Rewriting Peter as an Intertextual Character in the Canonical Gospels (Copenhagen International Seminar)

165 Pages·2015·1.735 MB·English

by  Finn Damgaard

REWRITING PETER AS AN INTERTEXTUAL
CHARACTER IN THE CANONICAL GOSPELS
Peter is a fascinating character in all four canonical gospels, not only as a
literary figure in each of the gospels respectively, but also when looked at
from an intertextual perspective. This book examines how Peter is rewritten
for each of the gospels, positing that the differing portrayals of this crucial
figurereflectnot only thetheological priorities ofeach gospelauthor,butalso
their attitude towards their predecessors. Rewriting Peter as an Intertextual
Character in the Canonical Gospels is the first critical study of the canonical
gospelswhichisbasedonMarkan priority,Luke’suseofMarkand Matthew,
and John’s use of all three synoptic gospels. Through a selection of close read-
ings, Damgaard both provides a new critical portrait of Peter and proposes a
new theoryof source and redaction in the gospels.
In the last thirty years there has been an increasing appreciation of the
gospels’ literary design and of the gospel writers as authors and innovators
rather than merely compilers and transmitters. However, literary critics have
tended to read each gospel individually as if they were written for isolated
communities. This book reconsiders the relationship between the gospels,
arguing that the works were composed for a general audience and that the
writers were bold and creative interpreters of the tradition they inherited from
earliergospelsources.Damgaard’sviewthatthegospelauthorswerefamiliarwith
theworkoftheirpredecessors,andthatthedivergencesbetweentheirnarratives
were deliberate, sheds new light on their intentions and will have a lasting
impact on our understanding of the gospels.
FinnDamgaardwasapost-docintheBiblicalStudiesDepartment,Facultyof
Theology, University of Copenhagen. He is now a minister in the Danish
Church. He is the author of Recasting Moses (2013).
COPENHAGEN INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR
General Editors: Ingrid Hjelm and Thomas L. Thompson
both at the University of Copenhagen
Editors: Niels Peter Lemche and Mogens Müller,
both at the University of Copenhagen
Language Revision Editor: James West
at the Quartz Hill School of Theology
Available:
JAPHETH BEN ALI’S BOOKOF JEREMIAH
Joshua A. Sabih
THE EMERGENCE OF ISRAEL IN ANCIENT PALESTINE
Emanuel Pfoh
ORIGIN MYTHS AND HOLY PLACES IN THE
OLD TESTAMENT
Lukasz Niesiolowski-Spanò
CHANGING PERSPECTIVES I
John Van Seters
ARGONAUTS OF THE DESERT
Philippe Wajdenbaum
THE EXPRESSION ‘SON OF MAN’ AND THE DEVELOPMENT
OF CHRISTOLOGY
Mogens Müller
BIBLICAL STUDIES AND THE FAILURE OF HISTORY
Niels Peter Lemche
BIBLICAL NARRATIVE AND PALESTINE’S HISTORY
Thomas L. Thompson
‘IS THIS NOT THE CARPENTER?’
Edited by Thomas L. Thompson and Thomas S. Verenna
THE BIBLE AND HELLENISM
Edited by Thomas L. Thompson and Philippe Wajdenbaum
RETHINKING BIBLICAL SCHOLARSHIP
Philip R. Davies
REPRESENTING ZION
Frederik Poulsen
MYTHS OF EXILE
Edited by Anne Katrine de Hemmer Gudme and Ingrid Hjelm
REWRITING PETER AS AN INTERTEXTUAL CHARACTER
IN THE CANONICAL GOSPELS
Finn Damgaard
Forthcoming:
SYRIA-PALESTINE IN THE LATE BRONZE AGE
Emanuel Pfoh
BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION BEYOND HISTORICITY
Edited by Ingrid Hjelm and Thomas L. Thompson
HISTORY, ARCHAEOLOGYAND THE BIBLE FORTY YEARS
AFTER “HISTORICITY”
Edited by Ingrid Hjelm and Thomas L. Thompson
THE JUDAEO-KARAITE RECEPTION OF THE HEBREW BIBLE
Joshua A. Sabih
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REWRITING PETER AS AN
INTERTEXTUAL
CHARACTER IN THE
CANONICAL GOSPELS
Finn Damgaard
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Firstpublished2016
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AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
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Damgaard,Finn.
RewritingPeterasanintertextualcharacterinthecanonicalgospels/
FinnDamgaard.--First[edition].
pagescm.--(Copenhageninternationalseminar)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
1.Peter,theApostle,Saint--Biblicalteaching.2.Bible.Gospels--Criticism,
interpretation,etc.I.Title.
BS2515.D2552015
226’.092--dc23
2015016893
ISBN:978-1-138-92202-0(hbk)
ISBN:978-1-315-68217-4(ebk)
TypesetinTimesNewRoman
byTaylor&FrancisBooks
TO VERA, IRMA, ARTHUR, LAURITS AND GERTRUD
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgement x
Introduction 1
1 Rewriting a Paradigmatic Apostolic Portrayal: The Figure of
Peter in the Gospel of Mark 13
2 Alienating Peter: The Figure of Peter in the Gospel of Matthew 37
3 Rehabilitating Peter: The Figure of Peter in the Gospel of Luke 57
4 Reinventing a Paradigmatic Disciple: The Figure of Peter in the
Gospel of John 88
Conclusion 122
Appendix 127
Bibliography 129
Index 151
ix