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Title: The Four Gospels and the One Gospel of Jesus Christ: An Investigation of the Collection and Origin of the Canonical Gospels by Martin Hengel ISBN: 1-56338-300-4 Publisher: Trinity Pr Intl Pub. Date: August, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $30.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4 (1 review)
Rating: 4
Summary: Why four gospels instead of one?
Comment: Martin Hengel attempts to cover a great deal of ground in this relatively small book (200 pages excluding a huge number of endnotes). He discusses the four canonical gospels and the issues related to their authorship and recognition by the early church. Most of his time is spent on the three synoptic gospels while John is either neglected or only briefly mentioned.
One of Hengel's main points is that the gospels were written with titles already attached to them. "The gospel according to X" is how they were known from the very time of their composition. This view is in contrast to the view of some scholars who claim the gospels circulated as completely anonymous works until the mid to late 2nd century. Hengel's arguments on this topic are very persuasive. If the gospels were anonymous until the middle of the 2nd century, then we would not have expected such authors as Mark and Luke to be attributed to two of the gospels instead of the more respected Peter and Paul. There is also no known deviation in the naming of the gospels. This would seemingly be impossible if the titles were not attached to the gospels until 50-100 years after they began circulating because there was no centralized church government to impose such an edict in the second century. There is also no hint of any dispute in the early church regarding the titles of the four gospels.
Hengel frequently discusses the testimony of the early church Fathers such as Papias, Justin Martyr, and Irenaeus in order to reach his conclusions. Before assuming Hengel is another Christian apologist it should be mentioned that he does not believe Matthew or John were written by those two disciples. However, he does believe they were originally written with the titles "gospel according to Matthew/John". He dates Matthew to 90-100 C.E. and John to 100-110 C.E, while dating Luke to 75-80 C.E. He also believes Matthew used Luke as a source.
This is the type of book in which the reader will not agree with everything the author claims, but will most likely find some areas of agreement. Hengel's arguments are always his own and he isn't one to follow the "party line" on any particular issue. He is to be commended for his originality and willingness to think for himself rather than relying on constant appeals to previous scholars to support his views.
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Title: Conflicts and Challenges in Early Christianity by Martin Hengel, C. K. Barrett, Donald A. Hagner ISBN: 1563382911 Publisher: Trinity Pr Intl Pub. Date: November, 1999 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Paul Between Damascus and Antioch: The Unknown Years by Martin Hengel, Anna Maria Schwemer, John Bowden ISBN: 0664257364 Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press Pub. Date: May, 1997 List Price(USD): $34.95 |
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Title: Crucifixion in the Ancient World and the Folly of the Message of the Cross by Martin Hengel, John Bowden ISBN: 080061268X Publisher: Fortress Press Pub. Date: November, 1977 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: The Resurrection of the Son of God (Christian Origins and the Question of God, 3) by N. T. Wright ISBN: 0800626796 Publisher: Fortress Press Pub. Date: May, 2003 List Price(USD): $39.00 |
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Title: Jesus Remembered (Christianity in the Making, Vol. 1) by James D. G. Dunn ISBN: 0802839312 Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. Pub. Date: July, 2003 List Price(USD): $55.00 |
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