تطور الإنجيل

by Enoch Powell

Many biblical scholars believe that the Gospel of Matthew was written after those of Mark and Luke. In this controversial book, an eminent politician who is also a distinguished classical scholar refutes this idea, using textual and literary criticism to assert that the Gospel of Matthew preceded the other gospels. Translating and analyzing the original Greek source, Powell proceeds to concentrate upon the text of Matthew, as being the earliest form of the gospel that we possess, and to demonstrate how its peculiar characteristics can best be accounted for as being the result of insertions and manipulations, often theologically motivated. Powell argues that the Gospel of Matthew represents an attempted compromise between a pro-gentile book and a critical revision of that book produced for the judaizing wing of the early Church, and that material intended to appeal to the followers of John the Baptist was also introduced. The Gospel of Matthew, though given the form of consecutive narrative, is, says Powell, essentially a theological debate carried on by means of allegory: was Jesus the Son of God or a Davidic king? This provocative and highly stimulating book offers a searching scrutiny of textual and literary questions and their historical implications, and is an original and valuable contribution to the study of the sources and chronology of the synoptic gospels.

Genres: Christianity

399 pages, Unknown Binding

First published October 26, 1994

About the author

This British politician's full name was John Enoch Powell but he is always known and wrote as Enoch Powell.

Reviews

[أحمد عبد الرحمن · Rating 3 out of 5]

صلى الله على سيدنا المسيح، عبد الله ورسوله، الذي قال عن نفسه، كما رواه عنه الله جل جلاله:

(قال إني عبدُ اللهِ، آتاني الكتابَ وجعلني نبياً
وجعلني مباركاً أينما كنتُ
وأوصاني بالصلاة والزكاةِ ما دمتُ حيّاً
وبراً بوالدتي، ولم يجعلني جباراً شقياً
والسلامُ عليّ يوم وُلدتُ ويوم أموتُ ويوم أُبعث حيّاً)


ومما اقتبسته من هذا الكتاب:


لما أتم يسوع هذه الأمثال، ذهب من هناك وجاء إلى وطنه، وأخذ يعلم الناس في مجمعهم حتى دَهِشوا وقالوا: من أين له هذه الحكمة وتلك المعجزات؟!..... فقال لهم يسوع:" لا يُزدرى نبيٌّ إلا في وطنه وبيته".


متى 13/53



"ولما دخل أورشليم؛ ضجّت المدينةُ كلها وسألت: من هذا؟ فأجابت الجموع: هذا النبيُّ يسوع من ناصرة الجليل".


متى 21/10



"لذلك أقول لكم: إن ملكوت الله سيُنزع منكم، ويُعطى لأمة تثمر ثمره".

متى 21/43


"فأما ذلك اليوم وتلك الساعة فما من أحد يعلمها، لا ملائكة السماوات ولا الابن، إلا الآب وحده".

متى24/36


"فلما رأى الناس الآية التي أتى بها يسوع، قالوا: حقاً هذا هو النبيّ الآتي إلى العالم".

يوحنا 6/14


"والحياةُ الأبدية هي أن يعرفوك أنت الإلهَ الحقَ وحدك، ويعرفوا يسوع المسيح الذي أرسلته".

يوحنا 17/3



قد سمعتم أنه قيل لا تزنِ، وأما أنا فأقول لكم إن كل من ينظر إلى امرأةٍ ليشتهيها فقد زنى بها في قلبه. ولهذا فإن كانت عينك اليمنى تُعثرك فاقلعها وألقها عنك لأنه خيرٌ لك أن يهلك أحد أعضائك ولا يُلقى جسدك كله في جهنم. وإن كانت يدك اليمنى تُعثرك فاقطعها وألقها عنك لأنه خيرٌ لك أن يهلك أحد أعضائك ولا يُلقى جسدك كله في جهنم.


متى 15/27


أخيراً.. قال الله جل جلاله:

(ذلك عيسى ابنُ مريم، قولَ الحقِ الذي فيه يمترون. 
ما كان لله أن يتخذ مِنْ ولد، سبحانه
إذا قضى أمراً فإنما يقول له كن فيكون
وإن الله ربي وربكم فاعبدوه
هذا صراط مستقيم
فاختلف الأحزاب من بينهم
فويلٌ للذين كفروا من مشهد يومٍ عظيم) 

[Jacob Hatch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Powell makes an interesting case that Matthew was the first gospel to be written. His theory is thought provoking and intriguing. Indeed, it is within an early tradition that the gospels were written in the order we find them in the gospel (Matthew then Mark then Luke then John), and Powell does agree that John was written last. His point about the shift of focus towards Jerusalem and that it must have been written around 70AD to see such a shift is very intriguing and convincing - it seems that the siege of Jerusalem refocused Matthew's mind on connecting Jesus to Jerusalem and scripture. I am not certain that I am convinced that Matthew was written first, and it is a secondary issue, but it does open up the debate in a time period when dissenting voices, such as Powell's, tend to be closing.

I would recommend to anyone who is interested in looking into how the gospels were written.

[Harry Hindes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honest and well argued approach to the Gospel of Matthew by one of the foremost scholars in the field. Powell is generally remembered in a negative light for his role in the politics of racism in 1960s UK, but this work reveals the scholar, teacher and thinker. In 2014, this work is difficult to reconcile retrospectively with the racist, but then Powell was a man of his generation, and a complex one at that.