THINKING ABOUT THE STUDY OF THE NEW TESAMENT

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THINKING ABOUT THE STUDY OF THE NEW TESAMENT
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NT Greek MSS Textual Criticism

• A. Definition of Textual Criticism
• Textual criticism is the study of copies of any
  written work which the autograph (the original)
  is unknown, with the purpose of ascertaining the
  original text (Greenlee, 1, see class notes for
  all references in this ppt).
• B. Goal of New Testament Textual Criticism
• When applied to the New Testament, it has the
  task of attempting to restore the original text
  of the New Testament Greek documents (Briggs, 31).

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Bible Times Book/Scroll Preparation

• D. Biblical times book/scroll preparation and
  writing
• 1. Ancients used clay (Ezek. 41), Stone
• (Ex. 3118), and wood tablets, leather scrolls
  (Jer. 3923).
• 2. In later times they used papyrus (paper made
  from papyrus reed, its inner bark extracted and
  dried).

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Bible Preparation

• 3. Also, used parchment/vellum (small animal
  skins), scrolls (see II Tim. 413).
• 4. Scrolls were papyrus, leather, or parchment
  sheets joined together in long rolls, about 10-12
  inches wide and up to 35 feet long with 3-4 inch
  columns. Sometimes writing was on both sides
  (Rev. 51 Ezek. 210).
• 5. The Codex (a book of papyrus sheets) was also
  used by the mid First Century AD.

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Bible Preparation

• 6. Writing of NT Greek MSS had very little
  punctuation, no paragraph divisions, no sentence
  divisions, and no spaces between words.
• ENARCHHNOLOGOSKAIOLOGOSHNPROSTONYEONKAIHEOSHNOLO
  GOS
• thismadecopyingwithouterrorsverydifficultcopyingmi
  stakesweremadefrequentlybutnoerrorshavebeenfoundth
  ataretheologicallysignificant
• --This made copying without errors very
  difficult. Copying mistakes were made frequently.
  But no errors have been found that are
  theologically significant.

6
Examples of Types of Errors Found

• --The following were facilitated by the lack of
  spaces between letters and words in writing and
  copying the Greek texts and could be called
  sight errors.
• Omissions (haplography)
• Duplications (dittography)
• Jumping from the same letter or group of letters
  to another at the beginning of a word
  (homoioarcton), or at the middle of a word
  (homoiomeson), or at the end of a word
  (homoioteleuton) (McKnight, 61).
• Change of the order of words (metathesis)

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Three Major MSS Families Discovered

• 1. Alexandrian text witnesses These have the
  earliest and best quality of MSS and considered
  by scholars to be the best MSS.
• 2. Western text witnesses have an early but
  generally unreliable form of the text (Green.
  135)

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MSS Families

• 3. Byzantine text witnesses which include the
  vast majority of later manuscripts, are the most
  universally judged by scholars to preserve an
  inferior form of the text (Green. 135).
• King James Verson (Textus Receptus) is of this
  family. The King James Debate supporters opt for
  this majority text reading to be the inspired
  one. But does majority accuracy?

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NT Text Criticism Greek MSS

• John Rylands Manuscript (125-130AD).
• --Found in Egypt.
• --Measures only 3.5 by 2.5 inches (8.9 by 6 cm)
  at its widest and conserved with the Rylands
  Papyri at the John Rylands University Library The
  front contains lines from the Gospel of John
  183133, in Greek, and the back contains lines
  from verses 3738 (From Wikipedia)
• --It is important in that the Gospel of John can
  no longer be dated by liberal scholars at 200AD.
• They once dated it this late to account for
  Johns so called developed theology.

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Ancient Greek NT MSS

• Codex Sinaiticus (350AD) Aleph (a)
• --Contains all the New Testament except Mk.
  169-20 and Jn. 753-811.
• --It was found in 1844 in a Mt. Sinai
  (Traditional site) monastery.
• --It was found in a waste basket where monks
  there had been using old manuscripts as firewood
  to keep warm!
• --It was discovered by Tischendorf and is now in
  London.

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Ancient Greek NT MSS

• Codex Vaticanus (325-350AD) B
• --Housed in the Vatican library
• --contains nearly all the Bible (OT and NT) but
  omits the book of Revelation.
• Codex Alexandrinus (400AD)A
• --It is in the British Museum.
• --Contains most of the NT and OT. It does
  contain Revelation.

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Passing on the Text

• Christians have always been a people of the
  book
• Original documents were hand-written
• The writing was in Greek capital letters
  (Uncials)
• At a very early stage, these documents were hand
  copied by laypeople
• This was inexpensive, but this lead to a number
  of transmission errors

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Passing on the Text

• Three early developments soon complicated this
  situation
• Scrolls were replaced by codexes, which made
  documents much more usable
• There was an increasing replacement of Uncial
  manuscripts with cursive scripts (miniscules),
  which allowed manuscripts to be copied faster

14
Passing on the Text

• Three early developments soon complicated this
  situation
• The Bible was translated into other languages
• People could read the Bible in their own
  language, but
• These translations were not all of very high
  quality

15
Passing on the Text

• The variety of readings in the manuscripts that
  we now possess is due to
• Accidental mistakes of the copyists
• The correcting of perceived mistakes by later
  copyists

16
Passing on the Text

• The variety of readings in the manuscripts that
  we now possess is due to
• The division of the Roman Empire into East and
  West resulted in the division of the church
• Eastern churches retained Greek as the dominant
  language and Western churches became nearly
  solely dependent upon Latin

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Passing on the Text

• The variety of readings in the manuscripts that
  we now possess is due to
• Decomposition of most materials upon which the
  documents were written
• Parchment
• Vellum (expensive parchment)
• Papyrus (some survived due to the hot, dry
  climate of Egypt where they were stored)

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Passing on the Text

• How many NT manuscripts do we now have?
• 5000 full or partial manuscripts
• 8000 full or partial manuscripts in versions
  other than Greek
• This evidence dates back as far as the early
  second century

