Synoptic Composition: The Use of Oral and Written Sources in the Synoptic Gospels
Ebook
The fascination with literary dependency in the most popular approaches to the synoptic problem has been built upon a faulty presupposition: that oral tradition is incapable of producing the word for word verbal agreement found in the synoptic accounts. Recent research in the area of oral tradition has shown that this is not the case, but we still rely on increasingly complicated literary models to explain the relationships between the Synoptic Gospels.
This book engages in comparative analysis of Old Greek quotations found in more than one of the Synoptic Gospels, along with the material that surrounds these quotations. The resulting conclusions indicate that oral sources may better explain the similarities and differences found in the Synoptic Gospels, and that we ought to reexamine our foundational presuppositions in order to craft a better model for understanding the origins of the Synoptic Gospels.
The hope is that the reader will join the author in seeking to better understand these books that include the climax of the greatest story of all time: the true story of people marred by sin, and their creator who seeks after them as he redeems all things to himself.
“The Synoptic Problem conversation has become its own problem. The increasingly complex proposals have prompted some to raise the white flag of surrender. Adam Christian helpfully provides a historical overview but also affirms the fluidity between the oral and written tradition. He argues there has been an overreliance on literary dependence and suggests the oral tradition may be of some help to the progressively convoluted proposals. Certainly, a more nuanced view is emerging, and scholars will need to reckon with new paradigms, including Christian’s, in their analysis.”
—Patrick Schreiner, associate professor of New Testament and biblical theology, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
“Adam Christian offers a robust linguistic analysis of Synoptic passages that include quotes from the Old Greek, objectively comparing how the Evangelists handled the Old Greek quotations. He concludes that the Evangelists’ consistency with the quoted material and freedom with surrounding material fit what might be expected in a culture that orally shares its traditions. Christian’s Synoptic Composition prompts New Testament scholars to consider afresh oral tradition as a grid that explains Synoptic relations.”
—Todd R. Chipman, associate professor of biblical studies, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
- Title: Synoptic Composition: The Use of Oral and Written Sources in the Synoptic Gospels
- Author: Adam J. Christian
- Publisher: Wipf and Stock
- Print Publication Date: 2023
- Logos Release Date: 2023
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBNs: 9781666777314, 9781666777307, 1666777307, 9781666777291, 1666777293, 1666777315
- Resource ID: LLS:9781666777314
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2023-10-03T20:40:34Z
Adam J. Christian serves as the adult ministry team leader at Christian Fellowship Church in Evansville, Indiana.