The Christian Researcher
  • Home
  • My Book
  • Podcast
  • Store
  • Articles
  • Contact
  • Book Reviews
  • Book Recommendations
  • Preacher's Study Videos
  • Matthew Study Material
  • Gospel Meetings Video/Audio
  • Quotes For Contemplation
  • Free Downloads
    • Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, and Seventh Day Adventists Renounced
  • Bible Correspondence Course
  • Online Tools
  • Audio Books, Debates, and Sermons
    • The Battey - Kniffen Discussion on Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage
    • The Holy Spirit by George Battey
    • Premillennialism
    • Sermon on the Mt. by George Battey
    • Teacher Training Material
    • Open Bible Studies Audio/Video
  • Links
  • The Hutto - Cutter Debate

Discovering Jesus by T. D. Alexander

1/30/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture

Discovering Jesus 

by T. D. Alexander
In the preface to his book Discovering Jesus, T. D. Alexander asks the following provocative questions:
 
“How do the Gospels of Mark, Matthew, and Luke differ from each other?  What is distinctive about each?  How does Mark’s picture of Jesus differ from that of Mathew (or Luke, or John)?  Why is John’s Gospel quite unlike the others?” 
 
He then concludes by challenging, “Even mature Christians will struggle to answer these questions.” 

 

I believe Mr. Alexander is correct in his assessment of the reality among most Bible readers.  If you are unable to answer his questions, I would strongly encourage you to give them further thought and find the answers to them.  Mr. Alexander’s book Discovering Jesus is geared towards answering his questions and provoking students to further study of the Gospels by highlighting unique themes that run throughout each Gospel.
 
Before giving this volume a full endorsement, I do believe the reader should be aware of two things: 
 
1.  T. D. Alexander holds to Markan priority (the theory that Mark was the first written Gospel and that Luke and Matthew used it for the basis their Gospel design).  This is not a deal breaker for recommending the book, but I am not personally convinced of Markan priority.  Markan priority is one way of accounting for the material Mark shares with both Matthew and Luke, but does not account for the material Matthew and Luke share that are missing from Mark.  Whether Matthew and Luke quote from Mark or Mark quotes from Matthew and Luke is not really of great importance as long as we understand that each writer was independently lead by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in writing their Gospel.  The reason I point out Alexander’s Markan priority background is because it often leads to the problem of “Q”.
 
2.  Though Mr. Alexander does not appear to fully advocate for the existence of “Q”, he does introduce it as a possibility at the close of his book.  “Q” comes from the German word “Quelle” and is the title given to an alleged document hypothesized by liberal scholars.  According to liberal scholars Matthew and Luke copied (plagiarized?) from Mark and “Q” rather than writing an independent Gospel by means of inspiration.  The reasoning goes like this:  Since 80%-90% of Mark is found in Matthew and +60% in Luke, Matthew and Luke must have copied from Mark.  In areas where Matthew and Luke share material that is not found in Mark, there must be a document (“Q”) from which they both drew copied. 
 
The major problem with the “Q” theory (though certainly not the only ones) is that it attacks the inspiration of the New Testament.  There is no manuscript evidence for “Q”, no one has ever seen the alleged “Q”, nor are liberal scholars agreed upon what all should be found in “Q”.  The theory of “Q” exists solely as an attack on the doctrine of inspiration and was devised by heretics who had become dissatisfied with portions of the inspired Word.
 
Though Mr. Alexander does not fully endorse the “Q” theory, he does make readers aware of its existence and considers it a possibility. For this reason I feel compelled to expose “Q” for what it is and warn Bible students to flee from it. 
 
For those wanting to know more about the “Q” controversy, The Case Against “Q” by Mark Goodacare is a scholarly work (this means it’s a rather thorough, tedious, and difficult read) that is currently rocking the foundation of “Q” advocates world.
 
Despite Alexander’s preference toward Markan priority and his introduction to “Q” and the close of the book, I believe there is much to be learned from his well written introduction to the Gospels.  May we all learn to appreciate each Gospel independently and recognize the role it played in spreading the Gospel of Christ.
Picture
Click to purchase a copy.
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Nathan Battey

    Our goal is to provide helpful reviews of religious books to aid people with their Bible studies, building their libraries, and avoiding false doctrine.

    Archives

    December 2018
    August 2017
    March 2017
    January 2017
    April 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016
    August 2015
    July 2015
    May 2015
    February 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    September 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013

    Categories

    All
    Adultery
    Alleged Discrepencies
    Authority
    Baptism
    Bible Classes
    Bible Colleges
    Bible Study
    Biblical Survey
    Carl Ketcherside
    Church Benevolence
    Church Discipline
    Church Government
    Debate Notes
    Discovering Jesus
    Doug Edwards
    Evangelism
    Faith
    Family
    Family Worship
    Fathers And Mothers
    Fellowship
    Fornication
    Gospel Studies
    Helping Without Hurting
    Hermeneutics
    Holy Spirit
    Home Bible Study
    Homosexuality
    Inspiration Of The Bible
    Inspiration Of The Bible
    Institutionalism
    Instrumental Music
    Islam
    Jihad
    Leadership
    Life Of Christ
    Lord's Supper
    Marriage
    Messiah
    Messianic Prophecy
    Multiple Cups
    Parenting
    Preachers
    Rules Of Assembly
    Salvation
    Same-Sex Marriage
    Seventh Day Adventism
    Seventh Day Adventism
    Sexual Temptation
    T. D. Alexander
    Temptation
    The Church
    The Home
    The Kingdom
    The New Testament Church
    The Resurrection
    Translation
    When Shovels Break
    Workbooks
    Worship

    RSS Feed

    Subscribe
Picture
"The man who never reads will never be read; he who never quotes will never be quoted. He who will not use the thoughts of other men's brains proves that he has no brains of his own."  
                                                            - C. H. Spurgeon