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Passing on the Text

• The NT comes to us in the form of
• Uncials
• Miniscules
• Lectionaries
• Ostraca
• Quotations in the writings of the Church Fathers

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Passing on the Text

• After the printing press...
• First printed edition of the Greek NT was vol. 5
  of the Complutensian Polyglot Bible in Spain
• Also included the first lexicon

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Passing on the Text

• After the printing press...
• The first published edition was by the Dutch
  scholar Erasmus in 1516
• Contained many typographical errors
• Principally used two 12th Century manuscripts
• Erasmus published five editions

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Passing on the Text

• In the wake of Erasmus...
• Robert Estienne (Stephanus) published 4 editions
  heavily dependent upon Erasmus
• The 3rd edition introduced the first critical
  apparatus
• Beza's editions (Geneva) were heavily dependent
  upon Stephanus' 3rd and 4th editions

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Passing on the Text

• In the wake of Erasmus
• King James Version was mostly dependent upon
  Beza's editions
• These very similar Greek editions eventually
  became known as the textus receptus, or received
  text
• Nearly all English editions of the New Testament
  before 1881 are dependent upon the textus receptus

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Passing on the Text

• Textual criticism Searching for the original
  text...
• When a manuscript was written is crucial
• Which reading is most likely to have generated
  all others?
• Generally, the more difficult reading is
  preferred over the easier

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Passing on the Text

• Textual criticism Searching for the original
  text...
• External evidence what is the quality of the
  manuscript?
• Internal evidence what in the text itself
  indicates one reading over another
• Intrinsic probability
• Transcriptional probability

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Passing on the Text

• Because of all of this evidence
• We can be confident in the accuracy of the New
  Testament
• No doctrinal matter is in doubt because of text
  critical problems

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Longstanding Interpretive Traditions

• Important developments, people, and events from
  Church history
• Early church refused to accept pseudonymous works
• The collection of documents into the New
  Testament canon

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Longstanding Interpretive Traditions

• Important developments, people, and events from
  Church history
• The earliest Christians were Jews
• There was a recognition by early Christians that
  asserting Jesus as the sufficient grounds of
  salvation meant that some features of Judaism
  were no longer binding

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Longstanding Interpretive Traditions

• Important developments, people, and events from
  Church history
• Christians very quickly began winning Gentile
  coverts
• Theology had to be worked out in the context of a
  highly pluralistic society.

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Longstanding Interpretive Traditions

• Important developments, people, and events from
  Church history
• Within Christianity, various heretical groups
  formed at a very early period
• Gal 169 1 John 219
• Gnosticism became a substantial threat to the
  church in the 2nd century

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Longstanding Interpretive Traditions

• Important developments, people, and events from
  Church history
• Critical examination of the New Testament was
  carried out by early Christians
• Tatian's Diatesseron

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Longstanding Interpretive Traditions

• Important developments, people, and events from
  Church history
• The Church Fathers' writings demonstrate a
  profound devotion to scripture
• Most wrote commentaries
• They preached on the scriptures often

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Longstanding Interpretive Traditions

• Important developments, people, and events from
  Church history
• Constantine's edict declaring full legal
  toleration of Christians
• Prior to this, Christians were often persecuted
  and without legal standing
• Papal power arose
• The influence of the relationship between of
  Church and state
• Monarchical bishops arose as the church
  attempted to settle disputes

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Longstanding Interpretive Traditions

• Important developments, people, and events from
  Church history
• The ecumenical councils gave definitive
  statements on doctrinal truths
• These truths were not new inventions, but
  settlements of existing debates

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Longstanding Interpretive Traditions

• Important developments, people, and events from
  Church history
• The Fall of Rome
• Literacy fell
• Latin nearly entirely supplanted Greek and Hebrew
  in the West
• Monasteriesthe centers of learning
• Eastern and Western churches officially split in
  A.D. 1054

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Longstanding Interpretive Traditions

• Important developments, people, and events from
  Church history
• The Middle Ages
• Four-fold senses of scripture (Literal,
  Allegorical tropological, Moral, Analogical
  eschatological
• Led to the sense that the Bible could only be
  interpreted by experts and church authorities

37
Longstanding Interpretive Traditions

• Important developments, people, and events from
  Church history
• The Renaissance
• Invention of the printing press
• Fall of Constantinople in 1453 led to a flood of
  scholars migrating to the West
• Rise of European universities
• Rise of the humanists

38
Longstanding Interpretive Traditions

• Important developments, people, and events from
  Church history
• The Reformation
• sola scriptura
• The Bible is the final authority for faith and
  practice
• The Bible should be studied in the original
  languages
• Bible should be widely disseminated

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The Rise of Biblical Theology

• J. P. Gabler (inaugural lecture in 1787) the
  Father of Biblical Theology
• The Bible should be studied inductively, free of
  all dogmatic constraints
• Dogmatic theology should be built upon this
  foundation
• Most of the major scholars of the following
  centuries ignored this second point

40
The Rise of Biblical Theology

• Rudolph Bultmann
• Bible is theologically useful, but historically
  suspect
• Modern man requires that the scriptures be
  demythologized of its supernatural character

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The Rise of Biblical Theology

• Biblical Theology Movement (1930's to 1950's)
• Oscar Cullman Salvation history
• Theological Dictionary of the New Testament

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Historical Criticism

• Types of Historical Criticism
• Source criticism
• Form criticism
• Tradition criticism
• Redaction criticism

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Literary Criticism

• Pros and Cons
• Interprets texts as whole texts
• Can run the risk of neglecting issues of history
  and truth

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New Literary Criticism

• Types
• Structuralism
• Deconstructionism
• Reader-response

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The Turn to Postmodern Readings

• Claims of Postmodernism
• Claims to certainty are rejected
• Truth and falsehood are products of social
  constructs
• There is no definitive right or wrong way to read
  scripture

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The Turn to Postmodern Readings

• The false antithesis of postmodernism
• Either we can claim to know objective truth
  exhaustively
• Or we accept that our finitude means that we
  cannot ever really know reality

