Lesson 4 - Other Forms of Criticism

Question 1

What is Redaction Criticism?

Answer 1

• • An analysis of what the final gospel authors did with their sources.
• • The unique theological emphasis/angle that each gospel author has and how that unique emphasis/angle causes that author to modify/redact/edit the sources to fit it.
• • Redaction criticism emphasizes that the final gospel authors were editors in their own right and used their agenda to alter the sources that came to them.

Question 2

What is the origins of Redaction criticism?

Answer 2

a. ) William Wrede
b. ) Gunter Borkhamm - Matthew altered Mark’s story of stilling the storm
c. ) Hans Conzelmann - Luke had a theological agenda and worked hard to downplay the immediate return of Christ, because the early church was in a crisis in waiting for the Lord’s return in the lifetime of the apostles. Luke changed Mark to show that Jesus had expected a delay, when they were just trying to explain why he hadn’t come back yet.

Question 3

What are the main elements of Redaction Criticism?

Answer 3

1. ) Distinction between tradition and redaction
   - - You have to make a distinction between the change Luke made (redaction) and the original source (tradition)
   - - this assumes you know the source
2. ) Patterns of change/redaction can reveal theological concerns of the author
   - - look at the way authors changed their sources and attach theological concerns to those changes
3. ) Criteria of how to spot redaction activity (types of change) – they look for certain type of changes
   - - Order of Material
   - - Omission of Material
   - - Addition/change of material
   - - Change in historical context
4. ) Theological concerns of author is given its own Stiz im Leben (“situation in life”)
   - - the life situation the author was in that caused them to make those changes (when you read the gospels you’re not reading about Jesus, but rather what the author wants you to read about)

Question 4

What are the positive contributions of Redaction criticism?

Answer 4

1. ) Each gospel author has a theological agenda

2. ) We need to take into account in which gospel a story appears and why, when we interpret it.

Question 5

What are the negative contributions of Redaction Criticism?

Answer 5

1. ) Can’t always distinguish between tradition and redaction (don’t always know the sources, can’t assume them)
2. ) Not all changes are theological (some are stylistic or giving more details)
3. ) Just because an author has an agenda, doesn’t mean it can’t be trusted or isn’t historical (no such thing as a neutral-historian)

Question 6

What is textual criticism?

Answer 6

Textual Criticism - how have the gospels been faithfully transmitted throughout time by Scribes

• • the tool we use to recover the original text of the NT
• • the way we work our way back to what the original author would have said

Question 7

What manuscript evidence do we possess in textual criticism?

Answer 7

Manuscript Evidence - how to determine the value of the copies we have
3 critieria
1.) Date of Manuscripts
– the closer to the date of the original the better
– p52 of john (125 AD), john (90 AD)
– Matthew - 2nd c.

2. ) Quantity of Manuscripts
   - - NT = 5,800 Manuscripts
   - - Gospels = 2,500 Manuscripts
3. ) Quality of Manuscripts
   - - issue isn’t the number of mistakes, but the type of mistakes (spelling variations)

Other important factors:
1.) Codex - normal book format, shows the organized, stable, and uniformed copying of originals

2. ) The Nomina Sacra (Sacred Names)
   - - organized, developed, and reliable way of copying down manuscripts

Question 8

Why are apocryphal gospels not included in the canon?

Answer 8

Faulty response: all Jesus material outside the gospels is completely untrustworthy and fabricated.

Correct Response: The apocryphal traditions that have the most historical credibility tend to look a lot like the material in the canonical gospels.

• • The apocryphal gospels we have are 2nd c. or later (couldn’t have been written by apostles)
• • All the canonical gospels were written in the 1st c. (these books have the best shot of giving you the historical Jesus)

Summary: In the end, we can acknowledge that there were numerous reports of Jesus in the first century that had historical credibility. However, God chose to inspire Matthew, Mark, Luke and John to write reports that were fully inerrant.

Question 9

What are some examples of apocryphal gospels?

Answer 9

1. ) Gospel of Thomas - least reliable
   - - Only Jesus’ sayings
   - - Not written by Thomas, not early or reliable
2. ) Gospel of Peter
   - - fills in what the canonical gospels left out (mostly about death and resurrection)
   - - late gospel, docetic (no real body)
3. ) Papryus Egerton 2 - 150 AD
   - - 5 stories of Jesus that seem like a mix of John and the synoptics