Rewritten Gospel : The Composition of Luke and Rewritten Scripture

Jonathan M. Potter

ISBN 10: 3111358089 / ISBN 13: 9783111358086

Published by De Gruyter, 2024

About this Item

Neuware - How early Christian gospels were written is an old question that continues to engage scholars. Moving beyond the traditional approach of reading Luke as a 'gentile' gospel composed primarily using Greco-Roman methods of history and biography writing, this book argues that Luke's use of the earlier Gospel of Mark should be understood in the context of contemporaneous early Jewish writings known as 'Rewritten Scripture.' Texts like the Book of Jubilees and Josephus's Antiquities interpret Scripture by rewriting it in such a way that ambiguities and contradictions are diminished, while also adapting it to contemporary beliefs and practices. A similar strategy of interpretation through rewriting best explains Luke's reworking of Mark. Even if Mark is not yet 'Scripture,' Luke's manner of rewriting Mark suggests that Luke views the earliest gospel as an authoritative narrative about Jesus that merits interpretive clarification and expansion rather than rejection or critique. This approach offers solutions to various 'problems' in the composition of Luke, such as the combination of expansion and omission, verbatim repetition and free paraphrase, and it also places Luke's compositional process within a plausible ancient literary context. ; Dissertationsschrift.

Seller Inventory # 9783111358086

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Rewritten Gospel : The Composition of Luke and Rewritten Scripture
• Publisher: De Gruyter
• Publication Date: 2024
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 3111358089
• ISBN 13: 9783111358086
• Binding: Buch
• Condition: Neu
• Dimensions: 230W x 155H x 34D millimeters 230 millimeters width by 155 millimeters height by 34 millimeters depth
• Weight: 620 grams

About this title

Synopsis

How early Christian gospels were written is an old question that continues to engage scholars. Moving beyond the traditional approach of reading Luke as a "gentile" gospel composed primarily using Greco-Roman methods of history and biography writing, this book argues that Luke’s use of the earlier Gospel of Mark should be understood in the context of contemporaneous early Jewish writings known as "Rewritten Scripture." Texts like the Book of Jubilees and Josephus’s Antiquities interpret Scripture by rewriting it in such a way that ambiguities and contradictions are diminished, while also adapting it to contemporary beliefs and practices. A similar strategy of interpretation through rewriting best explains Luke’s reworking of Mark. Even if Mark is not yet "Scripture," Luke’s manner of rewriting Mark suggests that Luke views the earliest gospel as an authoritative narrative about Jesus that merits interpretive clarification and expansion rather than rejection or critique. This approach offers solutions to various "problems" in the composition of Luke, such as the combination of expansion and omission, verbatim repetition and free paraphrase, and it also places Luke’s compositional process within a plausible ancient literary context.

About the Authors

Jonathan Potter, Emory University, Atlanta, USA.

Jonathan Potter, Emory University, Atlanta, USA.