The Third Gospel for the Third World is a commentary on the Gospel of Luke that intends to pay special though not exclusive attention to whatever maybe of particular interest to Third World readers. While professing basic adherence to the historico-critical method, the author dwells on questions raised by the sociological, anthropological, cultural, feminist and other recent approaches to the Gospels. Matters of family tribe. clan, the conditions of peasant life, matters of honor and shame are highlighted. Recent findings of literary criticism are also taken into account. The commentary tries to make available to a wider reading public what the author considers to have pastoral implications first and foremost in a third world setting But it goes almost without saying that many of these features will also be of importance to committed first world Christians

The Gospel of Luke was most probably written for a Christian community or a cluster of house churches in a city of the Eastern Mediterranean. Thus, when Luke speaks of the poor, he has first of all in mind the urban poor in his time. Thereby his Gospel has a special relevance for the Third World and its millions of urban poor in the mega cities of the twentieth century