Includes bibliographical references and index.

Part 1 : The Eclipse of the Fourfold Gospel.
1. Augustine's ambiguous legacy : Perspectives historical and theological ; The illusions of harmony ; The Old and New. --
2. Dismantling the Canon : A controversy in the making ; A parable and a proposal ; Against the fourth gospel ; The lost original. --

Part 2 : Reframing Gospel Origins.
3. The Coincidences of Q : Luke Papias and Gospel origins ; Two annunciations ; Q's uncertain start ; Mark, the Mount and the Plain --
4. Luke the Interpreter : Rewriting Matthew ; A new sayings collection ; Luke's Matthean sequence ; From sayings collection to text. --
5. Thomas versus Q : De-Gnosticizing Thomas ; Thomas and the sayings collections genre ; Before Mark --
6. Interpreting the Johannine source (Jn GEger) : Moses, Jesus and two evangelists : (i) Searching the Scriptures, (ii) Moses the accuser, (iii) Moses against Jesus, (iv) Moses' true theme, (v) A hostile response, (vi) As Moses commanded ; The Johannine Interpreter : (i) Two communities, (ii) A Mosaic Stratum. --
7. Reinterpreting in Parallel (Jn, GTh, GPet) : Modelling reception ; Seeking and finding ; The crucified King ; Locating the risen Lord. --

Part 3 : The Canonical Construct.
8. The East: Limiting Plurality : Clement: the inclusive gospel ; Eusebius: Constructing the boundary. --
9. The West: Towards Consensus : Irenaeus: The politics of Gospel Origins ; Rome and the Gospel of Asia ; Contested beginnings. --
10. Origen: Canonical Hermeneutics : Commentary as pilgrimage ; Scripture's firstfruits ; Gospel difference --
11. Image, Symbol, Liturgy : On the cherubim ; Jerome in Ravenna ; Imaging the One Christ --
In lieu of a conclusion: seven theses on Jesus and the Canonical Gospel -- Bibliography -- Index of Patristic authors -- Index of modern authors -- Index of subjects -- Index of Scriptures and other ancient texts.

That there are four canonical versions of the one gospel story is often seen as a problem for Christian faith: where gospels multiply, so to do apparent contradictions that may seem to undermine their truth claims. In Gospel Writing Francis Watson argues that differences and tensions between canonical gospels represent opportunities for theological reflection, not problems for apologetics.

Watson presents the formation of the fourfold gospel as the defining moment in the reception of early gospel literature — and also of Jesus himself as the subject matter of that literature. As the canonical division sets four gospel texts alongside one another, the canon also creates a new, complex, textual entity more than the sum of its parts. A canonical gospel can no longer be regarded as a definitive, self-sufficient account of its subject matter. It must play its part within an intricate fourfold polyphony, and its meaning and significance are thereby transformed.

In elaborating these claims, Watson proposes nothing less than a new paradigm for gospel studies — one that engages fully with the available noncanonical material so as to illuminate the historical and theological significance of the canonical.