Table Of ContentACPN000702QK000.qxd 11/13/06 3:34 PM Page i
(cid:2)
Critical
INTRODUCTION
to the
NEW TESTAMENT
ACPN000702QK000.qxd 11/13/06 3:34 PM Page ii
ACPN000702QK000.qxd 11/13/06 3:34 PM Page iii
(cid:2)
Critical
INTRODUCTION
to the
NEW TESTAMENT
Interpreting the Message and
Meaning of Jesus Christ
C R. H
ARL OLLADAY
Abingdon Press / Nashville
ACPN000702QK000.qxd 11/13/06 3:34 PM Page iv
A CRITICAL INTRODUCTION TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
INTERPRETING THE MESSAGE AND MEANING OF JESUS CHRIST
Copyright © 2005 by Abingdon Press
All rights reserved.
No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, includ-
ing photocopying and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted
by the 1976 Copyright Act or in writing from the publisher. Requests for permission can be addressed to Abingdon Press,
P.O. Box 801, 201 Eighth Avenue South, Nashville, TN 37202-0801, or e-mailed to [email protected].
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Holladay, Carl R.
A critical introduction to the New Testament : interpreting the message and meaning of Jesus Christ / Carl R.
Holladay.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-687-08569-1 (adhesive perfect binding : alk. paper)
1. Bible. N.T.—Criticism, interpretation, etc. I. Title.
BS2361.3.H65 2005
225.6’1—dc22
2004030675
All scripture quotations unless noted otherwise are taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright
1989, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States
of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Excerpts from The Jerusalem Bible, copyright 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd, Ltd., and Doubleday, a division of
Random House, Inc. Reprinted by permission.
Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the King James or Authorized Version of the Bible.
Scripture quotations marked NEB are from The New English Bible. © The Delegates of the Oxford University Press and
The Syndics of the Cambridge University Press, 1961, 1970. Reprinted by permission.
Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973,
1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked REB are from The Revised English Bible © Oxford University Press and Cambridge
University Press, 1989.
Permission to quote from the following works in both print and electronic form has been granted by the named publisher:
C. K. Barrett, The New Testament Background: Selected Documents.London: SPCK, 1989. Copyright © SPCK, Holy
Trinity Church, Marylebone Road, London, NW1 4DM, England. Used by permission.
Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics IV/1. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1956. Copyright © The Continuum International
Publishing Group, 15 East 26th St., Suite 1703, New York, NY 10010. Used by permission.
Gunther Bornkamm, Jesus of Nazareth. Translated by Irene and Fraser McCluskey. Copyright © 1960 by Hodder &
Stoughton, Ltd., and Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc. English translation copyright © 1961 by Hodder and Stoughton,
Ltd., and Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc. Used by permission of HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
F. F. Bruce, The Canon of Scripture. © 1988 F. F. Bruce. Used by permission of InterVarsity Press, P. O. Box 1400,
Downers, Grove, IL 60515, www.ivpress.com, and Chapter House, 53 Bothwell Street, Glasgow G2 6TS, Scotland.
Rudolf Bultmann, Jesus and the Word. Translated by Louise Pettibone Smith and Erminie Huntress Lantero. Reprinted
with the permission of Scribner, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group. Copyright © by Charles
Scribner’s Sons.
W. D. Davies, The Setting of the Sermon on the Mount.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1964. Copyright © Ms.
Rachel M. Davies, 6 Stoneridge Circle, Durham, NC 27705. Used by permission.
Adolf Deissmann, Light from the Ancient East: The New Testament Illustrated by Recently Discovered Texts of the Graeco-
Roman World.Translated by Lionel R. M. Strachan, taking into account the 4th German edition, 1923. Grand Rapids,
MI: Baker, 1965. Reproduced by permission of Hodder and Stoughton Limited, 338 Euston Road, London, NW1 3BH,
United Kingdom.
Edgar J. Goodspeed, The Formation of the New Testament. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1926. Copyright
© The University of Chicago Press, 1427 East 60th St., Chicago, IL 60637. Used by permission.
05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14—10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
ACPN000702QK000.qxd 11/13/06 3:34 PM Page v
George Howard, The Teaching of Addai. Society of Biblical Literature Texts and Translations 16, Early Christian
Literature Series 4. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature (Scholars Press), 1981. Used by permission of The Society
of Biblical Literature, The Luce Center, Suite 350, 825 Houston Mill Road, Atlanta, GA 30329. www.sbl-site.org
Joachim Jeremias, Unknown Sayings of Jesus. London: SPCK, 1957. Copyright © SPCK, Holy Trinity Church,
Marylebone Road, London NW1 4DU, England; www.spck.org.uk. Used by permission.
