Narrative Elements in the Double Tradition

A Study of Their Place within the Framework of the Gospel Narrative

Stephen Hultgren

• Publisher: De Gruyter
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN: 9783110175257
• eBook ISBN: 9783110891379
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Criticism & Interpretation

For a long time mainstream gospel scholarship has assumed that the so-called Q material (the "double tradition") in Matthew and Luke represents a document or tradition that was almost exclusively orientated towards the sayings of Jesus of Nazareth, with little interest in a narrative about him.

This book argues, on the contrary, that the narrative material in the double tradition existed from the very beginning within a coherent Jesus narrative that ran from his baptism to his passion. Far from being inserted by Matthew and Luke into the framework of Mark, the double tradition is structured on the very same narrative framework as the Gospel of Mark (a framework that predates Mark). Conventional dichotomies in gospel origins, the historical Jesus, and the history of early Christianity are thus drawn into question.

Table of contents

• Abbreviations
• Introduction to the Problem: Narrative Elements in the Double Tradition
• 1. Historical Overview: The Genesis of a False Dichotomy
• 1.1 Introduction
• 1.2 Herbert Marsh
• 1.3 Friedrich Schleiermacher
• 1.4 Excursus on the Term Logion (Logia)
• 1.5 Karl Lachmann
• 1.6 C.H. Weisse
• 1.7 H. J. Holtzmann
• 1.8 Bernhard Weiss
• 1.9 After Weiss
• 1.10 The Framework of the Gospel Narrative, Part 1: K. L. Schmidt
• 1.11 The Framework of the Gospel Narrative, Part 2: C. H. Dodd
• 1.12 From Schmidt and Dodd to the Present
• 1.13 The Plan of this Study
• 1.14 Proto-Luke: A Non-Markan Synoptic Narrative Framework?
• 1.15 The Presuppositions of this Study and the Terminology Used
• 2. Are You the One to Come? On the Relationship between John the Baptist and Jesus (Matt 11.2-6, 7-11//Luke 7.18-23, 24-28)
• 2.1 Introduction
• 2.2 John 3.25-36
• 2.3 John and the Synoptics on the Relationship between Jesus and the Baptist
• 2.4 Mark 1.14-15
• 2.5 Mark 1.1-2
• 2.6 Conclusion
• 3. The Obedient Son of God: The Temptation and the Passion (Matt 4.1-11//Luke 4.1-13)
• 3.1 Introduction
• 3.2 The Origin of the Temptation Narrative
• 3.3 The Purpose of the Temptation Narrative
• 3.4 The Relationship of the Temptation Narrative to Early Baptismal Catechesis
• 3.5 Mark’s Temptation Narrative (Mark 1.12-13)
• 3.6 Conclusion
• 4. From Nazareth to Capernaum: The Beginning of the Galilean Ministry (Matt 4.12-16; Luke 4.14-31a)
• 4.1 Introduction
• 4.2 Heinz Schürmann and “Der Bericht vom Anfang”
• 4.3 Critique of Schürmann’s Theory
• 4.4 Antonio Gaboury on the Structure of the Synoptic Gospels
• 4.5 Critique of Gaboury
• 4.6 Capernaum and Nazareth: Mark 1.21-22 and 6.1-6a
• 4.7 The Beginning of the Galilean Ministry: “To Proclaim the Year of the Lord’s Favor”
• 4.8 The Problem of Luke 4.23
• 4.9 John 2.1-12; 4.43-54, and the Double Tradition
• 4.10 Conclusion
• 5. The Early Galilean Ministry (in and around Capernaum)
• 5.1 Introduction
• 5.2 Gaboury on the Double Tradition
• 5.3 The Structure of Mark 1.21-6.13
• 5.4 Mark’s Framework and the Double Tradition
• 5.5 John and the Double Tradition
• 5.6 Appendix I: The Healing of the Paralytic and the Centurion in Capernaum
• 5.7 Appendix II: The Placement of Matthew’s Sermon in the Synopsis
• 6. The Later Galilean and Judean Ministries
• 6.1 Introduction
• 6.2 Matthew 8.1-13.58
• 6.3 Luke 7.11-9.6
• 6.4 The Later Galilean and Judean Ministries
• 6.5 An Exorcism and the Beelzebul Controversy
• 6.6 Conclusion
• 7. The Passion Narrative
• 7.1 Introduction
• 7.2 The Denial of Peter (Matt 26.69-75//Mark 14.66-72//Luke 22.54b-62)
• 7.3 Gethsemane Traditions in the New Testament
• 7.4 The Gethsemane Narratives in Matthew and Luke
• 7.5 Gethsemane and the Lord’s Prayer
• 7.6 On the Meaning of the Third Petition
• 7.7 The Lord’s Prayer and the Gospel of John
• 7.8 The Purpose of the Gethsemane Prayer
• 7.9 Other Common, Non-Markan Narrative Material in the Passion Narrative?
• 7.10 Conclusion
• 8. Narrative Elements in the Double Tradition: Conclusions and Implications
• 8.1 Introduction
• 8.2 The Framework of the Gospel Narrative
• 8.3 The Synoptic Problem
• 8.4 John and the Synoptics
• 8.5 The Historical Jesus
• 8.6 Jesus in the Memory of the Early Church
• Bibliography
• Index of Scripture References
• Index of Other Ancient Sources
• Index of Modem Authors
• Index of Subjects