By recovering the world for whom the first three gospels were written, Professor Dodd, in this short book, confers upon his readers the ability to make fresh approach and a new understanding to turn a worn-out experience into tone that is vivd and moving. He discusses the events of the Old World into which the gospels entered, their date of writing, their authenticity in the light of modern biblical criticism, the early communities of Christians whose needs the gospels met and the fundamentals of early Christian society. All is tersely dealt with, but one feels the authority of learning behind the summary. The chapters were originally broadcast as part of the Sunday morning services of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).