The Synoptic Problem And Q

A lively, readable and up-to-date guide to the Synoptic Problem, ideal for undergraduate students, and the general reader.

When Stewart Petrie wrote in 1959 that 'the whole Synoptic question should be thrown back into the melting-pot', he was responding to what he saw as the fanciful and mutually contradictory attempts to solve a problem that had occupied New Testament scholars from the earliest days of biblical criticism. The 'Q' solution obscured more than it clarified, since there was no scholarly agreement on its extent, even on the assumption of its erstwhile existence. By means of its 'snap-shot' articles from the generation following Petrie's whimsical comments, this collection makes it possible to follow the course of the discussion in the subsequent forty years. Now, after a generation of study by many of the best scholarly minds, a consensus of sorts is beginning to emerge. Nonetheless, as Sharon Mattila's recent article shows, the question is 'A Problem Still Cloude', and the debate very much alive.

The resurrection of Jesus is thoroughly explored, using extra-canonical sources to fill in the blanks. Original.

When Stewart Petrie wrote in 1959 that 'the whole Synoptic question should be thrown back into the melting-pot', he was responding to what he saw as the fanciful and mutually contradictory attempts to solve a problem that had occupied New Testament scholars from the earliest days of biblical criticism. The 'Q' solution obscured more than it clarified, since there was no scholarly agreement on its extent, even on the assumption of its erstwhile existence. By means of its 'snap-shot' articles from the generation following Petrie s whimsical comments, this collection makes it possible to follow the course of the discussion in the subsequent forty years. Now, after a generation of study by many of the best scholarly minds, a consensus of sorts is beginning to emerge. Nonetheless, as Sharon Mattila s recent article shows, the question is 'A Problem Still Cloude', and the debate very much alive.

The publication of the King James version of the Bible, translated between 1603 and 1611, coincided with an extraordinary flowering of English literature and is universally acknowledged as the greatest influence on English-language literature in history. Now, world-class literary writers introduce the book of the King James Bible in a series of beautifully designed, small-format volumes. The introducers' passionate, provocative, and personal engagements with the spirituality and the language of the text make the Bible come alive as a stunning work of literature and remind us of its overwhelming contemporary relevance.

The study analyses the current state of research on the synoptic problem and proves that the Synoptic Gospels were written in the Mark, Luke, Matthew order of direct literary dependence. Moreover, the work demonstrates that the Synoptic Gospels are results of systematic, sequential, hypertextual reworking of the contents of the Pauline letters. Accordingly, the so-called 'Q source' turns out to be an invention of nineteenth-century scholars with their Romantic hermeneutic presuppositions. Demonstration of the fact that the Gospels are not records of the activity of the historical Jesus but that they narratively illustrate the identity of Christ as it has been revealed in the person and life of Paul the Apostle will certainly have major consequences for the whole Christian theology.

The problematic literary relationship among the Synoptic Gospels has given rise to numerous theories of authorship and priority. The primary objective of Rethinking the Synoptic Problem is to familiarize students with the main positions held by New Testament scholars in this much-debated area of research. The contributors to this volume, all leading biblical scholars, highlight current academic trends within New Testament scholarship and updates evangelical understandings of the Synoptic Problem.

Leading Scholars Debate a Key New Testament Topic The relationship between Matthew, Mark, and Luke is one of the most contested topics in Gospel studies. How do we account for the close similarities--and differences--in the Synoptic Gospels? In the last few decades, the standard answers to the typical questions regarding the Synoptic Problem have come under fire, while new approaches have surfaced. This up-to-date introduction articulates and debates the four major views. Following an overview of the issues, leading proponents of each view set forth their positions and respond to each of the other views. A concluding chapter summarizes the discussion and charts a direction for further study.