Introduction to the Synoptic Gospels

by Perkins, Pheme

• ISBN13: 9780802865533
• ISBN10: 0802865534
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-11-13
• Publisher: Eerdmans Pub Co
• More Book Details

Summary

In this book respected New Testament scholar Pheme Perkins delivers a clear, fresh, informed introduction to the earliest written accounts of Jesus Matthew, Mark, and Luke situating those canonical Gospels within the wider world of oral storytelling and literary production of the first and second centuries. Cutting through the media confusion over new Gospel finds, Perkinss Introduction to the Synoptic Gospels presents a balanced, responsible look at how the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke came to be and what they mean.

Author Biography

Pheme Perkins is professor of New Testament in the Theology Department at Boston College. Among her many published books re Reading the New Testament, Gnosticism and the New Testament, Galatians and the Politics of Faith, and Peter: Apostle for the Whole Church.

Table of Contents

Abbreviations	p. ix
General Bibliography	p. xi
Introduction	p. xiii
What is a Gospel	p. 1
Ancient Biography	p. 2
Gospels and Apostles-A Key Combination	p. 11
Mark's Innovation: Framing the Ministry and the Passion	p. 17
Matthew and Luke Improve on the Model	p. 18
Note: Alternate Suggestions for Genre	p. 23
Note: The Four-Gospel Canon	p. 26
Books and Believers in Early Christianity	p. 31
Early Christianity as an Explosion of Texts	p. 32
How Books Were Written	p. 37
How the Gospel Texts Have Come Down to Us	p. 41
When Texts Differ: What the Text Critic Contributes	p. 43
The Septuagint: Scripture Cited in the Gospels	p. 47
Marcion and the Idea of a Second-Century ôCanonö	p. 51
The Quest for Sources	p. 54
From a Synopsis: Comparing the Synoptic Gospels	p. 56
From Q and the Gospel of Thomas to Sayings Gospels	p. 67
Q	p. 85
Is it a Gospel?	p. 85
Strata in Q	p. 90
The Community Responsible for Q	p. 92
Form Criticism	p. 96
The Shape and Function of Sayings and Stories	p. 96
Sayings Material	p. 98
Parables and Similitudes	p. 105
Miracle Stories	p. 114
The Passion Narrative	p. 119
The Gospel of Peter and the Development of the Passion Narrative	p. 121
Reading Mark's Gospel	p. 126
From Beginning to End: Mark's Narrative Shape	p. 127
Literary Features of Mark's Narrative	p. 133
Characters in the Gospel	p. 142
Jesus in Mark's Gospel	p. 149
The Community Implied in Mark's Narrative	p. 153
Endings Added to the Gospel of Mark	p. 156
A Secret Version of Mark?	p. 158
Reading Matthew's Gospel	p. 164
From Beginning to End: Matthew's Narrative Shape	p. 166
Literary Features in Matthew's Narrative	p. 176
Characters in the Gospel	p. 181
Jesus in Matthew's Gospel	p. 189
The Community Implied in Matthew's Narrative	p. 193
Jewish Christian Gospel Traditions	p. 197
Reading Luke's Gospel	p. 202
From Beginning to End: Luke's Narrative Shape	p. 204
Literary Features of Luke's Narrative	p. 213
Characters in the Gospel	p. 221
Jesus in Luke's Gospel	p. 232
The Community Implied in Luke's Narrative	p. 240
Mary Traditions and Other Infancy Gospels	p. 244
The Reception and Revision of the Gospel of Luke	p. 250
Gospels from the Second and Third Centuries	p. 254
A Mixture of Traditions: Oral and Written	p. 256
Apocryphal Gospels and Reading the Synoptics	p. 262
Gnostic ôGospelsö from the Second and Third Centuries	p. 268
The Gospel of Judas	p. 278
P. Berol. 22220: The ôGospel of the Saviorö	p. 281
The Question of Genre Revisited	p. 287
Index of modern authors	p. 294
Index of subjects	p. 296
Index of ancient sources	p. 300
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.