Gospel Reading and Reception in Early Christian Literature

Gospel Reading and Reception in Early Christian Literature
Author: Madison N. Pierce
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 309
Release: 2022-02-17
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1009092383

Before the early Christian evangelists were Gospel writers, they were Gospel readers. Their composition process was more complex than simply compiling existing traditions about Jesus, then ordering them into a narrative frame. Rather, these writers were engaged in a creative and dynamic act of theological reception. 'Gospel reading' refers to this innovative and often artistic use of source materials -- from Israel's Scriptures to pre-existing narratives of Jesus-- to produce updated, expanded, or even alternative renditions. This volume explores that process. The common thread running through each chapter is the conviction that the early Christian practice of writing 'gospel' and the 'Gospels' was one of the most hermeneutically creative exercises in ancient literary culture, one that was prompted by the perceived theological significance of Jesus. The contributors seek to demonstrate the intricate dynamics of this controversial figure's theological and textual reception through foundational essays on specific texts and themes.

Performing Early Christian Literature

Performing Early Christian Literature
Author: Kelly Iverson
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 241
Release: 2021-10-07
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1009033859

Scholars of early Christian literature acknowledge that oral traditions lie behind the New Testament gospels. While the concept of orality is widely accepted, it has not resulted in a corresponding effort to understand the reception of the gospels within their oral milieu. In this book, Kelly Iverson reconsiders the experiential context in which early Christian literature was received and interpreted. He argues that reading and performance are distinguishable media events, and, significantly, that they produce distinctive interpretive experiences for readers and audiences alike. Iverson marshals an array of methodological perspectives demonstrating how performance generates a unique experiential context that shapes and informs the interpretive process. Iverson's study explores the dynamic oral environment in which ancient audiences experienced the gospel stories. He shows why an understanding of oral performance has important implications for the study of the NT, as well as for several issues that are largely unquestioned by biblical scholars.

Gospel Reading and Reception in Early Christian Literature

Gospel Reading and Reception in Early Christian Literature
Author: Madison N. Pierce
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 309
Release: 2022-02-17
Genre: Bibles
ISBN: 1316514463

Gospel writing always follows Gospel reading, a complex literary act of reception that interprets the theological significance of Jesus. This volume seek to demonstrate the intricate dynamics of this controversial figure's theological and textual reception through foundational essays on specific texts and themes.

Books and Readers in the Early Church

Books and Readers in the Early Church
Author: Harry Y. Gamble
Publisher: Yale University Press
Total Pages: 356
Release: 1995-01-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9780300069181

This fascinating and lively book provides the first comprehensive discussion of the production, circulation, and use of books in early Christianity. It explores the extent of literacy in early Christian communities; the relation in the early church between oral tradition and written materials; the physical form of early Christian books; how books were produced, transcribed, published, duplicated, and disseminated; how Christian libraries were formed; who read the books, in what circumstances, and to what purposes. Harry Y. Gamble interweaves practical and technological dimensions of the production and use of early Christian books with the social and institutional history of the period. Drawing on evidence from papyrology, codicology, textual criticism, and early church history, as well as on knowledge about the bibliographical practices that characterized Jewish and Greco-Roman culture, he offers a new perspective on the role of books in the first five centuries of the early church.

Communal Reading in the Time of Jesus

Communal Reading in the Time of Jesus
Author: Brian J. Wright
Publisher: Fortress Press
Total Pages: 319
Release: 2017-12-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1506438490

Much of the contemporary discussion of the Jesus tradition has focused on aspects of oral performance, storytelling, and social memory, on the premise that the practice of communal reading of written texts was a phenomenon documented no earlier than the second century CE. Brian J. Wright overturns the premise that communal reading of written texts was a phenomenon documented no earlier than the second century CE by examining evidence for its practice in the first century.

