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HCSB Harmony of the Gospels
Gospel harmonies were inevitable. One of the first impulses of someone studying a teaching or an event in Jesus' life is to seek as many perspectives on that event as possible. Around AD 160 Tatian compiled a single narrative of the four Gospels, reducing the number of verses from 3,780 (four separate Gospels) to 2,769 verses without excluding any event or teaching from the life of Jesus. This Holman Christian Standard Harmony of the Gospels builds on a tradition of harmonization begun in the 19TH century by John A. Broadus and continued by his protege, A.T. Robertson.
The HCSB Harmony contains the full text of the each of the four Gospels in the Holman Christian Standard Bible. The Harmony contains interpretive and clarifying notes by a number of scholars, some with differing views on the relationship between various Gospel accounts. Beyond the Harmony, this volume includes articles designed to address issues that arise when one compares the four Gospels and seeks to give an integrated account of the life and teachings of Jesus. The HCSB Harmony is unique in that it contains eight four-color maps that illuminate the life and ministry of Jesus. This resource will be valuable to pastors, lay Bible teachers, and will serve well as a primary textbook in college and seminary courses on the Gospels and on the Life and Teachings of Jesus.
About the Author:
Steven L. Cox is Associate Professor of New Testament and Greek at Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary
About the Author:
Kendell H. Easley is Professor of Christian Studies and Program Director for the Master of Christian Studies, Union University
400 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 2, 2025
I’ve never seen a book that puts pieces of the Gospels side by side and shows their connections and correlations like this. Overall a very interesting read with good commentary that taught me several new things. Would recommend to someone looking for Gospel to Gospel comparisons.
May 5, 2026
Illuminating. The HCSB Harmony of the Gospels by Kendall H. Easley and Steven L. Cox is, as the title states, a harmony of the four Biblical Gospels. This means that the passages from the gospels are reproduced in chronological order where historical events which multiple Gospels cover are shown in parallel columns with the columns containing each of the respective Gospel accounts. This particular harmony divides into 14 major sections and follows the structure of the harmony produced by John A. Broadus revised by A. T. Robertson.
The harmony also contains over two dozen short articles written by various Biblical scholars on a host of issues related to difficulties raised by or theological insights gleamed from harmonization, as well as generally important themes in the Gospels. I found most of the articles to be both helpful and intellectually stimulating, but due to their extensive number, I will focus on a few that particularly stood out to me. The article “Why There Are Four Gospels” by Rick Melick highlights the unique contribution of each Gospel author. For instance, the author comments that “Mark is the least Jewish and most Roman in perspective”, citing as evidence the fact that in Mark “it is the Roman centurion who provides the ultimate validation of Jesus as Son of God." This is something that I had never before noticed, and it provided me insight as I then read Mark with that Roman focus in mind, especially in comparison to the other Gospels. Melick also mentions how key the idea of belief is for John as “John used the word for faith 98 times, more than any other writer." While I was previously aware of the purpose of John’s Gospel of instilling belief in the reader, the sheer amount of how much John discusses faith brought that point home in a new and powerful way. Despite pointing out the distinctives of each Gospel, Melick also manages to stress their overall unity, affirming that “[a]nyone who reads the Gospels realizes that they tell the same story." Additionally, he indicates that “Christians have always accepted four Gospels. It seems as soon as they were read, each of them was accepted as genuine and valuable to the church." The combination of these two statements increased my confidence in the Gospels as well authenticated in church history and as mutually coherent.
Another article, “Demons in the Gospels” by David G. Shackelford, essentially gives a mini lesson on demonology just using the Gospels. The author sets the stage by declaring that “[d]emons, or evil spirits, are mentioned more often in the Gospels than in any other section of Scripture." While I knew there were abundant references to demons in the Gospels, this fact increased my awareness of the reality and seriousness of spiritual warfare. Shackelford emphasizes that Satan is a personal being, stating in reference to the temptations of Jesus that anyone “who would consider Satan to be nothing more than an evil influence must explain how one could have a conversation with an influence." He also shows how demons are “certain of Jesus’ full deity” and know “that there is an appointed and inescapable date with God…There is no question of the outcome." By putting all this together, Shackleford paints a picture of Satan and His armies who know the Truth, but refuse to bow to Him, choosing to rather fight a hopeless battle against the King of kings. This reminded me that when I pridefully rebel against my Savior, it is not just wicked, but utterly foolish, as God knows best and, ultimately, always gets His way.
