Four Portraits, One Jesus Video Lectures: A Survey of Jesus and the Gospels

A companion to Mark L. Strauss's Four Portraits, One Jesus, these video lectures provide an introduction and summary to every chapter in the widely adopted textbook. Useful for traditional students, students in distance and online-learning courses, and armchair learners alike, these lectures provide a full overview of Jesus' life and ministry from a top New Testament scholar.

With clarity and insight, Mark Strauss illuminates the Gospels, first addressing their nature, origin, methods for study, and historical, religious, and cultural backgrounds. He then moves on to closer study of each narrative and its contribution to our understanding of Jesus, investigating things such as plot, characters, and theme. Finally, he pulls it all together with a detailed examination of what the Gospels teach about Jesus' ministry, message, death, and resurrection, with excursions into the quest for the historical Jesus and the historical reliability of the Gospels.

A thorough introduction by a master teacher, Four Portraits, One Jesus Video Lectures provides a useful study tool for anyone wanting to better understand the Gospels and their presentation of Jesus.

Session Titles and Runtimes:

1 - What Are the Gospels? (20 min)

2 - Exploring the Origin and Nature of the Gospels: Historical-Critical Methods of Gospel Research (21 min)

3 - Reading and Hearing the Gospel Stories: Literary-Critical Methods of Gospel Research (22 min)

4 - The Historical Setting of the Gospels (22 min)

5 - The Religious Setting: First-Century Judaism (21 min)

6 - The Social and Cultural Setting of the Gospels (19 min)

7 - Mark: The Gospel of the Suffering Son of God (22 min)

8 - Matthew: The Gospel of the Messiah (24 min)

9 - Luke: The Gospel of the Savior for All People (24 min)

10 - John: The Gospel of the Son Who Reveals the Father (20 min)

11 - Searching for the Real Jesus (15 min)

12 - The Historical Reliability of the Gospels (18 min)

13 - The Contours and Chronology of Jesus' Ministry (13 min)

14 - Jesus' Birth and Childhood (18 min)

15 - The Beginning of Jesus' Ministry (12 min)

16 - The Message of Jesus (13 min)

17 - The Miracles of Jesus (11 min)

18 - The Messianic Words and Actions of Jesus (13 min)

19 - The Death of Jesus (16 min)

20 - The Resurrection of Jesus (15 min)