Professor George van Kooten, a Professorial Fellow of Clare Hall and Lady Margaret’s Professor of Divinity at the University of Cambridge, has published a new book offering a fresh perspective on the origins of the New Testament Gospels.

In Reverberations of Good News: The Gospels in Context, Professor van Kooten argues that the Gospel of John may be the earliest of the four canonical Gospels. This challenges the long-standing scholarly view that the Gospel of Mark was written first.

The book examines the Gospels within the wider Graeco-Roman world in which they were written. By emphasising that all four texts were composed in Greek and should be read in their historical and literary context, Professor van Kooten offers a new interpretation of how these foundational Christian writings developed.

The publication expands on earlier academic work and is already attracting international attention. Professor van Kooten has been invited to present the book and discuss its arguments at several major conferences this year, including the British New Testament Conference, the European Association of Biblical Studies and the Society of Biblical Literature in the United States.

Clare Hall warmly congratulates Professor van Kooten on the publication of this important new work and on its contribution to ongoing debates in New Testament scholarship.