The last article I would like to spotlight is “The Amount of Time Between the Crucifixion and the Resurrection of Christ” by R. Kirk Kilpatrick, which explores how long Jesus was dead in the tomb. Kilpatrick takes the traditional view that “Jesus was crucified on Friday” and “arose on Sunday." He shows that “[t]he formula occurring most frequently in the NT indicates clearly that Jesus rose from the dead on the third day,” as “[s]ixteen of the twenty-one passages contain this formula." Kilpatrick also explains Jesus’ prophecy that He would be in the tomb three days and three nights by noting that “[t]he Jewish Talmud held that ‘any part of a day is as the whole,’” which would make this Jesus’ prediction conformable to being in the tomb from Friday to Sunday. I found this article particularly helpful, as I recently engaged in a conversation where someone was claiming that Jesus was not crucified on Good Friday. Kirkpatrick’s article answered some of the main questions I had, especially with the quotation from the Talmud and with the highlighting the different uses of the term “Passover” in John. Overall, as I had never read a harmony before, I found the HCSV Harmony of the Gospels to be a theologically enlightening experience, both in the text of the Gospels and in the articles.
The harmony also contains over two dozen short articles written by various Biblical scholars on a host of issues related to difficulties raised by or theological insights gleamed from harmonization, as well as generally important themes in the Gospels. I found most of the articles to be both helpful and intellectually stimulating, but due to their extensive number, I will focus on a few that particularly stood out to me. The article “Why There Are Four Gospels” by Rick Melick highlights the unique contribution of each Gospel author. For instance, the author comments that “Mark is the least Jewish and most Roman in perspective”, citing as evidence the fact that in Mark “it is the Roman centurion who provides the ultimate validation of Jesus as Son of God." This is something that I had never before noticed, and it provided me insight as I then read Mark with that Roman focus in mind, especially in comparison to the other Gospels. Melick also mentions how key the idea of belief is for John as “John used the word for faith 98 times, more than any other writer." While I was previously aware of the purpose of John’s Gospel of instilling belief in the reader, the sheer amount of how much John discusses faith brought that point home in a new and powerful way. Despite pointing out the distinctives of each Gospel, Melick also manages to stress their overall unity, affirming that “[a]nyone who reads the Gospels realizes that they tell the same story." Additionally, he indicates that “Christians have always accepted four Gospels. It seems as soon as they were read, each of them was accepted as genuine and valuable to the church." The combination of these two statements increased my confidence in the Gospels as well authenticated in church history and as mutually coherent.
Another article, “Demons in the Gospels” by David G. Shackelford, essentially gives a mini lesson on demonology just using the Gospels. The author sets the stage by declaring that “[d]emons, or evil spirits, are mentioned more often in the Gospels than in any other section of Scripture." While I knew there were abundant references to demons in the Gospels, this fact increased my awareness of the reality and seriousness of spiritual warfare. Shackelford emphasizes that Satan is a personal being, stating in reference to the temptations of Jesus that anyone “who would consider Satan to be nothing more than an evil influence must explain how one could have a conversation with an influence." He also shows how demons are “certain of Jesus’ full deity” and know “that there is an appointed and inescapable date with God…There is no question of the outcome." By putting all this together, Shackleford paints a picture of Satan and His armies who know the Truth, but refuse to bow to Him, choosing to rather fight a hopeless battle against the King of kings. This reminded me that when I pridefully rebel against my Savior, it is not just wicked, but utterly foolish, as God knows best and, ultimately, always gets His way.
The last article I would like to spotlight is “The Amount of Time Between the Crucifixion and the Resurrection of Christ” by R. Kirk Kilpatrick, which explores how long Jesus was dead in the tomb. Kilpatrick takes the traditional view that “Jesus was crucified on Friday” and “arose on Sunday." He shows that “[t]he formula occurring most frequently in the NT indicates clearly that Jesus rose from the dead on the third day,” as “[s]ixteen of the twenty-one passages contain this formula." Kilpatrick also explains Jesus’ prophecy that He would be in the tomb three days and three nights by noting that “[t]he Jewish Talmud held that ‘any part of a day is as the whole,’” which would make this Jesus’ prediction conformable to being in the tomb from Friday to Sunday. I found this article particularly helpful, as I recently engaged in a conversation where someone was claiming that Jesus was not crucified on Good Friday. Kirkpatrick’s article answered some of the main questions I had, especially with the quotation from the Talmud and with the highlighting the different uses of the term “Passover” in John. Overall, as I had never read a harmony before, I found the HCSV Harmony of the Gospels to be a theologically enlightening experience, both in the text of the Gospels and in the articles.
March 3, 2018
A good overview and harmony of the Gospels with helpful articles on different aspects of Gospel harmonisation.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews