Mark and Matthew I: Comparative Readings, Understanding the Earliest Gospels in Their First-Century Settings

by Eve-Marie Becker (Editor), Anders Runesson (Editor)

The study of Mark and Matthew from a comparative perspective has a long history. Ever since the theory of Markan priority became firmly established in the 19th century however, many studies, especially commentaries on either Mark or Matthew, make observations related primarily to one of the Gospels only. Thus the most frequent result of studying Mark and Matthew is that one Gospel is overshadowed by the other. This collection of papers employs a sustained multiperspectival comparative approach which contributes simultaneously to the synoptic problem discourse and sheds light on the individual Gospels in their first century setting(s), a procedure that reveals new questions and discoveries. This highlights new aspects of the Gospels which are critical for our understanding of the rise and development of Gospel literature in the first century C.E. Survey of Eve-Marie Becker and Anders Runesson : Studying Mark and Matthew in Comparative Perspective 1. History of Research Cilliers Breytenbach : Current Research on the Gospel according to A Report on Monographs Published from 2000-2009 - David C. Sim : The Current State of Research 2. Reconstructing the Text-Critical and Linguistic Aspects of the Study of Mark and Matthew Barbara Aland : Was heißt Abschreiben? Neue Entwicklungen in der Textkritik und ihre Konsequenzen für die Überlieferungsgeschichte der frühesten christlichen Verkündigung - Tommy Wasserman : The Implications of Textual Criticism for Understanding the `Original Text' - Stanley E. Porter : Matthew and The Contribution of Recent Linguistic Thought 3. Date and Genre Eve-Marie Becker : Dating Mark and Matthew as Ancient Literature - David E. Aune : Genre Theory and the Genre-Function of Mark and Matthew 4. Socio-Religious Location Sean Freyne : Matthew and The Jewish Contexts - Morten Hørning Jensen : Conflicting Calls? Family and Discipleship in Mark & Matthew in the Light of First-Century Galilean Village Life - Linden Youngquist : Matthew, Mark and Q - Wayne Baxter : Matthew, Mark, and the Shepherd Similarities, Differences, and Implications 5. Conflict and Violence Warren Carter : Empire, Synagogues, and Horizontal Violence - Lorenzo Scornaienchi : The Controversy Dialogues and the Polemic in Mark and Matthew - John S. Kloppenborg : The Representation of Violence in Synoptic Parables 6. Building Community Using Text Oda Wischmeyer : Forming Identity Through The Impact of Mark for the Building of Christ-Believing Communities in the Second Half of the First Century C. E. - Anders Runesson : Building Matthean The Politics of Textualization 7. Notes from the Further Discussion Adela Yarbro Collins : Reflections on the Conference at the University of Aarhus, July 25-27, 2008

491 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Eve-Marie Becker is chair of New Testament studies at the University of Muenster in Germany. From 2006-18 she was professor of New Testament exegesis at Aarhus University in Denmark. From 2016-17 she was Distinguished Visiting Professor of New Testament at the Candler School of Theology, Emory University, and from 2017-18 Research Fellow at the Israel Institute for Advanced Studies in Jerusalem.