I have read his first book, Why Are There Differences in the Gospels. It was very slow reading, and very academic, nevertheless, if you want a fuller understanding and description of the techniques used in ancient biographies it is worth the wading. So I am grateful that Licona has written a more user friendly book. He mentioned Robert Guelich in his book as someone who years ago saw the gospels as portraits of Jesus. Guelich was my professor of the gospels in seminary and we covered this extensively. And when I read Licona I could almost hear Dr. Guelich’s voice in the background going “Amen.” Unfortunately, Dr. Guelich died young or he probably would have written the forward to this book. Also this book should also be read in conjunction with Richard Baukham’s book on “Jesus and the Eyewitness.” It is an excellent book on how oral tradition functioned in the early church. One of the key words in Licona’s book is that the “gist” of the story is what is important. And Baukham’s book on oral tradition also points out the same. For some that have a very wooden and almost “docetic” view of Scripture, Licona’s book will cause tremendous headaches. But all one has to do is read Kings and Chronicles together!! The techniques talked about by Licona are actually the same found in the Old Testament! So what does that tell us!! I can imagine this as an invaluable textbook in many seminaries in gospel studies. And those that hold to a mechanistic view of inspiration will simply be confirming Bart Ehrman’s line of thinking which is incredibly flawed understanding of inerrancy. I also believe that pastor’s need to get this information to their congregations and teach about the synoptic problem, lest they are unduly influenced by heretics such as Ehrman and their faith is destroyed. Thank you Dr. Licona for your great service to gospel studies and to the church.