A Common Written Greek Source for Mark and Thomas

John Horman

ISBN 10: 1554582245 / ISBN 13: 9781554582242

Published by Wilfrid Laurier University Press Feb 2011, 2011

About this Item

Neuware - This book uncovers an early collection of sayings, called N, that are ascribed to Jesus and are similar to those found in the Gospel of Thomas and in Q, a document believed to be a common source, with Mark, for Matthew and Luke. In the process, the book sheds light on the literary methods of Mark and Thomas. A literary comparison of the texts of the sayings of Jesus that appear in both Mark and Thomas shows that each adapted an earlier collection for his own purpose. Neither Mark nor Thomas consistently gives the original or earliest form of the shared sayings; hence, Horman states, each used and adapted an earlier source. Close verbal parallels between the versions in Mark and Thomas show that the source was written in Greek. Horman's conclusion is that this common source is N.

Seller Inventory # 9781554582242

Bibliographic Details

• Title: A Common Written Greek Source for Mark and Thomas
• Publisher: Wilfrid Laurier University Press Feb 2011
• Publication Date: 2011
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1554582245
• ISBN 13: 9781554582242
• Binding: Buch
• Condition: Neu
• Dimensions: 231W x 155H x 20D millimeters 231 millimeters width by 155 millimeters height by 20 millimeters depth
• Weight: 499 grams

About this title

Synopsis

This book uncovers an early collection of sayings, called N, that are ascribed to Jesus and are similar to those found in the Gospel of Thomas and in Q, a document believed to be a common source, with Mark, for Matthew and Luke. In the process, the book sheds light on the literary methods of Mark and Thomas. A literary comparison of the texts of the sayings of Jesus that appear in both Mark and Thomas shows that each adapted an earlier collection for his own purpose. Neither Mark nor Thomas consistently gives the original or earliest form of the shared sayings; hence, Horman states, each used and adapted an earlier source. Close verbal parallels between the versions in Mark and Thomas show that the source was written in Greek. Horman’s conclusion is that this common source is N.
This proposal is new, and has implications for life of Jesus research. Previous research on sayings attributed to Jesus has treated Thomas in one of two ways: either as an independent stream of Jesus sayings written without knowledge of the New Testament Gospels and or as a later piece of pseudo-Scripture that uses the New Testament as source. This book rejects both views.

About the Author

John Horman received his Ph.D. from McMaster University in 1973 and is an independent scholar from Waterloo, ON. He has published in Novum Testamentum, and this is his first book.