The Four Witnesses : The Rebel, the Rabbi, the Chronicler, and the Mystic -- Why the Gospels Present Strikingly Different Visions of Jesus (Hardcover)

by Robin Griffith-Jones (Author) "Welcome to The Four Witnesses..." (more)
Key Phrases: new aeon, four witnesses, fourth witness, Mark's Jesus, John's Jesus, Luke's Jesus (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
The Four Witnesses by Robin Griffith-Jones, Master of the (Anglican) Temple in London, attempts to clarify the distinctions among the four gospels' quite different visions of Jesus. The four witnesses, as Griffith-Jones describes them, are the rebel (Mark), the rabbi (Matthew), the chronicler (Luke), and the Mystic (John). Griffith-Jones asks, "Who were these four writers? Where did they write and when? For whom?" and proceeds to give straightforward, balanced, intelligent answers. The Four Witnesses is most intent on making the point that each gospel was first written to speak to the situation of a particular religious community. For many readers, that will come as very good news, because it will help them to hear the particular messages that the gospels hold for their own communities today. For this reason, The Four Witnesses will also be a useful resource for Christian education programs in churches of many denominations.

From Publishers Weekly
Griffith-Jones, an Anglican priest who is a chaplain and lecturer in New Testament Studies at Oxford University, makes a rather forgettable entr?e into the already-saturated world of Jesus studies. The book begins with the tired observation that the Gospels offer not one, but four portraits of Jesus, and goes downhill from there. Griffith-Jones does little more than trot out the most basic findings of biblical scholarship: Mark was probably the first gospel to be written, while Matthew draws on Jewish traditions, sagely attempting to demonstrate that Jesus fulfilled Jewish prophecy. Matthew also stresses how similar Jesus is to Moses, depicting Jesus' brief asylum in Egypt as an echo of the Exodus story and highlighting the Sermon on the Mount's similarities to the revelation of the Torah at Mt. Sinai. Luke's Jesus is revolutionary, calling for a new order of compassion for the poor, for women and for other downtrodden folk; Griffith-Jones writes that "there is mercy at work in Luke's Jesus... by which our ordinary categories of rich and poor" are rendered meaningless. John is the most poetic and mystical writer, emphasizing more than the other evangelists the rebirth and transformation of individuals who knew Jesus. To justify yet another book on the historical Jesus aimed at the general reader, an author must offer either original insights or stylistic flair. Griffith-Jones does neither; skip his book. (May)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 405 pages
• Publisher: HarperOne; 1st edition (April 4, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0062516477
• ISBN-13: 978-0062516473
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,192,233 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, but it takes serious effort to read., September 4, 2000

By A Customer

The Four Witnesses is a fascinating book which anchors the writings of Mark, Matthew, Luke, John and Paul deeply into the culture and events -- and even the language structure -- of each of their current times. Griffith-Jones points out elements in the Old Testament and other revered teachings which influenced their thought processes. "Who do you say I am?" becomes ever more a matter of conjecture as each of these writers tries to make Jesus out to be completely Godly, a man who became Godly, or half-man, half-God like the current myths of Hercules, a hero of the downtrodden, or a man who appeals to the peacekeeping elite. It's a shame that Griffith-Jones is so difficult to read. A)He uses British vernacular, B) his work is so scholarly as to leave some of us laymen in the dust and C)he gives everything his own new names (ex.: Old Testament becomes Old Order). However, this book is so graphic in detailing the struggle to simply survive in these times that you become completely immersed in History. You're right in the thick of it as traditional Judaism is wrenched in half by a series of circumstances to become the Jews and Christians separately and irrevocably. This book was perfect preparation for my first year of seminary studies.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Development of Early Christianity, June 4, 2001

By	Robin Friedman (Washington, D.C. United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Four Witnesses: The Rebel, the Rabbi, the Chronicler, and the Mystic (Paperback)

I found this book on a shelf. It looked intriguing, and I read it. (In fact, the author says his book was written for for, among others, such a reader.) To be more specific, I am interested in religion and in the relationship between early Christianity and Judaism. I am Jewish and have heard something of what Judaism has to say about the relationship between the two religions. I haven't read much in depth about it and, even more unfortunately, haven't really listened to what Christian scholars might have to say on the subject.

Griffith-Jones's book did have something of what I wanted. The book considers each of the New Testament Gospels, together with other books of the New Testament, chiefly Acts and Revelation. Interspersed with each discussion is a historical section which considers Roman, Jewish and Christian sources discussing the period and place which Griffith Jones associates with each Gospel.

There is a great deal in the book about the interplay between early Christianity and the synagogue. Griffifth-Jones does a good job, I think, in describing the Second Temple and its practices, the calamity of its destruction by the Romans 30 years or so after the life of Jesus, and the difficulties faced by the early Christians. There is also good discussion of the dynamics between the church and synagogue, with some peoplein the synagogue opting to follow Jesus, others being ambivalent and uncertain, and others, and the synagogue as a whole, declining to do so. This is interesting and valuable and I would like to know more. The appeal of Christianity is, understandably enough, explained by the author. This is what I wanted to hear, but I also would like to hear the Jewish side.

There is also a good discussion of the decision the early Christians had to make about whether there message was primarily directed to Judaism or whether the message was world-encompassing with a mission and message for non-Jews as well. This is important and insightful, as far as both religions are concerned and Griffith-Jones discusses it well.

Although it is not the focus of the book, there is much here that Christians and Jews can share and discuss in an attempt to better understand each other. This is valuable and I learned something from hearing it from an informed and obviously deeply Christian voice.

The textual interpretations of the Gospels are interesting in themselves, if something too long and not well organized. As one would expect, they are more evangelical and religious in tone than the historical discussion. In some instances, I am not sure how the historical information the author presents informs or illuminates his reading of his Gospel. He doesn't always explain the connection well. Bythe time the author gets to the Gospel of John, the connection, at least for me, was almost entirely lost.

I found the discussions of the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke more illuminating, as to their purpose and audience, that the author's discussions of Mark and John.

The book is long and challenging to read. Although written for laypersons, it is difficult. There is a lot of repitition. This was probably done to allow the reader to keep track of what is being said, but too often it gets in the way. Stylistically the book is uneven.

This book will require effort to read. It did teach me something of what I wanted to know and helped me understand and appreciate the relationship between Judaism and Christianity. This is a subject that those in both traditions could well take to their hearts.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Four Witnesses, June 17, 2000

By	Lea Agnew (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews

There are plenty of nuggets that justify the effort it takes to stay with this book, such as glimpses of how Paul might have influenced the shape of the gospels. Overall, Mr. Griffith-Jones' opaque style seriously clouds what could have been a more illuminating study. I wonder if he meant to be so inaccessible. The author has plenty of insight to share, but spends much of the reader's patience on elaborate and contorted constructs which sometimes turn into circular thinking, and often lead to a fairly mundane point. He also wanders off for pages into tangential texts without making it clear they add all that much (a few do). The most valuable thing I got from the book, and it is significant, is a fresh sense of how audacious the Gospel messages were and are. This alone made a sometimes frustrating read worthwhile.