Customer Reviews

The NIV Harmony of the Gospels

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This helpful book arranges the four gospels in parallel columns, following the life of Jesus. It is a very helpful resource for anyone desiring to know what Jesus said and did in chronological order. Also, the book provides excellent essays and notes about various interesting and controversial issues involved in studying Jesus' life. It uses the New International Version in the text, making it available to all English readers. I use this book as an important part of the course I teach to ministerial students on the life of Jesus.

I am currently reading through this book, which is really a combination of each of the gospel accounts in chronological order. So far the book has been very enlightening and has taught me more about Christ than I would have learned by reading one gospel at a time. There is something about reading each account side by side that really brings the stories to life, and making Jesus more tangible (at least in my mind). If you want to know more about Jesus, His disciples, and you want to grow closer to the Lord this is a great book to help with all of these things.

The commentary is excellent. For example, did you realize that Jesus began to teach in parables late in His ministry, and only after many people had turned against Him?

One other thing that I really like about this book is that every time an old testament prophecy is fulfilled in the new testament it gives the old testament reference right there in the text. I know that many Bibles note this, but they use superscript marks and it's easy to read over them, so I like the references in the reading, that way I don't miss anything.

I really like the layout of the book. The columns line up by like paragraphs and sentence across the like gospels. The book is broken down into chapters that are broken down into different moments in Jesus' life and ministry. I also like the essays at the end of the book. They give good arguments for and against the gospels that help you think deeper about what your reading.

What I didn't like was was that this book though is technically new was published over twenty years ago. I think the actual book was printed then also. There are technical problems with the book. The pages are pulp and the printing technique looks like a toner based reproduction. There are places where the text is faded like the toner wasn't totally baked on to the paper. There are also places where toner had dropped on the page and the text looks smeared. Also though not overly important red text is always a plus when studying the teachings of Christ.

Over all content is the most important thing when purchasing something that is about the gospels. This book does a great job. I would just recommend that when Thomas and Gundry decide to release a new revision on this book to select a different publisher/printer to produce a sturdier book.

This is not a new harmony of the Gospels. It is a "revision" of the time honored standard work by A T Robertson and John Broadus. What Thomas and Gundry have done (which they readily admit in the preface) is to "revise" the translation to the NIV, and the original notes and essays to their own Dispensational theology. I quote from page 6 & 7 "The second comparison lies in eschatological perspective. Occasionally Broadus and Robertson reflected the amillennial or postmillennial temperament of their times. The twentieth century has witnessed a surge of interest in the premillennial interpretation of Scripture. It is the persuasion of the revisers that a consistent grammatical-historical interpretation of the Bible inevitably leads to this latter view. For this reason several of the explanatory footnotes reflect a corresponding difference in perspective from the earlier editions."

Robertson and Broadus were both considered "consistent grammatical-historical" interpreters of scripture and they, just like many today, were not Dispensationalist. I think it sad to see their material misused in this way. If you are a serious student of the Bible and wish to form your own opinions of Eschatology stay away from this harmony. Or at least realize what you are getting before you spend your money on this book. I bought a copy of the original and find it much more enlightening and accurate.

This resource is proving to be very valuable in my Study of the Bible. I often struggle with pulling out the subtle but significant differences between the synoptic gospels. Flipping back and forth in my Bible leaves me feeling frustrated. After using the "NIV Harmony of the Gospels" in my personal study, rather than feeling frustrated, I am excited and am able to appreciate those subtle differences. I would HIGHLY recommend this resource for any student of God's Word!

The thing I love about this book is that it puts the Bible in perspective. Instead of having to move around all the time on a certain subject, this book allows the reader to read about a certain topic from all the passages of thE Bible on one page. It makes reading the Word more understandable for the lay learner or new child of God. I am very impressed.

If you are looking for a book to help you keep in perspective the order of how the gospels play out this is a great resource. In the world of technology it is easy to think you should just google info. I would encourage anyone doing a serious study through the gospel to have this resource. I prefer the NLT Bible but this product is not offered in that format so this will have to be my resource for now!

This is my first purchase With Amazon...and everything was excellent! From the product itself (tops condition!), super affordable price to the shipping...everything was excellent! I thought I would wait for a few weeks but I received it just a week after or even less! Thanks to Amazon! I'm enjoying the very good book. It would have cost me triple the price had i not considered my friends' recommendation to get it from Amazon! Pat Calinisan a.k.a. 'matapat' from Sydney

This book is well organized and very helpful for the instructor to get his main points across.

This book was more helpful in my classes than my Bible and the other texts. The organization made it much more useful.