One Jesus and Four Primitive Gospels

1968 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 203-247 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helmut H. Koester
Keyword(s):  
Historical Jesus ◽  
Synoptic Gospels ◽  
Historical Material ◽  
Apocryphal Gospels

To deal with the problem of the “historical” Jesus is to deal with the synoptic Gospels (with occasional appropriations of Johan-nine material).To use the apocryphal Gospels does not seem to be advisable, since their inclusion is beset with a number of notorious difficulties. First of all, any attempt to recover historical material from the vast sea of noncanonical tradition has proved to be an arduous labor yielding only negligible results.

The Function of the Son of Man according to the Synoptic Gospels

1968 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Maddox
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Historical Jesus ◽  
Synoptic Gospels ◽  
Son Of Man ◽  
Alternative Method ◽  
Or Groups ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Status ◽  
Sayings Of Jesus

The discussion about the meaning of the title ‘Son of Man’ continues to be a lively part of the quest for the historical Jesus. Nevertheless the discussion gives the impression of having come to a kind of stalemate; and this suggests that we ought to examine the method by which it has been pursued, to see if a fruitful alternative method can be found. The method usually followed is dominated by these three characteristics:(1) Diligent investigation is devoted to trying to distinguish which of the Son of Man sayings in the gospels (if any) are genuine sayings of Jesus.(2) It is accepted that the synoptic Son of Man sayings fall into three distinct groups, referring (a) to Jesus during his earthly life as Son of Man, (b) to predictions of Jesus' death and resurrection as Son of Man, and (c) to the future coming of the Son of Man at the end of the age. Since the meaning of the title is understood to differ from group to group, and especially between the last group and the other two, the discussion of genuineness has mostly taken the form of asking within which group or groups the genuine sayings are to be sought.(3) With respect to the meaning of the title, attention is concentrated on the status which it connotes (e.g. lowliness, suffering, exaltation, authority, vindication, heavenly enthronement, etc.), but little inquiry is made concerning the function which the Son of Man performs.

Jesus and the Rites of Repentance

2006 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 166-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
TOBIAS HÄGERLAND
Keyword(s):  
Historical Jesus ◽  
Synoptic Gospels ◽  
The Past

The question as to whether Jesus preached repentance has been discussed in historical Jesus research over the past twenty years, apparently without any scholarly consensus being at hand. This article seeks to eliminate some unnecessary confusion from the debate by investigating early Jewish conceptions of repentance and suggesting that a distinction should be maintained between moral and ritual repentance. It argues that Jesus, while most probably expecting moral repentance of his followers, did not uphold the customary rites of repentance. The article suggests some reasons for Jesus' avoidance of traditional penitential prayers and practices, which may account for the instances of strong criticism against him indicated by the synoptic Gospels.

What is a ‘Gospel’? Recent Studies in the Gospel Genre

2011 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-199
Author(s):  
Judith A. Diehl
Keyword(s):  
Literary Criticism ◽  
Gospel Of Mark ◽  
Historical Jesus ◽  
Biblical Scholarship ◽  
Ancient Literature ◽  
Apocryphal Gospels ◽  
Analogical Approach

This article is a brief review of two main paths of biblical scholarship with respect to the ‘gospel’ genre. The NT Gospels appear to be similar to other ancient literature in some ways, yet distinctive enough in content, form, theology and purpose to set them apart from other literature. The analogical approach shows how the Gospels were written in a form similar to other written documents of that time and culture. In contrast, the derivational approach attempts to show that the Gospels are unique and exclusive in all of literature. While the search for the ‘historical Jesus’ is not over, literary criticism has now set the Gospels within the concept of ‘story’, with all its literary implications. Scholars have suggested that the ‘Gospel of Mark’ is the first of its kind, becoming the foundational paradigm of the Gospel genre. Further, the discovery of ancient ‘apocryphal gospels’ has encouraged scholars to compare the NT Gospels to the non-canonical documents.The challenge of clearly identifying the ‘Gospel genre’ continues, as scholars try to understand the nature of both canonical and non-canonical stories of Jesus.

Are there Parables in John? It is Time to Revisit the Question

2011 ◽  
Vol 9 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 243-276
Author(s):  
Ruben Zimmermann
Keyword(s):  
Specific Form ◽  
Historical Jesus ◽  
Synoptic Gospels ◽  
Fourth Gospel ◽  
Historical Document ◽  
Memory Research ◽  
Form Criticism

AbstractA point of agreement between historical-Jesus scholarship and Johannine scholarship is that there are no parables in the Fourth Gospel. The following article, however, questions this consensus on both historical and literary grounds. Drawing on the insights of memory research, the following discussion will not seek to peer 'behind' the text, but rather embraces the text itself as a historical document of the memory of Jesus. Additionally, new genre theories necessitate a shift in the application of form criticism to the parable genre. Taking these new methodological insights into account, one finds texts in John that have the same right to be called 'parables' as texts found in the Synoptic Gospels. Furthermore, these Johannine parables, in their specific form of remembering, preserve and reveal important theological aspects of Jesus' parables.

