think it's very biased (and belive you me, I am VERY intuned with bias in texts), and you can use it to anger your parents. What's more rebellious than being a either a jesus freak or a hardcore deconstruction scholar, both of which are great uses for this book
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Summary: Great idea, but I hate the translation.
Review: Putting all known gospels together in one volume is terrific, but translating Jesus' words into, not just modern English, but contemporary slang, makes these translations almost unreadable. I suppose the idea is that Jesus spoke plainly in the language of the day so the translation should reflect this. But I find all the modern colloquilisms jarring and distancing. No, I don't believe Jesus spoke like a supreme being, but I also don't believe he spoke like a street vendor on 42nd Steet.
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Summary: Reading the Gospel has never been easier or more interesting
Review: The Complete Gospels is undoubtedly the best source for understanding and enjoying the Gospels. The language is modern but does not compromise the content of the text. The annotations are insightful, and I recommend this book to anyone who has ever wanted to understand the Gospels but felt themselves to be defeated by the language.
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Summary: This is a misrepresentation as a scholarly work.
Review: The Complete Gospels purports to be a translation of the Gospels that is "free of ecclesiastical and religious control", thus implying that it is free of bias from these sources. It is, however, replete with the editors' own elitist biases, including a slavish adherence to modern mores and political correctness.
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Summary: What your church doesn't want you to know
Review: There are not just four gospels written about Jesus there are more than twenty written in the first three centuries. This book presents all those gospels. In a translation that is a collaboration between many of the best scholars in this feild these gospels are imbued with dynamic life and variety. No stone is left unturned, these scholars also explain the histories of each gospel and in an extremely readable way they provide people with no scholarly background a view into the world of Historical Jesus study. It also makes an invaluable tool or those who are studying the historical Jesus. It is very readable and very thorough, the translators and editors walk a person through every step of the way. There is no good reason to not read this book and so many good reasons to read it.
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Summary: Helped to Restore My Faith
Review: This book and the scholarship that is behind it is finally giving much of humanity relief from the hard-core literalist interpretation of the gospels and the world. These scholars are definitely breathing new life into Christianity and are greatly aiding its transformation into a realistic religion. The four main gospels are presented here in new translations, Mark, Luke, Matthew and John. There are some little things I don't like, such as the rendering of 'the Kingdom of God' as 'God's Imperial Rule'. But remember, the authors are doing what they can to be as true to history and the real meaning behind the words as possible. There are extensive footnotes, and references given to other writings, chiefly the Old Testament. Other Gospels include the 'Signs' gospel, a listing of Jesus' miacles, and the Gospel of Q, which is more of a scholarly creation since it is a theoretical source for the common material in Luke and Matthew that is not in Mark. Also presented is the now-famous gnostic Gospel of Thomas, as well as another Greek Fragments of Thomas, the Secret Book of James, the Dialogue of the Savior, and the Gospel of Mary. Some think these are heretical because the church leaders didn't canonize them or condemned them, but everyone has to decide for his or herself. No one can decide for anyone else what is spiritually valid for them. There are also the infancy Gospels of Thomas and James, and the Gospels of the Hebrews, Edionites, and Nazoreans, Other fragmentary Gospels included are the Gospel of Peter, the Secret Gospel of Mark, the Egerton Gospel, and some other items. There is also a load of information about the times in which the gospels were written and methods the scholars use. Overall, this book is a good start for anyone looking to investigate the wider range of scriptures that are out there. Do so with an open mind and you will surely find reward.
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Summary: For Serious Gospel Study
Review: This book is for serious gospel study. The word "gospel" comes from a Greek term "euangelion" which means "good news." Within the New Testament the term refers to the message of Jesus, but eventually the term was applied to numerous formats for carrying the message. _The Complete Gospels_, as Robert Funk writes in the foreward, is "a bold step in gathering all the surviving gospels (from the early Christian era)... into one volume." In addition to the canonical gospels, there are sayings gospels, infancy gospels, Jewish-Christian gospels, as well as gospel fragments. The translations are fresh and _very_ readable. Each text is introduced and notated with parallel readings and minor commentary. For example, the editors write that saying #82 of the Gospel Of Thomas may have been based upon a proverb of Aesop. And as a little extra there are cameo insertions on topics ranging from how to translate "basileia tou theou" (kingdom of God) to an English representation of a column of Codex Sinaiticus.
To put it simply, this is an outstanding work.
