A few weeks ago, B&H publishers sent me a copy of their new book, Jesus, In His Own Words,
The book is great.
First, it weaves all four gospels together to create one unified narrative in chronological order. So you are reading all four gospels as one story in its historical sequence from eternity past with God the Father (John 1), to Bethlehem, to the ascension. 
Second, it removes chapters and verses so the narrative reads as a free-flowing story. The biblical references are placed in an inconspicuous place so they do not break the flow.
Third, Mounce goes further and makes the story an autobiography of Jesus. He changes all the places where the original says “And Jesus” to “And I.” He changes “He said” to “I said.”
For example:
At that time I went from the town of Nazareth to Galilee to the Jordan River to be baptized by John. But John tried to talk me out of it, saying, “I ought to be baptized by you; why then are you coming to me for baptism?” (p. 25).
In other words, Mounce brilliantly turns the story of Jesus in the gospels to an autobiography, where Jesus is telling His own story.
Amazing.
Fourth, Mounce creates his own beautiful translation of the original gospels that is accurate and highly readable. Robert Mounce is a Greek scholar who has served on numerous Bible translating teams (New Living Translation, New International Version, English Standard Bible). He is highly qualified for this particular work, and he hits the ball out of the park with it.
The book uniquely presents the greatest story ever told in a fresh and living way . . . one that comes from the Lord’s own lips. It’s a modern-day Diatessaron (harmony of the gospels). Mounce brings the gospels to life by this approach, and you can see the whole sweeping story from beginning to end in its chronological sequence.
(Incidentally, Mounce’s book builds on two previous out-of-print works by combining them together. Johnston Cheney’s ground-breaking, pioneering work, The Life of Christ in Stereo—retitled The Greatest Story—and Frank Laubach’s The Autobiography of Jesus Christ. Those happen to be favorites of mine, but I like Mounce’s work better.)
I’m now recommending this book as the precursor to my The Untold Story of the New Testament Church, which tells the story from Pentecost to Patmos (including all of the epistles) in chronological order as one sweeping narrative.
Thank you, Robert, for this beautiful work.
Update 1: From January 1 – December 31, 2018, I read every word of this book slowly and carefully. In reading, I noticed there were places where certain texts in the Gospels were left out and a few places where the translation didn’t mirror the original text. Certain texts were also missing from the Index. I communicated all of this to Robert. Just wanted my readers to know that the work has some flaws in it despite its greatness.
Update 2: Robert passed away in January 2019 at the age of 97. I’m glad I got to talk to him before he left us.
A Book Every Church and Family Should Own: Health & Wellness
Thank you, always read the books you recommend, and pass along to my son-in-love who loves the word, and pastors a local community of believers in San Antonio, TX
Sounds fascinating!
I have one thing to say to this book: “Yes please!”
“I’m now recommending this book as the precursor to my The Untold Story of the New Testament Church, which tells the story from Pentecost to Patmos (including all of the epistles) in chronological order as one sweeping narrative.” WOW! Now I’ll have to move it to priority on my to-read list. Thanks for sharing Frank. Looking forward to the interview in September!
I loved the Untold Story, too.
I started reading this book a couple of days ago. It is amazing! Thank you for the recommendation.
If I recall correctly, there was a first or second century Christian writer who tried to combine the four gospels into one, which effort was declared heretical by the church fathers.
I don’t know if it was the effort itself, or the way in which it was done – but history teaches us that an effort to blend the four into one is skating on thin ice.
I believe that by glossing over the differences between the four, we miss the opportunity to see the growth of understanding in the early Christian community of who Jesus was, and thus we miss their true experiences and journey to realizing God’s manifestation of His glory on earth
In His dust
rjw
RJW: The church fathers are a VERY mixed bag. They disagreed on many things. The harmony of the gospels was and has been well received by many. Also, there’s nothing wrong with creating a harmony of the gospels . . . in fact, it’s quite helpful . . . so long as it doesn’t *replace* the gospels as they were originally written. And I don’t know anyone who is seeking to do that.
Added to the wishlist! thanks!
Thanks, Frank, this will definitely land in my library. In an era where we are still getting the benefit from 150 years of verse-by-verse focused exposition of Scripture, it’s good to see more folks stepping back to encourage a panoramic view.
Your work, The Untold Story of the New Testament Church, and another harmonization, The Chronological Bible, are two other sources that have helped me see the big picture of God’s hand on history. These harmonizations are not only informative and educational, they’re fascinating reading because they help you see God’s Word in new light and with a more complete context.
I will now recommend all three for any Christian who is tired of getting lost in the weeds of theological details and wants to see Scripture in all its grandeur. It’s not that theological details are bad — they are wonderful — but even the most beautiful gold thread is part of an even more beautiful tapestry.
Thanks of the tip. I have many of Mounce’s scholarly works. He is a very gifted author who is able to communicate in a more common way.
Frank,
This book does sound compelling. Also, your book The Untold Story Of The New Testament Church sounds equally as compelling as well. I’d love to read these. Thanks for getting the info for these books out there.
Blessings!
After having read the first few pages of this book on Amazon, I heartily agree; –This is perfect – perfect!
My grandsons and I have been becoming very personal with Jesus and this rendition of the Scriptures will help us so much is our quest to know Jesus more intimately.
Now — if you could combine all of your writings, Frank, in one book for children of the ages 6-12, grandparents like me would be greatly helped in teaching the Eternal purposes of God – clearly and succinctly. Would you consider such a project?
This book sounds incredible. Honestly it sounds like a book you would have written, Frank. Definitely pumped to read this!
This is so similar to some of the practical tools we have been given to better fellowship with the Lord.
I gotta get me one of these!
Thanks for posting this Frank.
Thanks Frank I think I will pick this up.