47
The Turn to Postmodern Readings

• The Bible speaks of knowledge of God in a
  straightforward manner
• 1 John 513
• Luke 134
• Phil 310
• John 832
• John 2031

48
The Turn to Postmodern Readings

• The Bible does not only tell a story, but a true
  story

49
Approaches to Background Material

• Historical Backgrounds
• The Church was born in both a Jewish and
  Greco-Roman world
• Because of the breadth of background material in
  both, most scholars become experts in one or the
  other

50
Social Scientific Approaches

• Types of Social Scientific Approaches
• Sociological theory
• Psychological theory
• Cultural anthropology

51
Language and Linguistic Approaches

• Types of Linguistic Approaches
• Lexicography
• Advances in understanding of verbal aspect in
  Greek
• Speech-Act theory

52
Concluding Reflections

• How does the confessionally oriented scholar
  engage the New Testament?
• We must engage with the text of scripture, the
  manner it is discussed in the present generation,
  and with reference to the inheritance of biblical
  interpretation in church history

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Synoptic Gospels
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Oral Traditions Form Criticism

• Form Criticism
• First applied to OT by Hermann Gunkel
• Made popular in NT studies by Karl Ludwig
  Schmidt, Martin Dibelius, and Rudolf Bultmann

55
Oral Traditions Form Criticism

• Assumptions of Form Criticism
• Stories and sayings about Jesus circulated orally
  in small independent units
• Transmission of gospel material takes shape and
  is handed down within particular communities, not
  by individuals
• Stories and sayings about Jesus took on certain
  standard forms

56
Oral Traditions Form Criticism

• Assumptions of Form Criticism
• Form makes it possible to determine a story's or
  saying's setting in life or Sitz im Leben in
  the early Church
• Early Christian communities not only handed down
  oral material, but shaped and modified this
  material according to its own needs
• Certain criteria can be used to determine age and
  historical trustworthiness

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Oral Traditions Form Criticism

• Criteria of Form Critics
• People tended to
• Lengthen stories
• Add details
• Conform them to their own language
• Preserve and create only what fits their own
  needs and beliefs-criterion of dissimilarity

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Oral Traditions Form Criticism

• Evaluation of Form Criticism
• It is probable that more gospel material was
  written early in transmission history than form
  critics admit
• Classification of forms is provisional and
  general at best
• The claim that one can determine a saying's
  setting in life must be met with healthy
  skepticism

59
Oral Traditions Form Criticism

• Evaluation of Form Criticism
• Assumptions of form critics regarding the nature
  of transmission are suspect
• There is some misunderstanding of oral
  transmission
• There is far too little attention paid to
  eyewitnesses and other individuals in the
  transmission process

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Oral Traditions Form Criticism

• Radical Form Criticism
• The claim that the early church did not
  distinguish between the earthly Jesus and risen
  Lord has little foundation
• The transmission of the gospel material over the
  course of 20 years does not compare well to other
  bodies of literature formed over hundreds of years

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Oral Traditions Form Criticism

• Radical Form Criticism
• Oral transmission does not have the tendency
  toward lengthening the material
• Criterion of dissimilarity skews the
  understanding of historical persons-only accepts
  as historical what is peculiar about Jesus
  against his fellow Jews and his followers

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Oral Traditions Form Criticism

• Radical Form Criticism
• Failure to account for living eyewitnesses
• Underestimation of the ability of first-century
  Jews to remember and transmit information
  accurately

63
Source Criticism The Synoptic Problem

• Major questions
• What sources, if any, did the evangelists use?
• How do the gospels relate to one another?

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Source Criticism The Synoptic Problem

• Main Solutions to the Synoptic Problem
• Common dependence on one original gospel
• Common dependence on oral sources
• Common dependence on gradually developing written
  fragments
• Interdependence

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Source Criticism The Synoptic Problem

• Three Main Theories of Interdependence
• Two-Gospel Hypothesis
• Matthew was written first
• Luke borrowed from Matthew
• Mark borrowed from Matthew and Luke
• Popularized by J. J. Griesbach in the late 18th
  century

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Source Criticism The Synoptic Problem

• Three Main Theories of Interdependence
• Two-Source Hypothesis
• Mark was written first
• Matthew and Luke independently made use of Mark
  and Q, a non-extant sayings source
• Made popular in the late 19th century by H. J.
  Holtzmann in Germany and in the 20th century by
  B. H. Streeter in Britain

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Source Criticism The Synoptic Problem

• Markan Priority
• Matthew was assumed to be the first written
  gospel until the late 19th century
• Mark became recognized as the first written
  gospel in Germany in the mid to late 19th century
• Mark or even (Ur-Markus) became the basis for
  much of the German historical Jesus research

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Source Criticism The Synoptic Problem

• Arguments Against the Existence of Q
• Minor agreements between Matthew and Luke against
  Mark

69
Source Criticism The Synoptic Problem

• Proto-Gospel Theories
• Ur-Markus
• Aramaic or Hebrew version of Matthew
• Proto-Luke

70
Source Criticism The Synoptic Problem

• The Two-Source Hypothesis is the best explanation
  for the available data, but must be used as a
  working hypothesis rather than a conclusive
  answer to the Synoptic Problem

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Final Composition Redaction Criticism

• Seeks to describe the theological purposes of the
  evangelists by examining their use of sources

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Final Composition Redaction Criticism

• Basic Elements of Redaction Criticism
• Redaction is the process of modifying tradition
  as the gospel was written down

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Final Composition Redaction Criticism

• Basic Elements of Redaction Criticism
• Redactional activity can be seen in
• The material included or excluded
• The arrangement of material
• The seams used to stitch tradition
  together-transitions
• Additions and omissions to the material
• Change of wording

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Final Composition Redaction Criticism

• Basic Elements of Redaction Criticism
• Redaction critics look for patterns in these
  sorts of changes
• Where a pattern emerges, one can pinpoint a
  theological concern of the author
• On the basis of the theological picture, one can
  establish the setting for the original gospel

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Final Composition Redaction Criticism

• History of Redaction Criticism
• William Wrede The Messianic Secret
• Günther Bornkamm (Matthew)
• Hans Conzelmann (Luke)
• Willi Marxsen (Mark)

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Final Composition Redaction Criticism

• Criticisms of Redaction Criticism
• Depends on our ability to discern between
  tradition and redaction
• Critics too often assume that all changes an
  evangelist made were theologically motivated
• Equation of redactional emphases with an
  evangelist's theology

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Final Composition Redaction Criticism

• Criticisms of Redaction Criticism
• Identification of the setting of a gospel based
  on the author's theology is tenuous
• Redaction Criticism is most often pursued in a
  manner that questions the trustworthiness of the
  gospel accounts
• Can the evangelists be both historically accurate
  and theologically motivated?

