The Gospels in Context: Social and Political History in the Synoptic Tradition
Overview
This pioneering investigation of social and political history illuminates the prehistory of the Synoptic texts from their beginnings up to the writing of the Gospels. Theissen focuses on Galilee, Judea, and beyond Palestine, with their historical crises under Caligula (39–41 C.E.) and in the Jewish War (66–74 C.E.). He is able to distinguish between the bearers of tradition – common people, communities, disciples – in their adaptation and transmission of the tradition in their societies.
Top Highlights
“Jesus’ rejection of the woman expresses a bitterness that had built up within the relationships between Jews and Gentiles in the border regions between Tyre and Galilee.” (Page 65)
“This is the point at which the search for cultural context begins” (Page 65)
“This restriction to the countryside is all the more astonishing because, at the time when the synoptic tradition was being shaped and the Gospels written, there was already a Christian community in Tyre (cf. Acts 21:3–6), and it would have been natural either to connect Jesus with the city or to associate the residents of the city with Jesus. The restriction of Jesus to the rural area may thus correspond to the real pre-Easter situation.” (Page 67)
“The economically stronger Tyrians probably often took bread out of the mouths of the Jewish rural population, when they used their superior financial means to buy up the grain supply in the countryside. It is possible that there was a common saying that condemned this situation: should one take food away from one’s own children and give it to the dogs (i.e., the pagans)? In that case, what is special about the story in Mk 7:24ff.” (Page 79)
“There is a whole series of texts indicating that the Tyrians were especially hostile to Jews” (Page 77)
Product Details
- Title: The Gospels in Context
- Author: Gerd Theissen
- Publisher: Continuum International
- Publication Date: 2004
- Pages: 336