The Genre(s) of the Gospels : Expectations from the Second Century

• Analysis of how the New Testament Gospels interact with ancient genres should not be made solely on the basis of comparisons with other pieces of ancient literature, but also in view of their early reception. The way in which ancient authors reflected on and used materials found in the Gospels may inform us of how they viewed the genre participation of these four early Christian narra- tives. This paper considers the reception of Gospel material in three different second-century writings: §§18–86 of the apocryphal Acts of John, Exhortation to the Greeks by Clement of Alexandria, and Heracleon’s hypomnēmata on the Gospel of John. It argues that the author of the Acts of John expects the Gospels to contain discipleship patterns to be emulated by Christians, that Clement regards them as sources of divine truth, and that Heracleon expects them to be depictions of past events that not only contain Christian teachings of continuous relevance for the Christian movement, but also are symbolically significant in themselves. The variance of these apparent expectations from early readers can be accommodated by viewing the Gospels as participating in multiple genres, including ancient historiography, Christian proclamation, Judeo-Christian prophetic writings, and ancient biography.

Ämnesord

HUMANIORA  -- Filosofi, etik och religion -- Religionsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- Philosophy, Ethics and Religion -- Religious Studies (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Bibelvetenskap, Nt

Biblical Studies, New testament

Publikations- och innehållstyp

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