Jesuit Institute launches new book: ‘The Gospel: Would one book not have been enough?’

by Admin · August 25, 2025

Cover of “The Gospel: Would one book not have been enough?”

A new book by Jesuit Father David Neuhaus explores and unearths the treasure of having more than one account of Jesus’s life.

Titled The Gospel: Would one book not have been enough?, it is published by the Jesuit Institute of South Africa (JISA). The book will be launched in Johannesburg on September 2, addressed by Cardinal Stephen Brislin.

Johannesburg-born Fr Neuhaus serves at academic institutions in both Jerusalem and Bethlehem, as well as at JISA. This book draws partly on his lectures delivered during JISA’s 2023 Winter Living Theology programme.

Wealth in the diversity of perspectives

Fr Neuhaus collaborated with Debbie French and Terence Creamer in compiling the book. It examines how the Christian Bible took shape, explores previous attempts at merging the four Gospel accounts into a single narrative, and enthusiastically defends the decision to preserve the diverse perspectives of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

The author suggests that there is much wealth in the diversity of the accounts, which makes the encounter with Jesus of Nazareth a “transfiguring event” — even despite the difficulties that arise from some of the contradictions in the different accounts.

The conditions for preserving the four books of the one Gospel, the book highlights, were also created by the plurality in the Scriptures of Israel. Rather than harmonising these stories into one single narrative, the Scriptures of Israel included a multiplicity of accounts, enriching the perspectives of those who read or listened to them.

‘The Gospel: Would one book not have been enough?’ has been endorsed by Cardinal Brislin, archbishop of Johannesburg, who has written the book’s introduction. He describes the differences in the Gospel accounts not as obstacles but as a way to ensure that the richness of the multi-faceted Christ-experience is not lost.

In his foreword, Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe OP argues that the “plurality of accounts points to the transcendent truth of our faith. This delight in the richness of plural visions – propelling us towards transcendent and radiant truths – is a special gift at a time when society and even the Church is sundered by divisions and even polarisation.”

Four Parts

The book itself is divided into four parts.

The first part examines the plurality of the Gospel – or one Gospel with four books – as well as the meaning of the word “Gospel” against the backdrop of the use of the word in the Old Testament.

The second part examines how the event of Jesus’s Transfiguration is described in three of the books: Matthew, Mark and Luke. Here, attention is given to both the similarities and the differences in their recounting of this single event, with a focus on how the variations help to underline the meaning and depth of each account.

The third part of the book looks closely at the beginnings of Mark, Matthew, Luke and John, where the differences are obvious, as each book begins in its own particular way. These initial texts orient the listener or reader to how the Gospel writers will deal with Jesus in the course of the books they have composed.

Part four explores how to approach reading the four books of the Gospel, as well as the Bible more generally, and explains that the careful linguistic and literary analysis used in the book is but one way of reading the text.

The book launch will take place on September 2 at 18:00 at the Jesuit Institute at 15 Molesey Ave, Auckland Park, Johannesburg. Cardinal Brislin will be the speaker at the event. The book will be available at a special launch price of R120. To RSVP email .

‘The Gospel: Would one book not have been enough?’ is available from JISA at a cost of R150 (plus p&p). Contact