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Final Composition Redaction Criticism

• Positive Aspects of Redaction Criticism
• Focuses on the final written work
• Reminds us that evangelists wrote with more than
  mere historical interest
• Increases our appreciation of the multiplicity of
  the gospels

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Gospels as Works of Literature

• Gospel Genre
• Popular Literature (Schmidt)
• Mirror of Christian preaching or kerygma (Dodd)
• Greco-Roman Bios (Burridge)
• The gospels share commonality with
  contemporaneous literature, but are also
  genuinely unique

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Gospels as Works of Literature

• Criticisms of Literary Criticism
• Reaction against historical analyses and history
  itself
• Loosing the text from the author often entails no
  sense of a correct meaning of the text
• Often attempts to anachronistically shove the
  gospels into modern categories of genre

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Gospels as Works of Literature

• Criticisms of Literary Criticism
• Certain approaches (structuralism) are of limited
  value to the interpretation of the gospels

82
Jesus and the Synoptic Gospels

• First Quest for the Historical Jesus
• Begun with the posthumous publication of Samuel
  Reimarus' Fragments in which he strongly
  contested the gospel accounts
• Early questers were rationalists, so they sought
  reasonable explanations for miraculous events

83
Jesus and the Synoptic Gospels

• First Quest for the Historical Jesus
• D. F. Strauss published the first account of
  Jesus that was radically skeptical of the gospel
  accounts in general

84
Jesus and the Synoptic Gospels

• End of the First Quest
• Three works called into question the supposedly
  objective German reconstructions of the
  historical Jesus
• Albert Schweitzer The Quest for the Historical
  Jesus (1906)

85
Jesus and the Synoptic Gospels

• The New Quest
• After WWI, the critical lives of Jesus waned
  considerably
• Ernst Käsemann, a student of Bultmann, re-opened
  the quest for a critical reconstruction of Jesus
  in 1953

86
Jesus and the Synoptic Gospels

• The New Quest
• The New Quest was marked by the dearth of what
  was considered reliable historical information
  about Jesus
• More current representatives of the New Quest
  can be found in the Jesus Seminar (begun in 1985)

87
Jesus and the Synoptic Gospels

• The Third Quest
• Distinguished by a serious attempt to place Jesus
  within first-century Judaism
• Generally positive about the reliability of the
  biblical gospels

88
Matthew
89
Contents

• Proposals for the Structure of Matthew
• Geographical movement
• The phrase from that time on... (Matt 417
  1621)
• Matthew is structured around the five major
  discourses
• Seven-part outline

90
Contents

• Seven-part outline of Matthew
• The Prologue 11223
• The Gospel of the Kingdom 31729
• The Kingdom Extended under Jesus' Authority
  81111
• Teaching and Preaching the Gospel of the kIngdom
  Rising Opposition 1121353
• The Glory and the Shadow Progressive
  Polarization 1354192
• Opposition and Eschatology The Triumph of Grace
  193265
• The Passion and Resurrection of Jesus
  2662820

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Author

• Anonymity
• Martin Hengel's Arguments Against Anonymity
• Tertullian's castigation of Marcion's Anonymous
  Gospel
• Multiplicity of Written Gospels
• Unanimity of Second Century Writers

92
Author

• Papias
• Fragments of Papias' work are only available
  through Eusebius
• Irenaeus Papias knew the Apostle John
• Eusebius Papias did not know the Apostle John

93
Author

• Papias
• Appears to make the claim that Matthew was
  originally written in Hebrew or Aramaic

94
Author

• Papias
• Three reasons to think otherwise
• Quotations from the OT reflect multiple
  text-forms
• If Matthew used Mark, the verbal connections make
  it extremely unlikely that Matthew was written in
  a language other than Greek
• Greek text of Matthew does not read as if it were
  a translation

95
Author

• Papias
• Papias was likely wrong to assert that Matthew
  was written in Hebrew or Aramaic
• This does not mean that he was wrong to assert
  that Matthew was the author

96
Author

• Other Factors Related to the Authorship of
  Matthew
• Only gospel to refer to Matthew the tax
  collector (103)
• The other gospels use the name Levi when
  referring to the character of Matthew
• Matthew's use of Mark
• Systematic vs. chronological account

97
Author

• Other Factors Related to the Authorship of
  Matthew
• Matthew's Christology
• Judaism and Anti-Judaism within the Gospel of
  Matthew

98
Provenance

• Judea (Church Fathers)
• Syria (most modern scholars)

99
Date

• Post-A.D. 70
• Matthew's relation to Mark
• Anachronistic references to the destruction of
  Jerusalem and the church
• to this very day (Matt 278 2815)
• Tensions between Jews and Christians

100
Date

• Pre-A.D. 70
• Arguments for post-A.D. 70 date draw unnecessary
  conclusions from the evidence
• If the author was the apostle, then an earlier
  date is more plausible
• Church Fathers were unanimous in assigning an
  early date
• Certain sayings indicate that the Temple was
  still standing (52324 1257 172427
  231622 266061)
• No apparent Pauline influence

101
Destination

• Written to Jews
• Written to Gentiles
• Written for all Christians

102
Purpose

• To demonstrate Jesus to be Messiah, Son of
  David, Son of God, Son of Man, Immanuel, and the
  fulfillment of OT prophecy
• To demonstrate the rejection of Jesus
• Inauguration of the Kingdom
• Continued Messianic Reign
• Foretaste of the Future, Consummated Kingdom

