Category Archives: Gospels

Mark’s Gospel and the ‘invention’ of the historical Jesus

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I have written several posts that support the essential historicity of the events that are recorded in Mark’s Gospel (no less than those that are recorded in the other three Gospels).

I have found it interesting, however, to consider the views of Robert M. Price (one of the contributors to The Historical Jesus: Five Views), who takes the polar opposite view.  For Price, the ‘events’ recorded in Mark’s Gospel (no less that the others) have virtually no basis in history, but were invented by the Christian community on the basis of their reading of (what we call) the Old Testament scriptures.…

Dying and rising gods

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Was the notion of a dying and rising Saviour, as recorded in the canonical Gospels, derived from pagan myths concerning the Canaanite god Baal, the Phoenician god Adonis, the Egyptian god Osiris, and others?  This view was first popularised by J. G. Frazer in The Golden Bough: a Study in Magic and Religion (first published in 1890).  Frazer thought that he had discovered a universal core in religion – a myth about a dying and rising fertility god, along with associated rituals – and this idea was taken up by some others, including Joseph Campbell.…

The plural-to-singular narrative device in Mark’s Gospel

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Referring back to an old (1925) and neglected article by Cuthbert Taylor, Richard Bauckham (Jesus and the Eyewitnesses) notes that there are twenty-one instances of a narrative device in Mark’s Gospel that invite attention.  This is a device in which switches, slightly awkwardly, from third-person plural to third-person singular.  Here are some examples:-

Mk 5:1f – ‘They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. And when he had stepped out of the boat .…

The twelve disciples as ‘official’ eyewitnesses

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At first glance, the lists of Jesus’ disciples (Matt 10:2-4; Mark 3:16-19; Luke 6:13-16; see also Acts 1:13) seem simply to introduce some of the key players in the story.  But these lists probably serve a more specific purpose, especially given that about half of the characters named in the lists are never named again in the Gospels.  So this more specific function of the lists of disciples is that they display continuity between Jesus and the early Christian community, and provide the latter with reassurance about the overall shape and content of Jesus ministry that could only come from those who had closely associated with him.  …

Psalms of lament in the Gospels

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The function of the psalms of lament in the Gospels, especially in the passion narratives, reflects a righteous sufferer typology.

  1. Jesus is betrayed by his friends. (Mk 14:18; Ps 41:9; 55:12-14)
  2. He is sorrowful. (Mk 14:34; Ps 43:5)
  3. He is falsely accused (Mk 14:56 par.; Ps 27:12).
  4. Pilate washes his hands of Jesus’ death. (Mt 27:24; Ps 26:6)
  5. Jesus’ clothes are divided among his enemies. (Mk 15:24; Ps 22:18)
  6. He is mocked. (Mk 15:29-31; Ps 22:7-8; 109:25)
  7. He thirsts.
…

Bart Ehrman’s ‘Top Ten’ spurious verses

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In his book Misquoting Jesus, Bart Ehrman lists ten ‘top verses that were not originally in the New Testament’. These are:-

1 John 5:7 There are three that bear witness in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one.

This is already recognised in modern Bible translations as a very late addition. For example, NIV (1984) states: ‘not found in any Greek manuscript before the sixteenth century’. If, as is possible, the wording of this verse was included in order to bolster the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, then it should be noted that that doctrine had been accepted by the Christian Church for centuries.…

Protective anonymity in the Gospels

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In Mark’s Gospel there are three characters that go unnamed but are later named in John’s Gospel. They are:

(1) the woman who anoints (Mk 14:3) who John reveals as Mary (Jn 12:3);

(2) the man who wields the sword (Mk 14:47) who John reveals as Simon Peter (Jn 18:10);

(3) the servant of the high priest (Mk 14:47) who John reveals as Malchus (Jn 18:10).

These are examples of what Richard Bauckham (Jesus and the Eyewitnesses) calls ‘protective anonymity’ in the earlier accounts: this was not needed in a later account, when fear of embarrassment or reprisals would have partly or wholly disappeared.…

The Gospels as eyewitness testimony

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The New Testament writers assert on a number of occasions that the accounts of Jesus’ life and work were based on eyewitness testimony.

Perhaps the most famous of these assertions is the statement by Luke at the beginning of his gospel. Peter also insists that ‘we did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eye-witnesses of his majesty’ (2 Pet 1:16).  …

The ‘high Christology’ of the Synoptics

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Scholars such as Bart Ehrman (in his recent book How Jesus Became God) stress the differences between the ‘higher Christology’ of John’s Gospel (in which Jesus is represented as God incarnate) and the ‘lower Christology’ of the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke, in which he is represented as exalted, but not pre-existent).  For Ehrman, even the Synoptic view of Jesus did not arise until after his followers came to believe that he had been resurrected; and the Johanine view developed later still.…

The Gospels and eyewitness testimony – the use of names

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What follows is based on this lecture by Dr Peter J. Williams.

Recent studies into the use of Jewish names inside and outside the canonical Gospels have provided remarkable evidence that these accounts were based on eyewitness testimony.

Tradition and modern scholarship agree that most or all of the Gospels/Acts were written outside Palestine. So how familiar were they with the agriculture, architecture, botany, culture, economics, geography, language, law, personal names, politics, religion, social stratification, topography, and weather of the land they are talking about?…