The Reception of Luke and Acts in the Period Before Irenaeus

The Reception of Luke and Acts in the Period Before Irenaeus
Author: Andrew F. Gregory
Publisher: Mohr Siebeck
Total Pages: 456
Release: 2003
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9783161480867

"When and how may Christians first be shown to have used the Gospel of Luke and its companion volume, The Acts of the Apostles? Andrew Gregory offers the first book-length discussion of the reception of Luke and of Acts in the period before Irenaeus. The research project which was the basis of this monograph was originally conceived as a comparison of the pneumatology of Luke-Acts with the pneumatologies presented in Christian literature of the second century. Recent scholarship on Lukan pneumatology is agreed that Luke has a particular interest in the Spirit, but it is divided as to whether his pneumatology is part of a homogenous early Christian understanding or a distinctive presentation that is to be sharply differentiated from that of Matthew and Mark, of John, and of Paul. Noting a lacuna identified by Turner, the author set out to originally ask two questions. First, whether it might be possible to identify in second century pneumatologies any characteristics that New Testament scholars might label as distinctively Lukan. Second, whether such characteristics might be sufficient to indicate not only the influence of Lukan pneumatology but also a conscious appropriation of distinctively Lukan theology by other early Christians. Contents include: Introduction and methodology, Previous research, The evidence of the earliest manuscripts and notices, Do narrative outlines of episodes in the life of Jesus presuppose Luke?, Collections of the sayings of Jesus, Marcion, Justin Martyr, The reception of Luke in the Second Century, The reception of Acts in the Second Century, Early and Ambiguous Evidence, Justin Martyr, Narrative accounts explicitly concerning the Post-resurrection teaching of Jesus and the activity of Apostles and other prominent figures, The reception of Acts in the Period before Irenaeus, The reception of Luke and Acts in the Period before Irenaeus."

The Gospel on the Margins

The Gospel on the Margins
Author: Michael J. Kok
Publisher: Augsburg Fortress Publishers
Total Pages: 396
Release: 2015
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1451490224

Despite virtually unanimous patristic association of the Gospel of Mark with the apostle Peter, the Gospel was mostly neglected by those same writers. Michael J. Kok surveys the second-century reception of Mark, from Papias of Hierapolis to Clement of Alexandria, and finds that the patristic writers were hesitant to embrace Mark because they perceived it to be too easily adapted to rival Christian factions. Kok describes the story of Marks Petrine origins as a second-century move to assert ownership of the Gospel on the part of the emerging Orthodox Church.

Reading the New Testament as Christian Scripture (Reading Christian Scripture)

Reading the New Testament as Christian Scripture (Reading Christian Scripture)
Author: Constantine R. Campbell
Publisher: Baker Academic
Total Pages: 618
Release: 2020-08-04
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1493427350

This survey textbook by two respected New Testament scholars is designed to meet the needs of contemporary evangelical undergraduates. The book effectively covers the New Testament books and major topics in the New Testament, assuming no prior academic study of the Bible. The authors pay attention to how the New Testament documents fit together as a canonical whole that supplements the Old Testament to make up the Christian Scriptures. They also show how the New Testament writings provide basic material for Christian doctrine, spirituality, and engagement with culture. Chapters can be assigned in any order, making this an ideal textbook for one-semester courses at evangelical schools. This is the first volume in a new series of survey textbooks that will cover the Old and New Testaments. The book features full-color illustrations that hold interest and aid learning and offers a full array of pedagogical aids: photographs, sidebars, maps, time lines, charts, glossary, and discussion questions. Additional resources for instructors and students are available through Textbook eSources.

The Oxford Handbook of the Reception History of the Bible

The Oxford Handbook of the Reception History of the Bible
Author: Michael Lieb
Publisher: Oxford Handbooks Online
Total Pages: 742
Release: 2011-01-13
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 0199204543

This wide-ranging volume looks at the reception history of the Bible's many texts; Part I surveys the outline, form, and content of twelve key biblical books that have been influential in the history of interpretation. Part II offers a series of in-depth case studies of the interpretation of particular biblical passages or books.

How to Study the Bible's Use of the Bible

How to Study the Bible's Use of the Bible
Author: Gary Edward Schnittjer
Publisher: Zondervan Academic
Total Pages: 300
Release: 2024-10-08
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0310142466

How to Study the Bible's Use of the Bible: Seven Hermeneutical Choices for the Old and New Testaments by Gary Edward Schnittjer and Matthew S. Harmon is an essential resource aimed at teaching a hermeneutic for understanding the Bible's use of the Bible. Intended for students of both testaments, the book's innovative approach demonstrates how the Old Testament use of Scripture provides resources for the New Testament authors' use of Scripture. The authors provide students with a clear approach to handling the Bible's use of itself through seven key hermeneutical choices organized into individual chapters. Each chapter introduces a hermeneutical choice and then provides several examples of the Old Testament use of Old Testament and the New Testament use of Old Testament. The plentiful examples model for students the need to ground hermeneutics in biblical evidence and provide insight into understanding why the Bible's use of the Bible is important.