103
Contribution of Matthew

• Matthew preserves large blocks of Jesus' teaching
• Matthew complements the information provided in
  the other gospels
• Matthew's use of the OT
• Matthew's treatment of the Law
• Matthew's insight into the church
• Unique elements of the Portrayal of Jesus

104
Mark
105
Contents

• Mark has seven sections separated by six
  transitional statements
• Transitions Mark 11415 3712 616
  82730 11111 1412

106
Contents

• Seven Part Outline of Mark
• Preliminaries to the Ministry (1113)
• First part of the Galilean Ministry (11636)
• Second part of the Galilean Ministry (313543)
• Concluding phase of the Galilean Ministry
  (67826)

107
Contents

• Seven Part Outline of Mark
• The way of glory and suffering (8271052)
• Final ministry in Jerusalem (1111337)
• The Passion and Empty-tomb narratives (141168)

108
Author

• According to Papias (and echoed by many Church
  Fathers), Mark wrote the gospel from the
  information obtained from Peter
• Who is Mark?
• John Mark (Acts 1212, 25 135, 13 1537
  Colossians 410 Philemon 24 2 Timothy 411 1
  Peter 513)
• Cousin of Barnabas

109
Author

• Who is Mark? (cont.)
• Travelled with Paul and Barnabas
• Present with Paul during his Roman imprisonment
• Present with Peter during his Roman imprisonment

110
Author

• Was Mark dependent upon the preaching of Peter?
• The vividness and detail of Mark's story indicate
  the testimony of an eyewitness
• The critique of the disciples in Mark is so stark
  that it most likely came from an apostle
• Mark's gospel follows a similar pattern as
  Peter's preaching in Acts (C. H. Dodd)

111
Author

• Was Mark dependent upon the preaching of Peter?
• Mark's close relationship to Peter as evidenced
  by Peter's reference to him as my son (1 Peter
  513)

112
Provenance

• Possibilities
• Egypt
• Antioch
• Galilee
• Rome

113
Provenance

• Egypt
• John Chrysostom (Hom. Matt. 1.3)
• May have been a mistaken inference from Eusebius
  - Mark is said to have been the first man to set
  out for Egypt and preach there the gospel that he
  had himself written down (H.E. 2.16.1)

114
Provenance

• Antioch
• Proximity to Palestine (Mark assumes his readers'
  familiarity with Palestinian place names)
• Large Roman colony
• Peter's connection to Antioch
• The presbyter that Papias names as his source
  comes from the East

115
Provenance

• Galilee (W. Marxsen)
• The significance of the region of Galilee for
  Mark
• References to Jesus' going before the disciples
  into Galilee (1428 167) may have been a
  summons for Christians to gather there to await
  the parousia
• This tends to ignore that these were referring to
  post-resurrection appearances, not the second
  coming

116
Provenance

• Rome
• Early attestation (Irenaeus, Eusebius, Clement of
  Alexandria)
• Large number of Latinisms
• Incidental mention of Alexander and Rufus, sons
  of Simon of Cyrenementioned elsewhere in the NT
  to be in Rome
• Apparently Gentile audience

117
Provenance

• Rome
• Many allusions to suffering fits the historical
  context of the Neronian persecutions of the 60s
• 1 Peter 513 locates Mark with Peter in Rome
• Connection with an early center of Christianity
• The connection to the Neronian persecutions of
  the church and the testimony of 1 Peter 516 are
  the most weighty arguments

118
Date

• 40's
• C. C. Torreythe abomination that causes
  desolation (Mark 1314) is a direct reference to
  the image set up in the Jerusalem Temple by
  Caligula in A.D. 40
• The identification of Qumran fragments 7Q5, 7Q6,
  1, and 7Q7 with the Gospel of Mark

119
Date

• 40's
• However, Torrey's identification with the
  abomination of Caligula is very unlikely
• Most scholars contest the identification of the
  Qumran fragments with the Gospel of Mark
• Peter was not in Rome in the 40's

120
Date

• 50's
• Peter was in Rome beginning around the mid-50s
• Acts ends at approximately A.D. 62. If this is
  when the book of Acts was actually written, and
  Luke depended upon Mark, then Mark must have been
  written some years before (there are reasons to
  suggest Acts was written later though)

121
Date

• 60's
• Earliest traditions favor a date for Mark after
  the death of Peter
• Peter was in Rome beginning around the mid-50s
• Mark's emphasis upon persecution seems to favor a
  date during or right after the Neronian
  persecution of Christians in A.D. 65

122
Date

• 60's
• Mark appears to reflect an historical situation
  prior to the Roman entrance into Jerusalem and
  destruction of the Temple
• However, there are other early traditions that
  point to a date during Peter's lifetime

123
Date

• 60's
• Persecution of Christians was not limited to Rome
  during the 60s
• Mark is largely silent on any details related to
  the Neronian persecution of Christians
• Mark 13 is not specific enough to suggest any
  particular historical situation

124
Date

• 70's
• Mark 13 reflects the actual experience of the
  sacking of Jerusalem by the Romans in A.D. 70
• However, Jesus' predictions are more parallel to
  stock OT and Jewish imagery rather than any
  specific detail of what happened in A.D. 70

125
Date

• 70's
• This also assumes that Jesus could not have
  accurately predicted what would happen

126
Date

• Conclusion
• It is most likely that Mark was written sometime
  in the late 50's or early 60's during Peter's
  imprisonment or soon after his death

127
Audience

• Appears to be directed to a predominantly Gentile
  audiencemost likely in Rome
• Most of Mark's audience would have had the gospel
  read to them

128
Purpose

• Christology
• Until Mark 826, Mark emphasizes Jesus'
  miraculous power as Son of God
• After 827, Mark emphasizes Jesus as the
  suffering Son of God
• Jesus, as Messiah, can only be properly
  understood in light of this suffering

