Books by Birger Gerhardsson

As is apparent from the title of this book, I am not writing about all the miracles in the Gospel of Matthew but only about the mighty acts which Jesus is said to perform (and which his followers perform in his name). I do not take up the miracles which happen to him (the virgin birth, the resurrection, the epiphanies of the baptism and transfiguration, and the like).--From the IntroductionBirger Gerhardsson (1926-2013) was a Swedish biblical scholar and professor emeritus in the Faculty of Theology at Lund University, Sweden. He also authored Memory and Manuscript and The Reliability of the Gospel Tradition.

This book contributes substantially to the formation of a vital sense of ethos and ethics in harmony with the biblical tradition. Birger Gerhardsson points out those essential characteristics which make up the Bible's basic unity in the midst of its diversity and, in the final chapter, provides a summary of the Bible's ethos. This summary is preceded by an historical description of the ethos of postexilic Judaism and early Christianity - from about five hundred years before Christ to the mid-second century being the period covered. Distinctive to this book is its demonstration of the role which the fundamental command of love for God (Deut. 6:4-5) played in the ethical thinking of early Christianity, not only through the profound idea at its root, but also through its wording.