Is Q Necessary? a Source, Text, and Redaction Critical Approach to the Synoptic Problem
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The Synoptic Problem
THE SYNOPTIC PROBLEM 1. The Literary Interrelationship of the Synoptic Gospels 1.1. That Matthew, Mark and Luke are similar to one another in content, the order of pericopes and in expression (style and vocabulary) is obvious to even the casual observer. (A pericope is technical term for a unit of gospel tradition.) This raises the question of why they are similar to one another in these respects. This is known as the synoptic problem. 1.1.2. In the late nineteenth century, B.F. Westcott proposed that the independent use of oral tra- dition by the three synoptic writers would account for any similarity ( An Introduction to the Study of the Gospels ). But the similarity seems too great not to postulate some sort of literary depend- ence among the synoptic gospels. This is especially true of the similarity in the order of the peric- opes and, in particular, the order of the triple tradition. It seems unlikely that the individual units of oral tradition would have been passed on in a set order, since the order of pericopes in the syn- optic gospels is generally non-chronological. 1.1.3. That the synoptic gospels are literarily related in some way becomes even more obvious when one compares the synoptic gospels to the Gospel of John. It is clear from a comparison of one of the few overlaps in content between them (outside of the Passion and Resurrection narra- tives) that the synoptic gospels are literarily related to one another. A comparison of the account of the Feeding of the 5,000 from any one of the synoptic gospels with that of the Gospel of John yields no verbatim agreement beyond what one would expect of accounts of the same event. -
1 “Who Do You Say I Am?”: The
1 “WHO DO YOU SAY I AM?”: THE TRINITARIAN IDENTITY OF JESUS CHRIST Dick O. Eugenio, Asia-Pacific Nazarene Theological Seminary “Who do you say I am?” This question posed by Jesus to His followers remains one of the most important questions of human decision and life. It is a question that every follower—and would- be follower—needs to answer on a personal basis. Jesus’ stern rebuke of Peter’s [mis]understanding of the Messiah (Mark 8:33) exemplifies that our response to this question has radical ramifications about who we are, what we do, and how we relate with Jesus. A quick survey of available literature reveals a plethora of competing responses to this one question from all sorts of persons and communities. Many still seem to test Jesus’ patience by proposing multiple Christologies that sound semantically accurate—using jargons popular and acceptable to the church—but are erroneous in elucidation.1 This is where Bruce McCormack’s distinction between formal and material Christology is helpful.2 Although many talk about Christ at the formal level, the material content of these Christ-speeches vary from each other. The crux of the issue is: “Who is the Jesus of our Christ-speech? Is He the Christ of the Gospels or a Christ fashioned after our own imagination?”3 1 James R. Edwards, “Who Do Scholars Say that I Am?” Christianity Today 40 (1996): 14-20; Eric Miller, “Who Do Your Books Say that I Am?: New Volumes Tell Us About our Lord and our Cultural Moment,” Christianity Today 51 (2007): 38-41; Raymond Brown, “Who Do Men Say that I Am: Modern Scholarship on Gospel Christology,” Perspectives in Religious Studies 2 (1975): 106-23; Ann Christie, “Who Do You Say I Am: Answers from the Pews,” Journal of Adult Theological Education 4 (2007): 181-94; Cham Kaur-Mann, “Who Do You Say I Am: Images of Jesus,” Black Theology 2 (2004): 19-44; and Byron L. -
Creation: Believe It Or Not*
TMSJ 13/1 (Spring 2002) 5-32 CREATION: BELIEVE IT OR NOT* John MacArthur President and Professor of Pastoral Ministries Naturalism has replaced Christianity as the main religion of the Western world. Though the teaching that natural evolutionary processes can account of the origin of all living species has never been proven, that teaching is central to the philosophy that now dominates Western scholarly thinking. Even evangelicals have become less willing to defend the early chapters of Genesis against the encroach- ments of evolutionary thought, although in actuality affirming an “old earth” theory and remaining evangelical is an inconsistency. A “framework” approach to those chapters does not square with a consistent hermeneutical approach to Scripture, because the first chapter of Genesis teaches that God created the world in a normal week of seven days. The purpose of evolution is to explain away the God of the Bible. The absurd teaching of the Big Bang theory of evolution is that nobody times nothing equals everything. It is a theory that raises an almost endless array of unsolvable problems. It is degrading to humanity, hostile to reasons, and antithetical to the truth that God has revealed. When one starts adapting the Word of God to fit scientific theories based on naturalistic beliefs, he has begun his journey on the road to skepticism. * * * * * Introduction Thanks to the theory of evolution, naturalism is now the dominant religion of modern society. Less than a century and a half ago, Charles Darwin popularized the credo for this secular religion with his book The Origin of Species. -
Papias and Matthew, Papias and His Elder John (Three Topical Studies)
_______________________________________________________________ Papias and Matthew, Papias and his Elder John (Three Topical Studies) I Papias and Matthew (Who Wrote Matthew’s Gospel?) p. 1 II. Papias and His “Elder John” (Who Wrote John’s Gospel and Revelation?) p. 49 III. Messianic Prophecy p. 79 A Confirmation that the Bible Is True and that Jesus Is the Promised Savior by Steven Waterhouse Westcliff Press www.webtheology.com (Free download) [email protected] i _______________________________________________________________ Other books by Steven Waterhouse Not By Bread Alone; An Outlined Guide to Bible Doctrine Strength For His People; A Ministry For the Families of the Mentally Ill Blessed Assurance; A Defense of the Doctrine of Eternal Security What Must I Do To Be Saved? The Bible’s Definition of Saving Faith Life’s Tough Questions Holy Matrimony; The Image of God in the Family Outside the Heavenly City; Abortion in Rome and the Early Church’s Response Jesus and History; How We Know His Life and Claims Depression Recovery; According to the Bible Suffering; Why Would a Good God Allow Evil and Pain? Messianic Prophecy A Biblical Look at Unborn Children Husband and Wife; The Imitation of Christ Jesus, Miracles and History Bible Counsel for Raising Children Understanding Dispensationalism The Gifts of the Spirit All Books Available for FREE DOWNLOAD at www.webtheology.com ISBN #9780991358540 Available at Amazon.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Published by Westcliff Press (www.webtheology.com). First Edition 2014 Copyright 2014 by Steven W. Waterhouse All rights reserved. This book or portions thereof may be reproduced or retransmitted without written permission from the publisher only if attributed to the author and without alteration. -
What If the Gospel According to the Hebrews Was Q?
What If the Gospel according to the Hebrews Was Q? Introduction The absence of references to Q in the Church Fathers has often been taken as evidence against the two- document hypothesis. Michael Goulder writes: “There is no reference to Q in any ancient source.”1 Eta Linnemann says: “The writings of the ancient church give not the slightest hint that such a source ever existed. Among the early church fathers there is not even a rumor of a lost canonical gospel.”2 And Nicholas Perrin writes: “We have no manuscript of Q, no attestation in the early Church Fathers or elsewhere that such a text ever existed. We have no hard evidence at all for Q.”3 Today I want to consider the evidence for and the implications of the idea that Q continued to be used by Christian Jews for centuries after it was taken up by Matthew and Luke and that several of the church fathers were aware of this gospel and have even provided us with a handful of quotations of it. Q specialists often hold that Q originated among a group of Christians who maintained their Jewish identity.4 Since the church fathers tell us that Christian Jews used a different gospel, known as the Gospel according to the Hebrews (GHeb),5 it is paramount to ask whether GHeb might have been Q. Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Eusebius, Epiphanius, and Jerome quote twenty-six passages from GHeb.6 I do not have the time to defend the unpopular notion that these five authors are indeed working from the same gospel,7 but let me say that it would only help my case if I could bracket out, for example, the quotations by Jerome as not being from GHeb. -
Teaching Jesus of Nazareth
RESOURCES FOR TEACHERS Teaching Jesus of Nazareth MAURICE RYAN JACINTA PETERSEN Teaching Jesus of Nazareth ________________ Resources for Teachers Maurice Ryan Jacinta Petersen lumino Press Published in Australia in 2020 by Lumino Press PO Box 1024 Hamilton QLD 4007 www.luminopress.com.au [email protected] © Maurice Ryan and Jacinta Petersen, Teaching Jesus of Nazareth: Resources for Teachers ISBN 978-1-921538-45-2 The authors assert their ownership of the original material in this manual. No reproduction of this work - manual, digital or otherwise, in whole or in part - is permitted without specific written permission by the authors. Permission is granted for those who have purchased this manual to use the materials with their own classes and students, as allowed by the Copyright Act. No further permission is required in these cases. All attempts have been made to establish the rightful owners of copyrighted material used in this manual. Anyone who believes their rights have been unintentionally infringed is encouraged to contact the publisher. The Scripture quotations contained herein are from theNew Revised Standard Version (NRSV) Bible: Catholic Edition copyright © 1993 and 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All URLs described in this book were live and active with appropriate content at the time of publication. Due to the dynamic nature of the internet, no responsibility can be taken for subsequent changes, additions or deletions to these sites. A number of pages in this book were designed and created by Kylie Phillips, an experienced and gifted classroom teacher. -
Islām and Genesis 17