129
Purpose

• Discipleship
• Mark's readers and hearers are to be followers of
  Jesus, the suffering Son of God
• Believers must follow Jesus through suffering,
  humiliation, persecution, and, if need be, death

130
Purpose

• History and Evangelism
• To provide an accurate account of Jesus' words
  and deeds at a time when the eyewitnesses were
  becoming fewer
• To arm his Christian readers with the good news
  of salvation so that they could evangelize

131
Text

• Son of God in 11
• These words are omitted in a few early
  manuscripts
• It is slightly more likely that these words were
  omitted in a few manuscripts than later scribes
  adding the words

132
Text

• Mark 16920
• The earliest and best manuscripts do not contain
  these verses
• Written with different vocabulary than the rest
  of the book, and does not flow naturally from
  168
• Jerome and Eusebius were aware that their best
  manuscripts did not contain these verses
• There are manuscripts with a different, shorter
  ending

133
Text

• The ending of Mark Three Possibilities
• Mark may have intended to write more, but was
  prevented from doing so
• Mark may have written a longer ending, but this
  ending was lost accidentally during its
  transmission
• Mark may have intended to end his gospel at 168,
  thereby refusing to comment on the significance
  of the history he narrates (most likely)

134
Contribution of Mark

• Mark is the creator of the gospel in its literary
  form
• Mark has inextricably tied Christian faith to
  historical events
• Emphasizes the great importance of Jesus as the
  suffering Son of God for Christian theology and
  discipleship

135
Luke
136
Contents

• Seven Part Outline of Luke
• The Prologue (114)
• The Births of John the Baptist and Jesus
  (15252)
• Preparation for Ministry (31413)
• Ministry of Jesus in Galilee (414950)
• Jesus' journey to Jerusalem (9511944)
• Jesus in Jerusalem (19452138)
• Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection (221 2453)

137
Luke-Acts

• The Relationship between Luke and Acts
• Both addressed to Theophilus
• Acts plainly makes reference to the Gospel of
  Luke in 11

138
Luke-Acts

• Thematic parallels
• God's fulfillment of his promises to Israel
• God's creation of a world-wide body of believers,
  both Jew and Gentile
• Movement toward Jerusalem in Luke movement away
  from Jerusalem in Acts
• Salvation
• Activity of the Holy Spirit
• Power of the Word of God

139
Luke-Acts

• Is it probable that Luke and Acts should be
  regarded as one book?
• Though they are closely related, the two books
  are of different genres and not likely two parts
  of one book

140
Author

• Luke and Acts were written by the same person
• Most evidence points to Luke, the Gentile doctor,
  as the author
• Luke is written in particularly good Greek style

141
Author

• The latter half of Acts makes several we
  statements in reference to the entourage
  surrounding Paul during his journeys
• The language seems to be commensurate to the
  particular outlook of a doctor

142
Author

• Early Christians and documents that indicate that
  Luke is the author
• Marcion
• Muratorian Canon
• Anti-Marcionite prologue
• Tertullian
• Bodmer Papyrus XIV (P75)

143
Author

• Early traditions should be taken seriously
  because
• It is unlikely that Luke's name would have been
  attached to this book if he had not written it
  he was neither an eyewitness nor an apostle

144
Provenance

• Antioch (Anti-Marcionite prologue)
• Achaia (Monarchian prologue)
• Rome (some late manuscripts)
• There is not enough information that allows for a
  positive identification of the provenance of the
  Gospel of Luke

145
Date

• 60s
• Acts makes no mention of key events between A.D.
  6570 (Nerionian persecution, fall of Jerusalem,
  etc.)
• Acts ends with Paul imprisoned in Rome doesn't
  finish the story of Paul
• Acts makes no attempt to show how Jesus' prophecy
  of the fall of Jerusalem took place

146
Date

• 60s
• No attempt to reconcile Paul's probable second
  visit to Ephesus (according to the Pastoral
  epistles) with the fact that Paul expected to
  never come back to Ephesus in Acts 2025, 38
• The very popular Pauline epistles receive no
  attention in Actsthe later the date of Acts, the
  more difficult it is to account for this
• A Christian writer would not likely have been so
  positive about Rome after the Neronian
  persecution

147
Date

• A.D. 7585
• Luke's version of the fall of Jerusalem is too
  specific to have come before it happened
• But

148
Date

• A.D. 7585
• This denies the possibility that Jesus could have
  accurately predicted the fall of Jerusalem
• The supposed specificity of the account in Luke
  demonstrates only a general knowledge of siege
  warfare, not a distinct knowledge of the events
  themselves.

149
Date

• A.D. 7585
• Luke used Mark as a source, so an early date does
  not allow enough time to have elapsed
• But

150
Date

• A.D. 7585
• A date for Mark in the late 50's to early 60's
  allows enough time
• If Luke and Mark both travelled with Paul, then
  it is likely that Luke would have had access to
  Mark soon after it was written

151
Date

• A.D. 7585
• Luke claims that many people had drawn up
  accounts of Jesus' life in Luke 11
• But
• There is little reason why 45 years more
  satisfactorily accounts for this statement (if it
  was written in A.D. 75) surely 30 years is
  enough time

152
Date

• A.D. 7585
• Luke downplays the second coming of Christ.
  Because Christ's return was delayed, the church
  moved from charismatic Christianity to
  institutional Christianity (early Catholicism)
• But

153
Date

• A.D. 7585
• Luke's treatment of the delay of the parousia by
  no means needed to be a late development, nor
  does Luke betray any interest in the
  institutional church

154
Addressee(s)

• Written to a particular individual, but likely
  had a wider reading audience in mind.

