I'm writing as a Catholic, but also as a fan of Bart Ehrman, definitely a Protestant, or perhaps more accurately a former Protestant. As some of you may know, Bart eventually became an atheist (although he might quibble with the term) because of his problem with God permitting evil (described in his book "The Problem of God") and because of his study of the New Testament (he has written a deservedly well-known textbook), which led him to realize that the Gospel texts have something like 30,000 (?) variations, most insignificant, but some major, as well as contradictions, additions, etc. etc. I should also add that I have been very skeptical of Garry Wills in the past. But with this book he has redeemed himself.
Wills is concerned mainly with the themes and language of each Gospel. He points out that each was written in a different place (presumably) for a different audience, each of which had different concerns. Wills analyzes the rhetoric each author uses: various types of couplets, parallelism, etc. Finally, he shows that each author is writing backwards in a sense; not to tell a factual story from beginning to end, but to show (20-60 years after the fact) that Jesus fulfilled Hebrew Scriptures. So everything (perhaps a slight exaggeration) in the Gospels should be seen form the point of view of fulfilling the Hebrew Scriptures.
Other reviewers, much more learned than I, have quarrelled with Wills on points of translation, interpretation, etc. on specific issues. They may or may not be right, but I'm not sure that's the point. First of all, at 209 pages, this is clearly not a book designed for the specialist (although there are footnotes). It's an introduction to the Gospels. At that, I believe it succeeds brilliantly.
I personally have difficulty with some of his rhetorical arguments. You could argue, for example, that a current author is copying Old English rhetoric, or Shakespeare's meter, etc., but while this MAY be true, it could also be equally true that English by its very nature encourages certain rhetorical devices (alliteration, iambic pentameter). The same for the Gospels, I would think. It MAY be intentional to use certain devices, but on the other hand, I would think some of these devices might simply feel "natural" to an author of the time. But it's nice to know of their existence, in any case, and it's interesting to see how the structure of each Gospel is built.
On a substantive level, Wills really impressed me. To go back to Bart Ehrman (whom I admire, remember), Wills also readily admits all the additions, contradictions, clerical mistakes, etc. in the texts. Then he says, in essence, "So what?". And for me, this is the point: The canon of the New Testament was set by roughly 150 AD, with virtually everyone at the time in agreement. The tradition of the community gave validity to the written word, not the other way around. This of course flips the Protestant belief in the New Testament on its head (poor Ehrman). Because the basis for faith is the consensus of the Christian community, not some inerrant text that was dictated by God. For example, Wills points out that everyone agrees that the story of the woman taken in adultery was a later addition to the Gospel of John, but his conclusion is (p. 182) "This is a story worthy of the Gospel it ended up in, however it ended up there." And to me, that's the point. Of course additions or changes made after the period when the canonical texts were accepted wouldn't have the same standing. But if the Christian community as a whole was happy with the canonical texts c. 150 AD, I'm happy too. And why not?
After reading this book I went back to the Catechism and read the sections on Scripture (pp. 32-37), and they of course agree with Wills (and with Raymond Brown, who is the main source for Wills). Wills himself points out in his epilogue that far from being extreme, Brown's own works on the New Testament were given an imprimatur and nihil obstat by the local bishop: in other words, they conformed to Catholic orthodoxy. More knowledge of the Gospels, such as Wills gives, should not be an impediment to faith (a la Ehrman), it should reinforce it.
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What the Gospels Meant
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