These five essays deal with the influence of Judaic haggadah or lore, especially in the form of "creative historiography" or "imaginative dramatization," on four enigmatic passages in the Gospels, and one in Acts. They point to their deeper theological truths and negate the alternatives of true or false, historical or non-historical, usually applied to the narratives.

Roger David Aus is pastor emeritus of the Evangelische Luther-Kirchengemeinde Alt-Reinickendorf in Berlin, Germany. He is the author of thirteen other books on the New Testament and a member of the Society of New Testament Studies, the Society of Biblical Literature, and the Gesellschaft fur Wissenschaftliche Theologie.