155
Addressee(s)

• Audience was likely Gentile
• Situated his gospel in the context of secular
  history (e.g. 21)
• Emphasis on the universal implications of the
  gospel
• Omission of material focused on Jewish law
• Tendency to substitute Greek equivalents for
  Jewish titles (Lord or Teacher for Rabbi)

156
Purpose

• Luke wants Theophilus, and other converts like
  him, to be certain in their own minds about the
  ultimate significance of what God has done in
  Christ

157
Composition

• 40 of Luke is from Mark
• 20 of Luke is shared with Matthew (from Q)
• 40 of Luke is unaccounted for
• L-Source?
• Variety of written documents, oral traditions,
  and eyewitness testimony

158
Composition

• Proto-Luke (possible)
• Luke wrote an earlier edition using Q and other
  material, possibly in Palestine
• After reading Mark, Luke later wrote the
  canonical version that added Markan material,
  possibly after Luke went to Rome

159
Composition

• Luke and John Luke shares more in common with
  John than do Matthew or Mark
• Characters Martha, Mary, Annas, Judas
  (not-Iscariot)
• Both attribute the betrayal of Jesus to the
  activity of Satan
• Both include the account of Peter cutting off the
  ear of the high priest's servant

160
Text

• Western text-type, represented by Codex Bezae
  (D) has many variants
• Many additions
• Many omissions
• This text type was used by Tatian and Justin
• These variants must be taken seriously, but their
  poor attestation often renders them doubtful

161
Canonicity

• Universally accepted by the early church
• Possibly referenced by Clement of Rome, Ignatius,
  Polycarp
• Most likely referenced by the Didache and Gospel
  of Peter
• Definitely referenced by 2 Clement, Justin, and
  the heretic Marcion

162
Lukes Contribution

• God's plan of salvation for the world
• Dramatic emphasis on salvation as a theme, both
  present and future (already and not yet)
• Emphasis on the Gentiles as the recipients of
  God's salvation
• Concern for the poor and outcasts of society
  wealth ethics

163
John
164
Contents

• Outline of the Gospel of John
• The Prologue (1118)
• The Disclosure of Jesus in word and deed
  (1191042)
• Transition from public ministry to the Passion
  narrative (1111250)
• Jesus' self disclosure on the cross and his
  exultation (1312031)
• Epilogue (21125)

165
Contents

• Outline of the Gospel of John
• The Prologue (1118)
• The Disclosure of Jesus in word and deed
  (1191042)
• Prelude to Jesus' ministry (11951)
• Jesus' early ministry (21454)
• Signs, works, and words in the context of rising
  opposition (51753)
• Climactic signs, works, and words in the context
  of radical confrontation (8121042)

166
Contents

• Outline of the Gospel of John
• Transition from public ministry to the Passion
  narrative (1111250)
• Death and raising of Lazarus (11144)
• Decision to kill Jesus (114554)
• Prelude to the Passion narrative (11551250)

167
Contents

• Outline of the Gospel of John
• Jesus' self disclosure on the cross and his
  exultation (1312031)
• Last Supper (13130)
• Farewell discourse (13311633)
• Jesus' prayer for his disciples (17126)
• Trial and passion of Jesus (1811942)
• Resurrection (20131)
• Epilogue (21125)

168
Author

• External Evidence
• Theophilus of Antioch (c. A.D. 181)
• First to unambiguously refer to the fourth gospel
  and explicitly ascribe the work to John
• Quotations from John without reference to the
  author are found in Tatian, Claudius Apollinaris,
  and Athenagoras

169
Author

• External Evidence
• PolycarpBishop of Smyrna
• Martyred in A.D. 156 at age of 86.
• Personally knew the Apostle John
• His testimony about John is relayed by Irenaeus,
  who knew Polycarp personally
• Most likely refers to John (at least in Ireneaus'
  opinion), the beloved disciple and author of the
  fourth gospel was John, the apostle.

170
Author

• External Evidence
• Second century church fathers that clearly though
  John, son of Zebedee, wrote the fourth gospel
  included Irenaeus, Tertullian, and Clement of
  Alexandria

171
Author

• External Evidence
• Those who did not accept the authenticity or
  authority of the Gospel of John were known as
  Alogoi, or witless ones
• Some rejected John because of affinities with
  heretical sects like the Montanists

172
Author

• External Evidence
• Papias (found in Eusebius H.E. 3.39)
• And if anyone chanced to come who had actually
  been a follower of the elders, I would enquire as
  to the discourses of the elders, what Andrew or
  what Peter said, or what Philip, or what Thomas
  or James, or what John or Matthew or any other of
  the Lord's disciples and things which Aristion
  and John the elder, disciples of the Lord say...

173
Author

• External Evidence
• Papias (found in Eusebius H.E. 3.39)
• Eusebius interprets Papias' words to mean there
  were two Johns, John the Apostle and John the
  elder, but
• While Eusebius distinguishes between apostles and
  elders, Papias does not
• Papias calls John the elder because he intends
  for John to be grouped with the aforementioned
  elders

174
Author

• External Evidence
• Papias (found in Eusebius H.E. 3.39)
• Papias makes distinctions here between
  first-generation witnesses who have died and
  those who are still alive
• Eusebius uses this to distance the book of
  Revelation from the Apostle John out of his
  distaste for its millennialism, so he may have a
  hidden agenda here
• It is not certain that there was ever an elder
  John apart from the apostle

175
Author

• Internal Evidence
• The author was likely a Jew
• The DSS evidence many of John's characteristic
  expressions in a Palestinian Jewish, first
  century setting, so there is no need to posit a
  period of Hellenizing influence
• Some of John's quotations of the OT are closer to
  Hebrew or Aramaic versions than the LXX

176
Author

• Internal Evidence
• Who is the beloved disciple?
• The beloved disciple is present at the Last
  Supper the Synoptics claim that only the twelve
  were present
• Distinguished from Peter, but also cannot be
  confused with the other disciples mentioned in
  John 1316

177
Author

• Internal Evidence
• Who is the beloved disciple?
• He is one of the seven who go fishing in John 21
• He is not Peter, Thomas, or Nathaniel
• He cannot be James (c. early 40's), since the
  beloved disciple was apparently still alive when
  the gospel was written
• John or one of two unnamed disciples

178
Author

• Internal Evidence
• Who is the beloved disciple?
• The fact that James and John are not mentioned
  anywhere in the fourth gospel by name is very
  strange unless the author is deliberately not
  using his own name
• The companionship of the beloved disciple and
  Peter makes sense in light of John's and Peter's
  close friendship attested elsewhere in the NT

