Part I. Jesus and the Gospels : context and approach. Contexts for reading the Gospels ; Jesus and the emergence of the Gospels -- part II. Four portraits of Jesus : the New Testament Gospels. The Gospel according to Mark ; The Gospel according to Matthew ; The Gospel according to Luke ; The Gospel according to John -- part III. Coherence and connections : thematic probes for twenty-first-century readers. From ancient Gospels to the twenty-first century ; Postscript: Reading the Gospels and ethical challenges today -- Selected bibliography -- Index of ancient sources -- Index of subjects and modern authors.