What are the Gospels? : a comparison with Graeco-Roman biography / Richard A. Burridge ; with a foreword by Graham Stanton.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Burridge, Richard A., 1955-

Series:

Biblical resource series

The biblical resource series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Bible. Gospels--Language, style.

Bible.

Jesus Christ--Biography--History and criticism.

Jesus Christ.

Bible. Gospels.

Biography.

Greek literature, Hellenistic--History and criticism.

Greek literature, Hellenistic.

Greek literature--Relation to the New Testament.

Greek literature.

Religious biography--History and criticism.

Religious biography.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

xiv, 366 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Edition:

Second edition.

Place of Publication:

Grand Rapids, Mich. : William B. Eerdmans Pub. Co. ; Dearborn, Mich. : Dove Booksellers, 2004.

Summary:

Richard Burridge's acclaimed study of the Christian Gospels is significantly updated and expanded in this second edition. Here Burridge engages the field of Gospel studies over the last hundred years, arguing convincingly for viewing the Gospels as biographical documents of the sort common throughout the Graeco-Roman world. In pursuing the question of his book's title, Burridge compares the work of the Christian evangelists with that of Graeco-Roman biographers. Drawing on insights from literary theory, he demonstrates that the widespread view of the Gospels as unique is false and discusses what a properly "biographical" perspective means for Gospel interpretation. New to this second edition of What Are the Gospels? are a long final chapter detailing the recent paradigm shift in Gospel scholarship -- a shift due in large part to this very book -- a foreword by Graham Stanton, and an appendix on the absence of comparable early Jewish biographies.

Contents:

Part 1 The Problem

1. History Survey 3

A. From the Nineteenth to the Twentieth Century 4

B. The Rise of Form Criticism 7

C. Redaction Criticism and the Return of the Author 12

D. The Search for a Genre 16

2. Genre Criticism and Literary Theory 25

A. Historical Background 26

B. Purposes and Functions 31

C. Definitions and Levels 37

D. Development and Relationships 43

E. Interpretation and Evaluation 48

3. Genre Criticism and Graeco-Roman Biography 53

A. Genre Use and Theory 54

B. The Genre of Graeco-Roman Biography 59

C. Greek and Hellenistic Biography 67

D. Roman Biography 72

4. Evaluation of Recent Debate 78

A. The First Protests 79

B. The Response 86

C. The New Orthodoxy? 92

Part 2 The Proposed Solution

6. The Generic Features of Early Graeco-Roman [characters not reproducible] 124

7. The Generic Features of Later Graeco-Roman [characters not reproducible] 150

8. The Synoptic Gospels 185

9. The Fourth Gospel 213

A. Opening Features 215

B. Subject 216

C. External Features 218

D. Internal Features 223

A. Contribution and Results 233

B. Generic Implications 236

C. Hermeneutical Implications 247

11. Reactions and Developments 252

A. Reactions and Responses 253

B. Implications and Further Developments 288

Appendix I Analysis Charts of Verb Subjects 308

Appendix II Gospel Genre, Christological Controversy and the Absence of Rabbinic Biography 322.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 341-357) and indexes.

ISBN:

0802809715

OCLC:

54953104