179
Author

• Internal Evidence
• John, the son of Zebedee, is the author
• John lived for many years in Judea and abroad so
  there is little reason to suggest he would have
  focused more on Galilee

180
Author

• Internal Evidence
• John, the son of Zebedee, is the author
• That Acts 413 refers to Peter and John as
  untrained laymen in no way means they were
  illiterate or ignorant (cf. Jesus)
• Jewish boys learned to read and John's family was
  likely well-off financially

181
Author

• Internal Evidence
• John, the son of Zebedee, is the author
• Evidence suggest that first-century Palestinians
  were bi-lingual or even tri-lingual, so there is
  no reason to suggest that the Apostle John
  couldn't have written in fluent Greek

182
Author

• Internal Evidence
• John, the son of Zebedee, is the author
• The phrase beloved disciple is not and
  indicator that Jesus loved John more, but more
  likely that he had a profound grasp of God's
  grace in Christ

183
Stylistic Unity

• The structure and style of John are so uniform
  that source and tradition-critical theories on
  John are hard-pressed to make anything other than
  highly speculative hypotheses.
• The tradition is far more elegant

184
Stylistic Unity

• Problem Why does the author have so little a
  distinction between his own work in shaping the
  story and the words of Jesus?
• There are about 150 words placed on Jesus' lips
  that are never used elsewhere by the author
• Verbatim quotation is not the only manner of fair
  and historically accurate reporting John writes
  as a preacher
• The author thinks of himself as a reliable
  intermediary of the events and the audience of
  the gospel, equipped by the Spirit for this task

185
Provenance

• Geographical Provenance
• Alexandria
• Antioch
• Palestine
• Ephesus only location with any support in the
  church fathers

186
Provenance

• Conceptual Provenance
• Philo
• Hermetic writings
• Gnosticism
• Mandaism

187
Provenance

• Conceptual Provenance
• Except for Philo, all of these post-date John
• The DSS have shown that John's conceptual world
  is at home within first-century Judaism
• John uses language that more universally engages
  readers in a pluralistic society for the purpose
  of evangelistic mission

188
Provenance

• Relation to Synoptics
• Parallels
• Spirit's anointing of Jesus
• The Baptist's baptism with water and the
  Messiah's baptism with the Spirit
• Various sayings
• Jesus' propensity toward nature metaphors
• Uniqueness of Jesus' sonship to the Father

189
Provenance

• Relation to Synoptics
• Interlocking traditions
• John's report of an extensive Judean ministry and
  Mark's assumption that Jesus taught day after
  day in the Temple, the trepidation about the
  southward journey, and Jesus' ability to round up
  a colt and secure the upper room

190
Provenance

• Relation to Synoptics
• Interlocking traditions
• Only explanation for the Synoptic account of the
  charge against Jesus that he threatened the
  Temple is in John 219
• John provides the reason that the Jewish
  authorities brought Jesus before Pilate
• Only John provides a reason that John was allowed
  into the high priest's courtyard

191
Provenance

• Relation to Synoptics
• Interlocking traditions
• John's account of Jesus' call of the disciples in
  chapter 1 makes the Synoptic account easier to
  understand
• Synoptics explain why the trial of Jesus plunges
  into the Roman court
• Philip's hesitation to bring Gentiles to Jesus in
  John 12 can be explained by Matt 105

192
Provenance

• Relation to Synoptics
• It is likely that John read Luke, Mark, and maybe
  even Matthew
• John is not dependent on any of their accounts
• John provides valuable historical insight that
  complements the Synoptics

193
Date

• Before A.D. 70
• References to the Temple and the sheep gate are
  easily explainable by John's style and addressees
• Between A.D. 8595
• During reign of Domitian
• After the council of Jamnia
• No mention of Sadducees

194
Date

• Between A.D. 8595 (cont.)
• Prevailing understanding of the reconstruction of
  early Christianity
• However
• No legitimate reason to suggest the reign of
  Domitian
• The theory of the break between Judaism and
  Christianity at Jamnia in A.D. 85 is widely
  challenged

195
Date

• Between A.D. 8595 (cont.)
• The prevailing understanding of early Christian
  history is subject to critique
• E.g. the closest theological parallel to John
  118 are the Christ hymns of Philippians 2 and
  Colossians 1, which were circulating in the
  mid-50's

196
Date

• Between A.D. 8085
• No compelling reason to suggest an earlier date
  later date is verified by the church fathers
• John's theological themes appear to be on a
  trajectory toward the unrestrained manner in
  which Ignatius uses them
• It would be difficult to believe that John could
  have been written immediately after A.D. 70
• Some time must be allowed between the writing of
  the gospel and the Johannine epistles, which were
  directed toward a somewhat gnostic misreading of
  the fourth gospel.

197
Purpose

• Proposals
• To supersede or correct the Synoptics
• The gospel is called forth and for the Johannine
  community
• Single themes (Mussner - knowledge)
• Synthetic approaches

198
Purpose

• For evangelism of Diaspora Jews and proselytes
  (preferred view)
• John 2031 that you may believe that the Christ,
  the Son of God, is Jesus
• Most likely people that would have asked Who is
  the Christ would have been Jews
• Many OT allusions and quotations presume
  familiarity with Jewish scriptures

199
Text

• Earliest fragment is from P52 (A.D. 130)
• P66 Contains John 114 and parts of remaining
  chaps
• P45 (3rd century) contains all four gospels plus
  Acts
• The earliest and most reliable manuscripts do not
  include John 753811

200
Contribution of John

• John adds depth to the portrait of Jesus'
  ministry, death, and resurrection
• Jesus as Son of God, perfect in obedience and
  functionally subordinate to the Father
• Emphasizes the cross and resurrection as the
  climax of his revelation of the Father
• Distinctive emphasis on inaugurated eschatology
• John's gospel is characterized by an
  extraordinary number of allusions and typological
  use of the OT

201
Contribution of John

• Emphasis on how Jesus was misunder