The Pauline Epistles and the Synoptic Gospels: The Pattern of the Parallels

1982 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dale C. Allison
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
The Other ◽  
Historical Jesus ◽  
Synoptic Gospels ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Pauline Epistles ◽  
The One ◽  
The Mind

The question, What did Paul know about Jesus of Nazareth?, has long been debated by students of the New Testament. The debate has not issued in any consensus. Indeed, critical appraisals of Paul's relation to the Jesus of history and to traditions about him have been unusually disparate. Thus, on the one side, W. D. Davies has argued that ‘Paul is steeped in the mind and words of his Lord.’ On the other side, R. Bultmann could claim that ‘the teaching of the historical Jesus plays no role, or practically none, in Paul’. The contrast between these two assertions is puzzling, and all the more so as neither can be regarded as idiosyncratic: Davies is not alone in avowing that sayings of and traditions about Jesus were of momentous significance for Paul, and it is not difficult to find critics at one with Bultmann. Moreover, as our two quotations do not simply represent two circles of opinion but also mark poles between which appears a variety of viewpoints, matters are even further complicated.

Recent Trends in Gospel of Thomas Research (1989–2011). Part II: Genre, Theology and Relationship to the Gospel of John

2012 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Perrin ◽  
Christopher W. Skinner
Keyword(s):  
Gospel Of John ◽  
Difficult Problem ◽  
Previous Article ◽  
Historical Jesus ◽  
Synoptic Gospels ◽  
Fourth Gospel ◽  
Scholarly Research ◽  
Gospel Of Thomas ◽  
Recent Trends ◽  
The Relationship

This article, the second of a two-part series, examines scholarly research on the Gospel of Thomas between 1989 and 2011. The previous article ( CBR 5.2 [2007]: 183-206) reviewed research on Thomas’s place in discussions of the historical Jesus and the Synoptic Gospels between 1991 and 2006. The current study focuses on three concerns: (1) scholarly opinions of Thomas’s genre, (2) the notoriously difficult problem of identifying Thomas’s theological outlook, and (3) the relationship between the Gospel of Thomas and the Fourth Gospel.

Recent Trends in Gospel of Thomas Research (1991-2006): Part I, The Historical Jesus and the Synoptic Gospels

2007 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 183-206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Perrin
Keyword(s):  
Future Study ◽  
Historical Jesus ◽  
Synoptic Gospels ◽  
Gospel Of Thomas ◽  
New Approaches ◽  
Recent Trends ◽  
Canonical Texts

This article, the first of a two-part series, reviews research between 1991 and 2006 dealing with the Gospel of Thomas. It focuses on two questions: (1) whether the Coptic sayings collection preserves material going back to the historical Jesus, and (2) whether it is dependent on the synoptic Gospels or attests to an independent line of tradition, relatively uninfluenced by the canonical texts. In connection with the former issue, the article observes that Thomas is little used in contemporary Jesus scholarship and seeks to elucidate reasons for this. As to whether or not the author of Thomas was privy to our synoptic gospels, scholarship has been undergoing an ever-deepening entrenchment of positions. This has not only resulted in a scholarly culture that resists making generalizations regarding Thomas’s origins, but has also provoked new approaches to explicating those origins. The article closes with suggestions for future study.

Toward an Ecumenical Christology for Asia

1994 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-17
Author(s):  
John R. Levison ◽  
Priscilla Pope-Levison
Keyword(s):  
Jesus Christ ◽  
The Other ◽  
Historical Jesus ◽  
Synoptic Gospels ◽  
Love Of God ◽  
Asian Theology

Asian theologians recognize that Asian theology must address two pressing issues: poverty and religiosity. Most Asian Christologies tend to address one to the exclusion of the other: the Cosmic Christ embraces religiosity: Jesus Christ Liberator confronts poverty: Jesus as pain-love of God comforts the suffering. The Christologies of M. M. Thomas and Aloysius Pieris, in contrast, address both poverty and religiosity in Asia. In both Christologies Christ's presence extends to Asia's struggle for a new society which takes place beyond the church's boundaries. This similarity is not due, however, to identical christological starting points: Pieris begins with the historical Jesus of the synoptic Gospels and Thomas with the Cosmic Christ of Colossians 1:15–20. Rather, it is due to the attempt of both theologians to address Asian poverty and religiosity.

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