The Four Gospels by Rieu, E.V (Translated) - 1961: A new translation from the Greek

The inclusion of the Gospels in the Penguin Classics series entails no new assessment of their literary, as against their spiritual, importance. For the last hundred years they have stood up to ruthless analysis and have emerged from it supreme in both respects. But there are two implications which I must mention. First, this new translation has behind it no denominational authority. It is a singlehanded effort, and the reader is invited to follow one guide only on a voyage of discovery. Secondly, the decision to place the volume side by side with other masterpieces of ancient art brings home to me a truth I did not realize before I undertook my task. The Four Gospels are spiritually supreme largely because they are great literature. The two values interlock. Other gospels were written in the first hundred years of the Christian faith, but they failed because in one or both of these respects they showed a weakness. The Church, when it canonized the Four, displayed the excellence of its literary as well as its religious judgement. (E.V. Rieu)