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Summary: Buyer beware!!!
Review: This book is not scholarship. In order to justify its political correctness (and make more money no doubt) the Jesus Seminar's minions continue to hand an under-informed society steaming piles like this book. It would be nice if this group of writers, which is so lacking in faith, would at least look at the facts. Unfortunately, the "scholarly methods" of the Jesus Seminar are so arbitrarily biased that I doubt this will ever happen.
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Summary: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and Who?
Review: This is an absolutely fascinating book. This is a very important compilation, both from a scholarly and a popular perspective. It has only been within the past generation that dialogue and interest in how the Bible came to be the Bible has grown beyond the narrow confines of academic analysts and theorists, and into the mainstream discussion of churches and independent readers. While most of the material in Robert Miller's 'The Complete Gospels' is available elsewhere (and thus Miller is more an editor than an author), this is the first time that a concentrated effort has been made to bring together all of the texts and fragments of the known gospels from the early Christian era. The contents are as follows: --Narrative Gospels--
Gospel of Mark
Gospel of Matthew
Gospel of Luke
Signs Gospel
Gospel of John --Sayings Gospels--
Sayings Gospel Q
Gospel of Thomas
Greek Fragments of Thomas
Secret Book of James
Dialogue of the Saviour
Gospel of Mary --Infancy Gospels--
Infancy Gospel of Thomas
Infancy Gospel of James --Fragmentary Gospels--
Gospel of Peter
Secret Gospel of Mark
Egerton Gospel
Gospel Oxyrhynchus 840
Gospel Oxyrhynchus 1224 --Jewish-Christian Gospels--
Gospel of the Hebrews
Gospel of the Ebionites
Gospel of the Nazoreans --Orphan Sayings and Stories-- These are all newly translated into what has been dubbed the Scholars Version, or SV, by leading academic figures, from the original languages, which (in addition to the dominant Greek) includes Coptic, Latin, Aramaic and Hebrew. The SV text strives to be understandable in modern English idiom, and so avoids poetic nuance in favour of presenting the meaning in clearest language. 'The Complete Gospels' has an introduction to each gospel which establishes context, origin, story and structure. Also, the gospel texts are heavily annotated, pointing out difficulties in the text, cross-references with other gospels (canonical and non-canonical), and historical and theological issues which arise from interpretations. Theories of textual development and communal use are also presented. John Dominic Crossan argues that the successful inclusion of the canonical gospels in the New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke & John) came about more due to a success of type of gospel, as opposed to any necessary message in the gospels (else how does one logically account for the difficulties in reconciling the synoptic gospels with the Johannine account?). This argument has some merit, as can be seen from the above list, in which four of five narratives became canonical, and none of the other types did. It is interesting to play around with various statements such as Simon Peter said to them, 'Make Mary leave us, for females don't deserve life.
Jesus said, 'Look, I will guide her to make her male, so that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males. For every female who makes herself male will enter the domain of Heaven.' Gospel of Thomas, 114 And people sometimes complain that Paul is anti-female! This same conflict is reflected in the Gospel of Mary:
Then Mary wept and said to Peter, 'Peter, my brother, what are you imagining about this? Do you think that I've made all this up secretly by myself or that I am telling lies about the Saviour?' Levi said to Peter, 'Peter, you have a constant inclination to anger and you are always ready to give way to it. And even now you are doing exactly that by questioning the woman as if you're her adversary. If the Saviour considered her to be worthy, who are you to disregard her?' The copy I have is the annotated scholars edition, which was updated with four new pieces from the previous edition (the three Jewish-Christian gospels and Greek fragments of the Gospel of Thomas). This is a truly fascinating look at various stories and issues that were contemporary with the canonical gospels, and had an influence in various smaller communities which, for one historical reason or another, failed to make a major impact on the development of Christianity. Regardless of one's view on the canon of scripture, this book provides material of interest for study and consideration.
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Summary: Fascinating and Scholarly
Review: This is an excellent book. It presents many of the known canonical gospels and extracanonical gospels and gospel fragments from the first two hundred years after Jesus' ascension. These gospels are grouped together by type, such as narrative, sayings, and infancy. This book also contains the Signs Gospel; a collection called the Orphan Sayings and Stories; and gospel fragments. If your interest, or your studies, requires a starting point for understanding extracanonical gospels, add this book to your library. It is well researched and understandable. It is an excellent reference source.
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