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Gospel Truth?: New Light on Jesus and the Gospels
On 24 December 1994 The Times of London reported the claim by the German scholar Carsten Thiede that the three papyrus fragments of Matthew's Gospel held in Oxford since 1901 date from the first century, a hundred years earlier than previously thought.
Graham Stanton, one of Britain's most eminent New Testament scholars and a leading specialist on Matthew's Gospel, was among the first to call the new findings into question. Now his fascinating new book offers a readable and objective account of the arguments, and also the claim that a fragment of Mark's Gospel has been found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. Furthermore, it gives a comprehensive survey of all the evidence - literary and archaeological - for the life and teaching of Jesus and the origin and purpose of the gospels. There are many fresh new insights.
Graham Stanton, one of Britain's most eminent New Testament scholars and a leading specialist on Matthew's Gospel, was among the first to call the new findings into question. Now his fascinating new book offers a readable and objective account of the arguments, and also the claim that a fragment of Mark's Gospel has been found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. Furthermore, it gives a comprehensive survey of all the evidence - literary and archaeological - for the life and teaching of Jesus and the origin and purpose of the gospels. There are many fresh new insights.
215 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 1995
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April 7, 2024
This book, although relatively old at this point (1995) covers the age old question regarding the authenticity of the gospels of the new testament as well as making some general remarks regarding the empirical evidence regarding the new testament. Some honorable mentions of historical significance are thus the dead sea scrolls (falsely believed by some to contain comments about Jesus where in actuality these scrolls concern the emergence of Christianity and thus relate ancient Jewish texts) , Shroud of Turin and the few authors who wrote about the eastern Roman empire and specifically on Jesus (Josephus, Tacitus, ...)
The book starts off discussing the at the time popular article concerning the scholar Carsten Thiede who redated the Magdalen papyrus (containing portions of the perhaps most historically popular gospel, namely the gospel of Matthew) to a much earlier date thus sparking a great deal of controversy at the time. This is not in least due in part to the popular writing emphasis on Thiede and the wide attention it drew in the media at the time. Although now not nearly garnering the same amount of attention it none the less remains interesting as it draws attention to the methods of dating both in regards to technological instruments as well as historical interpretation.
The real meat of the book is however devoted to the accuracy of the gospels taken as a whole where the author relates the popular theory regarding the Q source, a text that is believed to have been a source of common inspiration to both the gospels of Luke and that of Matthew. The many contradictions being set aside that are found in the gospels, many none the less believe that there are enough sources of commonality to warrant the existence of such a text.
In all a highly interesting read regarding the authenticity of the gospels where the author in my opinion provides a secular approach where he admits that often one can predict the interpretation of the historical merits of the gospels based upon the background of the author in question. This unfortunately still seems to remain the case, but I am glad for the work of scholars such as Stanton who provide a refreshing take on the gospels seen in a historical light.
Note: I don't like the star rating and as such I only rate books based upon one star or five stars corresponding to the in my opinion preferable rating system of thumbs up/down. This later rating system increases in my humble opinion the degree to which the reader is likely to engage with a review instead of merely glancing at the number of stars of a given book.)
The book starts off discussing the at the time popular article concerning the scholar Carsten Thiede who redated the Magdalen papyrus (containing portions of the perhaps most historically popular gospel, namely the gospel of Matthew) to a much earlier date thus sparking a great deal of controversy at the time. This is not in least due in part to the popular writing emphasis on Thiede and the wide attention it drew in the media at the time. Although now not nearly garnering the same amount of attention it none the less remains interesting as it draws attention to the methods of dating both in regards to technological instruments as well as historical interpretation.
The real meat of the book is however devoted to the accuracy of the gospels taken as a whole where the author relates the popular theory regarding the Q source, a text that is believed to have been a source of common inspiration to both the gospels of Luke and that of Matthew. The many contradictions being set aside that are found in the gospels, many none the less believe that there are enough sources of commonality to warrant the existence of such a text.
In all a highly interesting read regarding the authenticity of the gospels where the author in my opinion provides a secular approach where he admits that often one can predict the interpretation of the historical merits of the gospels based upon the background of the author in question. This unfortunately still seems to remain the case, but I am glad for the work of scholars such as Stanton who provide a refreshing take on the gospels seen in a historical light.
Note: I don't like the star rating and as such I only rate books based upon one star or five stars corresponding to the in my opinion preferable rating system of thumbs up/down. This later rating system increases in my humble opinion the degree to which the reader is likely to engage with a review instead of merely glancing at the number of stars of a given book.)
Displaying 1 of 1 review