Chapter 2

Question 0

Historical criticism

Answer 0

1. Historical Jesus
2. Form criticism
3. Source criticism
4. Redaction criticism

Question 1

Four stages of the development of the gospel

Answer 1

1. The life death and resurrection of the historical Jesus
2. The period of oral tradition
3. The period of written sources
4. The writing of the gospels themselves

Question 2

Literary criticism

Answer 2

Examine the gospels in the final form

Question 3

Synoptic problem

Answer 3

The questions of the relationships between the synoptic gospels. Which was written first, are they dependent on each other? And if so which was written first.

Question 4

Source criticism

Answer 4

Recognition that some written sources are behind the gospels

Question 5

Markan priority

Answer 5

Mark is the oldest gospel and the prototype for the other gospels (theory)

Question 6

Two source theory

Answer 6

Mark + Q (the synoptic sayings source)

Question 7

Four source theory

Answer 7

Mark +Q + M(Matthews unique material) + L(Luke’s unique material)

Question 8

Griesbach hypothesis/ two gospel hypothesis

Answer 8

The view that Matthew was written first, Luke used Matthew, and mark is an abridged version of them both

Question 9

Cautions on the synoptic problem

Answer 9

1. Source theories remain theories
2. Markan priority best explains the available evidence.
3. The nature of other sources like Q,M, and L remains unknown
4. The importance of eye witness testimony and oral traditions must be taken into account
5. Church tradition about authorship should be taken seriously, but is not infallible

Question 10

Pericope

Answer 10

A short self contained gospel episode, such as a miracle story, parable, or pronouncement which may have originally circulated as a independent unit of oral tradition

Question 11

Sitz im leben

Answer 11

A setting in life

Question 12

Goals of form criticism

Answer 12

1. the classify and analyze forms(mini-genres)
2. Determine the church context in which the form originated and was used(sitz im leben)
3. The trace the history of its transmission in the church (tradition criticism)

Question 13

Positive contributions of form criticism

Answer 13

1. The importance of preaching the Gospel in the Early Church
2. The importance of genre identification
3. The importance of individual pericopae

Question 14

Important weaknesses and dangers of form criticism

Answer 14

1. Presuppositions of Nonhistoricity and an Antisupernatural Bias
2. An exclusively oral period
3. problems of classification
4. Subjectivity in identifying the setting in life and tracing a transmission history

Question 15

The goals of redaction criticism

Answer 15

1. to analyze how the Gospel writers “redacted” or edited their sources
2. to discern from this redaction the theological emphases of each writer
3. To determine each author’s purpose in writing
4. To identify the community situation, or setting in life (sitz im leben), within which the author wrote

Question 16

Positive contributions of redaction criticism

Answer 16

1. Redaction criticism affirms that the Evangelists were purposeful writers and not mere compilers of material
2. Redaction criticism treats the Gospels as wholes and so corrects the approach of form criticism, which looks only at individual units of tradition
3. By comparing the Gospels, redaction criticism affirms the unique theological contribution of each Evangelist.

Question 17

Potential weakness of reduction criticism

Answer 17

1. Many reduction critics too quickly assume that a saying or story found in only one Gospel was created by the writer
2. Redaction critics tend to find theological significance in every alteration made by the Evangelists.
3. high degree of subjectivity