religions Article Islam¯ and Genesis 17: A Study in Scriptural Intertextuality Khaleel Mohammed Department of Religious Studies, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182-6062, USA; [email protected] Received: 25 August 2018; Accepted: 17 September 2018; Published: 28 September 2018 Abstract: Abraham Geiger’s 1833 essay launched a particular genre of research that posits foreign etymology for many terms in the Qur’an.¯ Whereas some work has been erudite, others have posited far-fetched concepts to the point where at least one author opines that Aramaic was the original language of the Qur’an.¯ Muslim exegetes have compounded the problem by seeking to interpret the Qur’an¯ on its own, without reference to other Abrahamic scriptures. I argue that Muhammad’s audience understood him clearly since he was using terms that had become part of the Arabic language long before his time. I examine three terms: islam,¯ iman,¯ and d¯ın, showing that the meaning of these words in the Qur’an¯ can be deciphered by reliance on context of usage and intertextuality. To this end, I refer to several verses of the Qur’an¯ as well as of the Hebrew Bible and Talmudic literature. A proper understanding of these words allows us to see Q3:19 and Q5:3 as pluralistic instead of the particularistic interpretation that most exegetes proffer. Keywords: Islam; Iman; Din; Qur’an;¯ Aramaic; Hebrew; Hebrew Bible; Talmud; Onkelos Abraham Geiger’s 1833 essay Was hat Muhammad aus dem Judenthume aufgenommen postulated that the Qur’an¯ was largely unoriginal: Muhammad had compiled it using at least 14 terms from the Hebrew Bible and rabbinic literature, in addition to several other Jewish concepts (Geiger 1970, p. -
Socratic Club Speakers and Dates from the Marion E. Wade Center
Socratic Club Speakers and Dates - To Accompany the Stella Aldwinckle Papers Marion E. Wade Center, Wheaton College, Wheaton, IL Name(s) Lecture Title Date Notes Prof. Krner Science and Moral Responsibility ? Dr. Mason, Prof. Demant Marxian View of Religion ? Won't Mankind outgrow Christianity in R.E. Havard, M.D. the face of the advance of science January 26, 1942 and of modern ideologies? In Socratic Dr. William Stevenson Is God a wish-fulfilment? February 2, 1942 Digest Was Christ really any more than a Stella Aldwinckle, M.A. February 9, 1942 great teacher and prophet? W. B. Merchant, M.A. and C.S. Lewis, Scepticism and Faith. February 16, 1942 M.A. Is Christianity obscurantism hindering Lord Elton February 23, 1942 social progress? Are there any valid objections to free- In Socratic Charles Williams March 2, 1942 love? Digest Dr. L. W. Grensted Is prayer auto-suggestion? March 9, 1942 Some ambiguities in the use of the D. M. MacKinnon, M.A. April 29, 1942 word 'rational.' Is it rational to believe in a 'personal' Prof. W. G. De Burgh God? (postponed until May 27 due to May 6, 1942 illness of the speaker) Rev. A. M. Farrer and Prof. R. Eisler Did Christ rise from the dead? May 13, 1942 Can science render religion In Socratic Prof. H. A. Hodges May 20, 1942 unnecessary? Digest Is it rational to believe in a 'personal' Prof. W.G. De Burgh May 27, 1942 God? Has man a special place in the Dr. R. W. Kosterlitz June 3, 1942 universe? In Socratic Mr. -
Review of Judaism, Jewish Identities and the Gospel Tradition: Essays in Honour of Maurice Casey
Cleveland State University EngagedScholarship@CSU Philosophy & Comparative Religion Department Faculty Publications Philosophy & Comparative Religion Department 8-2013 Review of Judaism, Jewish Identities and the Gospel Tradition: Essays in Honour of Maurice Casey Matt A. Jackson-McCabe Cleveland State University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/clphil_facpub Part of the Biblical Studies Commons, Comparative Methodologies and Theories Commons, and the Other Religion Commons How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! Publisher's Statement Copyright Sage Journals 2013. This article first appeared in Biblical Theology Bulletin, no. 3, 2013, p. 170. http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0146107913493566a Original Citation Jackson-McCabe, Matt. "Judaism, Jewish Identities and the Gospel Tradition: Essays in Honour of Maurice Casey." Biblical Theology Bulletin, no. 3, 2013, p. 170. This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the Philosophy & Comparative Religion Department at EngagedScholarship@CSU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Philosophy & Comparative Religion Department Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of EngagedScholarship@CSU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Judaism, Jewish Identities and the Gospel implications for “Judaism” and “Jewish tion between “imagery” and “concept” in Tradition: Essays in Honour of Mau- identities,” the essays are for the most part order to argue that Tertullian was “the first rice Casey. Edited by James G. Cross- concerned simply to identify Jewish con- to clearly endow the expression Son of man ley. London, UK: Equinox, 2010. texts that illuminate the canonical gospels. in the Gospels with a distinct Danielic con- Pp. -
Summary of Baird, History of New Testament Research Vol