Ernst Käsemann, Essays on New Testament Themes. London: SCM Press, 1964. Copyright © SCM Press, 9-17 St.
Albans Place, London, N1 ONX, England. Used by permission.
H. J. Lawlor and J. E. L. Oulton, Eusebius, The Ecclesiastical History and The Martyrs of Palestine.London: SPCK, 1954.
Used by permission of SPCK. Copyright © SPCK, Holy Trinity Church, Marylebone Road, London NW1 4DU,
England. www.spck.org.uk
Bruce M. Metzger, The Canon of the New Testament: Its Origin, Development, and Significance.Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 1987. Copyright © Oxford University Press, Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP, United Kingdom. Used
by permission.
James Moffatt, General Epistles. New York: Harper Collins, 1928. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers, 10 East 53rd
St., New York, NY 10022. Used by permission.
David L. Mosher, trans., Augustine: Eighty-Three Different Questions. Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of
America Press, 1982. Copyright © The Catholic University of America Press, 620 Michigan Ave., N.E., 240 Leahy
Hall, Washington, D.C. 20064. Used by permission.
Jaroslav Pelikan and Helmut T. Lehmann, eds., Luther’s Works: American Edition, Copyright © 1967 Concordia
Publishing House. Quotations from volumes 15 and 30. All Rights Reserved. Used by permission. Quotations from vol-
ume 35. Copyright © Augsburg Fortress Publishers, P. O. Box 1209, Minneapolis, MN 55440-1209. Used by permission.
Norman Perrin, Rediscovering the Teaching of Jesus. London: SCM Press, 1967. Copyright © SCM Press, 9-17 St. Albans
Place, London, N1 ONX, England. Used by permission.
James M. Robinson, A New Quest of the Historical Jesus. London: SCM Press, 1959. Copyright © SCM Press, 9-17 St.
Albans Place, London, N1 ONX, England. Used by permission.
Albert Schweitzer, The Quest of the Historical Jesus: A Critical Study of Its Progress from Reimarus to Wrede.Translated
by William Montgomery. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998. Used by permission, The Johns
Hopkins University Press, 2715 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218-4319. www.press.jhu.edu
Albert Schweitzer, The Quest of the Historical Jesus: First Complete Edition. Edited by John Bowden. Based on the trans-
lation of the first German edition in 1906 by William Montgomery, revised by J. R. Coates, Susan Cupitt, and John
Bowden. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2001. Copyright © Fortress Press. Used by permission.
Daniel J. Theron, Evidence of Tradition. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1957. Copyright © Baker Book House
Company. P. O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287. Used by permission.
Quotations from the following volumes of The Loeb Classical Library are reprinted by permission of the publishers and
the Trustees of the Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press: Dio Cassius, Volume VI, LCL
83, translated by Earnest Cary, 1917; Plutarch, Volume VII, LCL 405, translated by Phillip H. DeLacy & Benedict
Einarson, 1959; Pliny the Younger, Volume II, LCL 59, translated by Betty Radice, 1969; Select Papyri, Volume I, LCL
266, translated by A. S. Hunt & C. C. Edgar, 1932. The Loeb Classical Library ® is a registered trademark of the
President and Fellows of Harvard College.
Oxyrhynchus Papyrus No. 115, letter of consolation from Egypt, second century C.E.Photograph was provided by the
Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, New Haven, CT. Catalogue number: Papyrus No. 32.
Reproduced with permission.
Oxyrhynchus Papyrus No. 119, letter from Theon to his father from Egypt, second or third century C.E.Photograph
was provided by the Bodleian Library, Oxford University Library Services, Broad Street, Oxford OX1 3BG, England.
Catalogue number: MS. Gr. Class. F. 66 (P). Reproduced with permission.
Papyrus 52, a papyrus fragment of John 18:37–38, dated about 125 C.E.Reproduced by courtesy of the Director and
University Librarian, The John Rylands University Library of Manchester, Manchester, England.
Papyrus 75, an early third-century papyrus, containing portions of Luke and John. Reproduced by courtesy of the
Bibliotheque Bodmer, Cologny-Geneve, Switzerland.
Images of woodcuts used throughout the book are from the Digital Image Archive of The Richard C. Kessler
Reformation Collection, Pitts Theology Library, Candler School of Theology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322
www.pitts.emory.edu. Used by permission, with gratitude to M. Patrick Graham, Librarian and M. A. Pitts Professor of
Theology Bibliography.
Front cover: The image of Jesus Christ, the Pantocrator, is from the sanctuary of St John the Wonderworker Eastern
Orthodox Church, 543 Cherokee Avenue, Atlanta, GA 30312.
