The case for a proto-gospel : recovering the common written source behind Mark and John / Gary Greenberg.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Greenberg, Gary, 1943- author.

Series:

Studies in biblical literature ; v. 172.

Studies in biblical literature ; vol. 172

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Bible. Gospels--Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Bible.

Bible. Gospels.

Bible. John--Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Bible. John.

Synoptic problem.

Genre:

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Physical Description:

xvi, 719 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

New York : Peter Lang, [2020]

Summary:

"In this landmark study of the literary relationship between the gospel of John and the synoptic gospels, Gary Greenberg presents compelling evidence for the existence of a written pre-canonical Alpha gospel that contained almost all of the main episodes in the adult life of Jesus (excluding major speeches, such as discourses, parables, and "I Am" sayings) and which became the written source for the core biography of Jesus in Mark, Luke, John, and Matthew. While Mark used the Alpha gospel with only slight variations, John had profound theological disagreements with it, objecting to its theological message about how to obtain eternal life, the depiction of Jesus, and other matters. This induced him to rewrite the Alpha gospel so that it conformed to his own very different theological agenda. Consequently, John's gospel functions as a thorough theological critique of Mark, but the changes he introduced made it difficult to see how he and Mark worked from the same written source. By using John's theological concerns as a filter for reading and understanding what objections John would have with Mark's Jesus stories, The Case for a Proto-Gospel reverse-engineers the editorial path taken by John and reconstructs the content of the Alpha gospel. Finally, the author discusses the relationship of the other two synoptic gospels to the Alpha gospel, asserting that Luke also knew the Alpha gospel but used Mark as his primary source, and that while Matthew did not know the Alpha gospel, his use of Mark as a primary source ensured that his core biography of Jesus also derived from this earlier source"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

The problem of Mark versus John

A trail of breadcrumbs

The paralytic on the mat

True kindred and the devil

You can't go home again

The mission begins

Jesus' last visit to Jerusalem

The plot to kill Jesus

The Jewish trial of Jesus

The Lazarus conundrum

The Roman proceedings

The crucifixion

The day of preparation

The resurrection

The proto-gospel restored with brief commentary

Proving the case for a proto-gospel.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

PDF

ePub

ISBN:

9781433166051

1433166054

OCLC:

1111651399

Publisher Number:

9781433166051