A SUMMARY OF HISTORY OF NEW TESTAMENT RESEARCH, VOL. 1–3 BY WILLIAM BAIRD VOLUME 1: FROM DEISM TO TÜBINGEN INTRODUCTION Baird introduces his book with a quick sketch of the history of NT research before the Enlightenment, as well as a brief word about the methodology of his book. His plan is that the volumes will investigate NT research in the modern age.1 Before the Enlightenment The early church dealt with the issue of the canon. They judged all of the books to be of apostolic authority. They moved between literal (Antiochene) and allegorical (Alexandrian) interpretation. They gradually agreed that the apostolic church had the exclusive right to interpret the scriptures.2 In the Middle Ages, people interpreted the Scripture according to the four levels of meaning: literal, allegorical, tropological (or moral), and anagogical. Thus, “in Gal. 4:24-25, ‘Jerusalem’ could properly be interpreted to mean the historical city in Judea (literally), the Christian church (allegorically), the human soul (morally), and the heavenly city (anagogically).”3 Some were aware of the potential to abuse, and gave priority to the literal sense (as with Aquinas, who said the three spiritual senses had to be rooted in the literal sense).4 During the Reformation, the Bible was placed at the forefront as the foundation for the Christian faith. The reformers were influenced by the exegetical methods of the Renaissance humanists. They inherited the technical methods that were used for the study of ancient literary works. Furthermore, they agreed that the only meaning Scripture has is the literal meaning. The Reformers attempted to return to a study of what the authors of Scripture meant. -
Daily Devotional for Small Group Discussion: Q Source
Daily Devotional for Small Group Discussion: Q Source www.ucc.org Discussion Questions 1. Do you have friends or family who are Q-Anon followers? How have you tried to engage them? Is there anything that seems true or compelling to you about the theories – and on what do you base your belief? 2. How do we persist past the religion of our own “whims and lusts,” in the words of Jude? How much of your spiritual and religious beliefs in general would you say are a result of your own conrmation bias? How do you challenge your own thinking and keep growing, being “transformed by the renewal of your mind” as Romans urges? 3. What is the core of Christianity for you? How does your faith inuence your vote? Q Source But remember, dear friends, that the apostles of our Master, Jesus Christ, told us this would happen: “In the last days there will be people who don’t take these things seriously anymore. They’ll treat them like a joke, and make a religion of their own whims and lusts.” - Jude 1:17- 18 (MSG) In the mid-rst century, when Matthew and Luke were writing down their Gospels, they both included a trove of Jesus’ sayings called the “Q source.” When the New Testament’s table of contents was compiled, it excluded other texts like the Gospel of Thomas and the Gospel of Mary, and gave privilege of place to Matthew, Luke … and Q. How were the decisions made about which Gospels to keep, and which to cast away? Was it sexism and patriarchy? An attempt to exert control over the populace as the hippie Way of Jesus hardened into a state religion? Or was Q closer to the truth than Mary or Thomas’s tellings? Who gets to decide what truth is, and what criteria do they use? There is a new Q circulating in our culture today that has nothing to do with Jesus, although many of the people proclaiming it are Christians. -
The Argument from Miracles: a Cumulative Case for the Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth
The Argument from Miracles: A Cumulative Case for the Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth Introduction It is a curiosity of the history of ideas that the argument from miracles is today better known as the object of a famous attack than as a piece of reasoning in its own right. It was not always so. From Paul’s defense before Agrippa to the polemics of the orthodox against the deists at the heart of the Enlightenment, the argument from miracles was central to the discussion of the reasonableness of Christian belief, often supplemented by other considerations but rarely omitted by any responsible writer. But in the contemporary literature on the philosophy of religion it is not at all uncommon to find entire works that mention the positive argument from miracles only in passing or ignore it altogether. Part of the explanation for this dramatic change in emphasis is a shift that has taken place in the conception of philosophy and, in consequence, in the conception of the project of natural theology. What makes an argument distinctively philosophical under the new rubric is that it is substantially a priori, relying at most on facts that are common knowledge. This is not to say that such arguments must be crude. The level of technical sophistication required to work through some contemporary versions of the cosmological and teleological arguments is daunting. But their factual premises are not numerous and are often commonplaces that an educated nonspecialist can readily grasp – that something exists, that the universe had a beginning in time, that life as we know it could flourish only in an environment very much like our own, that some things that are not human artifacts have an appearance of having been designed.