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 a fresh approach and a new understanding, to turn a worn out experience into one that is vivid 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 Societies.