ACPN000702QK000.qxd 11/13/06 3:34 PM Page vi
For
Sarah Elizabeth Holladay
and
James Patrick Holladay
ACPN000702QK000.qxd 11/13/06 3:34 PM Page vii
Contents
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxiii
Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxvii
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
PART 1 THEOLOGY AND SCRIPTURE
Chapter 1 The New Testament as Theological Writings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
■ Christian Theology: Believing in Christ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
■ The Theological Conversation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
❍ Text and Tradition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
❍ Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
❍ Interpreter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
❍ Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
■ Catalysts for Theological Reflection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
■ Jesus the Catalyst . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
■ Summary and Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
■ Note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
■ Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Chapter 2 The Shape of the Canon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
■ Some Fourth-Century Arrangements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
■ Earlier Arrangements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
■ Later Testimony . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
■ Significance of Different Arrangements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
■ Order of Treatment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
■ Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
■ Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
vii
ACPN000702QK000.qxd 11/13/06 3:34 PM Page viii
PART 2 THE GOSPELS: NARRATIVE TRADITIONS ABOUT JESUS
Chapter 3 Relating the Gospels to Each Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
■ Strategies for Relating the Gospels to Each Other . . . . . . . . . . 43
❍ Harmonization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
❍ Literary Comparison and Diachronic Reconstruction
(Literary Dependence) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
■ The Synoptic Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
❍ Agreement in Wording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
❍ Sequence of Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
❍ Differences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
■ Possible Explanations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
❍ Single (or Common) Source Theories . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
❍ Miscellaneous Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
❍ Literary Dependence Theories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
■ Widely Held Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
❍ Two Gospel Hypothesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52
❍ Two Source Hypothesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
❍ Multiple Stage Development Hypothesis . . . . . . . . . . 66
❍ The Ongoing Debate: Two Gospel or Two Source
Hypothesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
■ The Gospel of John and the Synoptic Gospels . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
❍ Similarities between John and the Synoptics . . . . . . . 69
❍ Traditions Unique to John . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
❍ Sources and Theories of Composition . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
■ Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
■ Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
❍ Q . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79
❍ Synopses in English . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
❍ Online Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Chapter 4 From Jesus to the Gospels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
■ Centers of Activity Rather Than Stages of Development . . . . 83
■ Life Settings in Which the Jesus Tradition Took Shape . . . . . . 84
❍ Worship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
❍ Teaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .85
❍ Preaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .86
■ Literary Forms within the Jesus Tradition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
❍ Sayings and Teachings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
❍ Stories about Jesus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
❍ The Passion Narrative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
■ From the Jesus Tradition to Written Gospel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
❍ Some Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
❍ Writing the First Gospel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
❍ Writing Other Gospels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
❍ Locating the Gospels in Certain Centers . . . . . . . . . . 93
viii
ACPN000702QK000.qxd 11/13/06 3:34 PM Page ix
Preface
■ Before the Written Gospels: The “Tunnel Period” . . . . . . . . . . 94
❍ Traditional Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
❍ The Form Critical Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
❍ The Rabbinic Transmission Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
❍ Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
■ Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
■ Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
❍ Miracles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
❍ Parables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Chapter 5 From the Gospels to Jesus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
■ Medieval Lives of Jesus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
■ The Modern Period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
❍ Reimarus: Rationalistic Historiography . . . . . . . . . . . 105
❍ Strauss: Dialectical-Mythic Interpretation . . . . . . . . 107
❍ Renan: Romantic History and the “Fifth Gospel” . . 110
❍ Farrar: Orthodox Historiography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
❍ Schweitzer: Thoroughgoing Eschatology (and
Wrede: Radical Skepticism) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
❍ Kähler: The Historic, Biblical (Dogmatic) Christ . . 115
❍ Bultmann: The Kerygmatic Christ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
❍ After Bultmann: The New Quest and the Recovery
of History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
■ More Recent Developments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
❍ Criteria of Authenticity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
❍ Other Criteria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
❍ The Jesus Seminar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
❍ Legacy of the Jesus Seminar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
❍ The Difficulty of Finding Patterns and Directions . . 127
❍ Other Initiatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
■ Lessons Learned . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
❍ The Gospels as the Voice of the Church . . . . . . . . . 130
❍ The Problematic Role of History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
❍ Learning to Live with the Fourth Gospel . . . . . . . . . 131
❍ Critically Embracing the Mythic Dimension of the
Gospels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
❍ The Peril of Modernizing Jesus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .133
❍ Devising Critical Methods Appropriate to the Study
of the Gospels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .133
❍ Respecting the Narrative Structure of the Gospels . 133
❍ Grasping the Message and Meaning of Jesus . . . . . . .134
■ Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
■ Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Chapter 6 The Gospel of Mark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
■ The Second Gospel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
ix
