The Place of the Gospels in the General History of Literature
The Place of the Gospels in the General History of Literature

Author: Karl Ludwig Schmidt

Publisher: Univ of South Carolina Press

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 138

ISBN-13: 9781570034305

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KARL LUDWIG SCHMIDT'S classic Die Stellung der Evangelien der allgemeinen Literaturgeschichte was one of a handful of twentieth-century essays on the New Testament to set the agenda for an entire generation of New Testament scholars. First published in 1923, the text laid out Schmidt's contention that the gospels represent a literary genre that does not derive from others in the ancient world. In portraying the gospels as the written record of an oral tradition rather than as biographical or historical text, the German scholar's powerful argument has commanded attention in Germany for decades. With this translation, Byron R. McCane enables a new generation of English-speaking scholars to engage with Schmidt's classic perspective on an enduring question. In an introduction to the volume, John Riches locates the text among the writings of the form critics, with whom Schmidt allied himself, and relates it to Schmidt's own still untranslated study of the topography and chronology of the gospels. Riches also explores how recent efforts to classify the gospels as ancient biographies have in many ways misread and misrepresented Schmidt's views.

The Place of the Gospels in the General History of Literature
The Place of the Gospels in the General History of Literature

Author: Karl Ludwig Schmidt

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2020-09-18

Total Pages: 125

ISBN-13: 172528541X

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Karl Ludwig Schmidt’s classic Die Stellung der Evangelien der allgemeinen Literaturgeschichte was one of a handful of twentieth-century essays on the New Testament to set the agenda for an entire generation of New Testament scholars. First published in 1923, the text laid out Schmidt’s contention that the gospels represent a literary genre that does not derive from others in the ancient world. In portraying the gospels as the written record of an oral tradition rather than as biographical or historical text, the German scholar found points of comparison with Sayings of the Desert Fathers and the later collections of Faust legends. Schmidt’s powerful argument has commanded attention in Germany for decades but has never before been fully available in English. In recent years the question of gospel genre has reemerged as an issue of debate. With this translation, Byron R. McCane enables a new generation of English-speaking scholars to engage with Schmidt’s classic perspective on an enduring question. In an introduction to the volume, John Riches places Schmidt’s landmark study in its context. He locates the text among the writings of the form critics, with whom Schmidt allied himself, and relates it to Schmidt’s own still untranslated study of the topography and chronology of the gospels. He documents the essay’s reception in the English-speaking world and critically examines the way Schmidt is understood in present-day discussion of the genre of the gospels. Riches also explores how recent efforts to classify the gospels as ancient biographies have in many ways misread and misrepresented Schmidt’s views - errors that this translation will help rectify.

Gospels or Biographies? The Gospels as Folk Literature
Gospels or Biographies? The Gospels as Folk Literature

Author: Ryder Wishart

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2024-03-11

Total Pages: 306

ISBN-13: 9004687165

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Challenging the widely accepted classification of the canonical gospels as biographies or historiographies, the author argues that they should be classified as collections of folk literature from early Christianity. Drawing on comparative register analysis and re-introducing literary and sociolinguistic insights from the twentieth-century form critics, this insightful study challenges readers to rethink the significance of gospels for understanding Jesus’s historical context and relevance for modern readers. The gospels are not merely designed to inform readers about the life of Jesus but also to push readers into accepting or rejecting his teaching. It is a must-read for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of the gospel genre and the intentions of the evangelists who compiled them.

History of New Testament Research, Vol. 2
History of New Testament Research, Vol. 2

Author: William Baird

Publisher: Fortress Press

Published: 2002-11-01

Total Pages: 606

ISBN-13: 9781451420180

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Stressing the historical and theological significance of pivotal figures and movements, William Baird guides the reader through intriguing developments and critical interpretation of the New Testament from its beginnings in Deism through the watershed of the Tubingen school. Familiar figures appear in a new light, and important, previously forgotten stages of the journey emerge. Baird gives attention to the biographical and cultural setting of persons and approaches, affording both beginning student and seasoned scholar an authoritative account that is useful for orientation as well as research.

The Fourth Gospel in Four Dimensions
The Fourth Gospel in Four Dimensions

Author: Dwight Moody Smith

Publisher: Univ of South Carolina Press

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 308

ISBN-13: 9781570037634

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Compelling perspectives on the Gospel of John from a premiere scholar of the subject This multidimensional volume from the leading American scholar of Johannine studies brings together D. Moody Smith's germinal works from the past two decades along with some original articles published here for the first time. The resulting collection augments current understanding of the Gospel of John with fresh insights and research and points the way toward opportunities for new inquiry. The collection is structured around four focal issues that define contemporary studies of John. In the first section, Smith places the book within its Jewish milieu, attempting to account for the tension between the work's seeming anti-Jewishness and its familiarity with Jewish life and thought. Next Smith engages the relationship between John and the historical figure of Jesus, especially the extent to which John's representation of Jesus reflects knowledge of independent traditions as well as the self-consciousness of his own community. The third section examines John's account against the Synoptic Gospels, assessing the evidence of John's access to an independent record of the passion and the possibility that John adopted the gospel genre from Mark. Finally, Smith explores how the Gospels, and especially that of John, evolved into scripture and how they have come to be interpreted in conjunction with one another.

Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels (2nd edn)
Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels (2nd edn)

Author: J B GREEN

Publisher: Inter-Varsity Press

Published: 2020-05-21

Total Pages: 1849

ISBN-13: 1789740266

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The Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels is unique among reference books on the Bible, the first volume of its kind since James Hastings published his Dictionary of Christ and the Gospels in 1909. In the more than eight decades since Hastings, our understanding of Jesus, the Evangelists and their world has grown remarkably. New interpretive methods illumined the text, the ever-changing profile of modern culture has put new questions to the Gospels, and our understanding of the Judaism of Jesus's day has advanced in ways that could not have been predicted in Hastings's day. But for many readers of the Gospels the new outlook on the Gospels remains hidden within technical journals and academic monographs. The Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels bridges the gap between scholars and those pastors, teachers, students and lay people desiring in-depth treatment of select topics in an accessible and summary format. The topics range from cross-sectional themes (such as faith, law, Sabbath) to methods of interpretation (such as form criticism, redaction criticism, sociological approaches), from key events (such as the birth, temptation and death of Jesus) to each of the four Gospels as a whole. Some articles - such as the Dead Sea Scrolls, rabbinic traditions and revolutionary movements at the time of Jesus - provide significant background information to the Gospels. Others reflect recent and less familiar issues in Jesus and Gospel studies, such as divine man, ancient rhetoric and the chreiai. Contemporary concerns of general interest are discusses in articles covering such topics as healing, the demonic and the historical reliability of the Gospels. And for those entrusted with communicating the message of the Gospels, there is an extensive article on preaching from the Gospels. The Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels presents the fruit of evangelical New Testament scholarship at the end of the twentieth century - committed to the authority of Scripture, utilising the best of critical methods, and maintaining dialog with contemporary scholarship and challenges facing the church.

Interpreting the Gospels and Acts
Interpreting the Gospels and Acts

Author: David L. Turner

Publisher: Kregel Academic

Published: 2019-05-28

Total Pages: 360

ISBN-13: 0825427606

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A comprehensive handbook for understanding and communicating the Gospels and Acts In this final volume of the Handbooks for New Testament Exegesis series, David Turner provides a comprehensive guide for interpreting and conveying the lives of Jesus and his early followers. Key background information such as literary genres, historical setting, and theological themes lay the groundwork for properly reading these five books. This is followed by practical guidance on textual issues and original-language exegesis passages from the Gospels and Acts. The final chapter offers an extensive bibliography of books and digital resources useful for instructors, students, and church leaders alike. Interpreting the Gospels and Acts is an essential resource for anyone teaching and preaching these foundational books.

Finding the Synoptic Gospels’ Construction Process
Finding the Synoptic Gospels’ Construction Process

Author: Hojoon Ahn

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2024-07-25

Total Pages: 296

ISBN-13: 9004696377

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This study critically examines the current state of Synoptic Gospel studies, particularly many scholars' reliance on the Literary Dependence Hypothesis, and endeavors to advance a more balanced approach. The author attempts to deduce the Synoptic Gospels' construction process by meticulously examining the Eucharist and its co-text within these Gospels, by employing a model of Mode Register Analysis based on Systemic Functional Linguistics. This study uncovers the probability that each designated text in the Synoptic Gospels was constructed based on oral Gospel tradition(s) under the influence of each constructor’s identity.

Resurrection in Mark's Literary-Historical Perspective
Resurrection in Mark's Literary-Historical Perspective

Author: Paul Fullmer

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2007-06-19

Total Pages: 271

ISBN-13: 0567533182

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Through a careful reading of several ancient texts such as Chariton's Callirhoë, Fullmer identifies an ancient storytelling convention with roots in the Homeric tradition in which narratives of death and revival accentuate significant points in a story. In Mark's Gospel, resurrection narratives accentuate the power of Jesus' ministry (Mark 5:21-43) as well as the ironic disloyalty of Jesus' disciples as their failure is first assured (Mark 9:14-29) and later realized (Mark 16:1-18). The reader of this study will come to appreciate how the irony of the Gospel - a literary feature that is prominent in novelistic literature - is furthered by a novelistic application of the resurrection theme. These observations affirm an identification of the genre of the Gospel as novelistic literature. The study also examines themes of death and revival in texts of the Hebrew Bible, revealing a recurrent constellation of motifs. In these texts, Fullmer convincingly traces a Prophetic resurrection topos with characteristics that are compared to an Epic resurrection topos identified in the Homeric tradition. He then demonstrates how the two topoi merge in later, novelistic texts of Hellenistic Judaism such as the Gospel of Mark, witnessing to a widespread amalgamation of cultures that characterizes the Hellenistic period. This study supports a growing appreciation of the ethnic hybridity of the context that produced Mark's Gospel, contributing to the work of scholars who question an often overdrawn dichotomy between Jewish and Greek culture in the Hellenistic period. Moreover, the significant influence of epic, non-biblical traditions upon the Gospel becomes manifest without an assertion of direct dependence upon Homeric epic. Overall, the study provides a model for the examination of specific themes of the Gospel in light of related ancient literature which enhances modern understanding and appreciation of Mark's story.