4 - The Gospels Flashcards
apocryphal meaning
doubtful authenticity/hidden
gnostic meaning
knowledge, to be in the know
apocryphal/gnostic gospels 5
- false idea that the church has hidden certain non-biblical sources ab Jesus
- supposed secret revelations of J after his death and resurrection
- not ab his ministry but more abstract reflections on theology, the world, angels, creation…
- more esoteric (otherworldly) than historical
- neither authoritative nor reliable
gospel of thomas
- has especially attracted some scholarly attention in part bc of its sayings being somewhat reminiscent of J
why apocryphal gospels dismissed 3
- 2nd century docs (not 1st century witnesses)
- presents rather mythical J over more full-bodies J in the NT Gospels
- authored in a greco-roman sort of way
josephus 2
- ad 37-100
- jewish historian who knew some details ab J
roman historians
describe christians as superstitious and being imprisoned and killed for J’s “evils”
4 possible gospel genres
expanded preaching, ancient greco-roman biographies, israelite-jewish biographical lit, eyewitness testimonies
expanded preaching
- expanded and written versions of the gospel first proclaimed orally by J as he spoke and taught and orally by his first followers who spoke ab him
ancient greco-roman biographies 3
- focussed on the main character’s (hero) words and deeds
- for followers to see how great the hero was
- leaves out jewish nature
israelite-jewish biographical lit 2
- compared to shorter ot narratives which focus on office and function of a significant and’l, such as moses or david
- or compared with longer jewish narratives or jewish apocrypha
eye witness testimonies
- histroians of this time believed history had to be written in living memory, when eyewitnesses were still around
the 4 source/document hypothesis 3
- markan priority (mark written first, matt and luke followed)
- matt and luke also used another unnamed doc labelled q
- matt and luke also each have their own independent sources, labelled m and L
markan priority arguments 3
length, order, difficulty
argument of length 3
- mark ab half the size of matt and luke
- 90% of mark found in matt and/or luke
- so thought more liely that matt and luke knew, drew on, and added to mark
argument of order 2
- the synoptic gospels usually have the events in J’s ministry in the same order, but whenever matt or luke depart from the sequence in Mark, they never do so at the same time
- suggests matt and luke frew on mark independently
argument of difficulty 2
- mark supposedly has harder readings which appear to have been clarified or smoothed out in matt and/or luke
- matt and luke remove ambiguity, like changing many were healed to all
q 5
- ab 250 verses are much the same in matt and luke but not found in mark
- these verses located at dif parts in their narratives
- while one may have borrowed from the other, it’s thought more likely that both used a common source called q
- from german quelle, meaning source
- existence of such a document remains debated
m and l
- ab 20% of matt and 40% of luke are unique to themselves, so inferred that they must have their own indl sources
genre
shape of the gospels as a whole
form
particular literary parts built into each gospel, like columns in a newspaper, each read differently
form criticism 4
- scholarly study of the distinct literary forms that may be found w/in the gospels
- includes: classification of forms
- locating social setting of forms
- compilation of forms into the gospels
classification of forms 2
- ex miracle accounts, call narratives, parables, etc
- may have emerged in first oral then written forms
locating social setting of the forms 2
- context of origin where use of this form was well known so may have arisen from
- ex: many of the parables may have arisen out of the farming context of rural galilee, whereas the lengthier passion narrative more likely came out of urban jerusalem
compilation of the forms into the gospels2
- the arrangement and inclusion of these various forms into extended written gospels
- we can see aspects of how they have been composed form-by-form, section-by-section, into full accounts
strengths of form critical approach 3
- insists gospels be read in ways that literary forms be taken seriously
- may allow insight into social and historical settings
- could tell how dif parts of the gospe;s may have been shaped, transmitted, collaected, and used
weaknesses of form critical approach 2
- can’t be completely confident ab the classifications
- or that gospel materials circulated independently first
redaction criticism 3
- another area of scholarly analysis which aims to see how the gospel writers have edited/redacted the various sources and forms used in composing their gospels
- ex: abbreviations additions, arranged differently
- could provide insight of purposes and interests of each gospel
stylistic forms of J’s sayings
the forms (such as parables and short sayings) of J that would have been easy to remember and pass on by word of mouth
terminology of tradition
Jewish trad’n valued important teachings and would have been careful to remember, communicate, and preserve J’s words
function of apostles
J’s 12 would have guarded and transmitted his teachings, acting somewhat like scribes in the early church
cultural role of memory
teachers would transmit from memory info orally to their students, who would be expected to retain and retell it as well
eyewitnesses and the lapse of time
many who saw and heard what J said and did were still alive when the gospels were transmitted and written so it could be reliable
written records
after 70ad, rabbinic students often took notes on what their teachers said, could have started earlier
christian prophecy and caution
early ot church communities were careful in accpeting prophets and teachers
respect for the sayings of J
early church was careful to make a distinction between the sayings of J and its own teachings
dissimilarity of interests
far from recording its own agenda back into the gospels and creating sayings of J, the early church was busy with its own interests such as the mission to the gentiles
