Overview: Willie Van Peer’s new book Unbelievable is everything you always wanted to know about the Gospels — their roots and reliability — casting new light on their historical reality.

Verdict: The New Testament has had a profound impact on Western society. But what do we actually know about its evolution? In what context did the texts originate? Who was Jesus, and how did he become the Son of God? Were the four evangelists reliable witnesses? Why are there so many inconsistencies and contradictions in the New Testament?

Unbelievable: The Gospel Texts in Narrative Tradition and Historical Context, explores the traditions and historical reality behind the New Testament, shedding a whole new light on the biblical stories.

In what is a most gloriously styled book of insightful prose, all questions asked, pondered and investigated in a concise, clear language that dutifully enables the reader to gain insight into the historical and literary contexts from which these texts emerged, and how they have shaped all Western cultures, author William Van Peer opens with: What do we know of Jesus of Nazareth?

The answers, not a great deal, in truth, but enough to still be able to form an image of him and his followers, based mainly on the four Gospels. I mean, I grew up on the question as to whether Jesus was always the eternal Son of God or that He became the Son of God only when He came to earth.

Side barring for a second, this is technically called the eternal generation of the Son, and where two issues are involved: The relationship between the nature of the Father and the Son and The relationship between the ways they carry out their respective roles as members of the Trinity.

That aside, what this enthusiastically-charged, magnificently-impassioned book seeks to do is examine the historical origins of the Gospels: where and when they originated, how they differ and how they influenced each other, who the authors were, what is known about their intentions, and which precursors of those texts are known.

In closing, this book is aimed at interested readers who want to learn how the New Testament came into being, and how it has molded our worldly lives. Although it is based on sound scholarly research, Unbelievable seeks primarily to appeal to a broad audience by presenting a cultural history of the book that so deeply influenced and still influences Western societies.

About the Author - Willie van Peer is Emeritus Professor of Literary Studies and Intercultural Hermeneutics at the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich and Fellow for Life of Clare Hall, Cambridge University. He lives in Oostende, Belgium.

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