Freethought & Rationalism Archive

robert_bumbalough · 05-14-2011, 11:19 AM

The Birthing of the New Testament: The Intertextual Development of the New Testament Writings

Quote:

The Product Description from Amazon

Many are saying that the prevailing paradigm of New Testament origins is going nowhere. In its place, Brodie's stunning book invites us to suspend all 'knowledge' we already have about the history of the New Testament's development, and to be willing to entertain the following thesis. Everything hinges on Proto-Luke, a history of Jesus using the Elijah-Elisha narrative as its model, which survives in 10 chapters of Luke and 15 of Acts. Mark then uses Proto-Luke, transposing its Acts material back into the life of Jesus. Matthew deuteronomizes Mark, John improves on the discourses of Matthew. Luke-Acts spells out the story at length. Add the Pauline corpus, the descendant of Deuteronomy via the Matthean logia, and the New Testament is virtually complete. This is a totalizing theory, an explanation of everything, and its critics will be numerous. But even they will be hugely intrigued, and have to admit that Brodie's myriads of challenging observations about literary affinities demand an answer.

The lone review:

his review is from: The Birthing of the New Testament: The Intertextual Development of the New Testament Writings (New Testament Monographs) (Paperback)
This is a landmark book in biblical studies, not so much because of its Proto-Luke hypothesis as because of its first 9 chapters that present and justify the author's methodology. These chapters are clearly and effectively argued, and they are extremely important because they undermine key parts of the paradigm subscribed to by most biblical scholars. Much of this has been argued elsewhere of course, but this is to my knowledge the most comprehensive and effectively argued attack on the idea of oral tradition that has yet been published anywhere, and it should be read by anyone who is inclined to take that idea seriously.

These nine chapters offer an account of the incredible variety of ways that people in the ancient world created new works of literature by copying old ones; they refute the idea that the Old Testament or New Testament were unique exceptions to this pattern; they create and defend a series of criteria that scholars can use to determine when one literary work is dependent on another; they provide a brief history explaining how the process of creating literary works worked in the ancient world; they refute the idea that the New Testament authors could have been so isolated that each could somehow write in complete ignorance of the others' works; and they reach a well-substantiated conclusion that much of the New Testament - even including the epistles of Paul -- was produced by a single far-flung community rather than by isolated individuals.

The remainder of the book presents Brodie's application of his methodology at some length, including his Proto-Luke hypothesis. I personally found this rather more of a mixed bag than the first nine chapters. In particular, Proto-Luke seems little different from Q or oral tradition insofar as it amounts to an attempt to explain by appealing to an unknown quantity for which there is actually no hard evidence. Nevertheless, this does not reflect negatively at all on Brodie's presentation of his methodology. The very fact of "authorial complexity" which he so forcefully defends in the first part of the book means that no criteria no matter how well thought out and applied will reliably tip the hand of an author who was not inclined to tip his hand.

The book is very long and is written largely by a scholar for scholars; nevertheless I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in learning more about the foundations of biblical scholarship, especially with regard to the Gospels or attempts to find "the historical Jesus." At the very least, read the first nine chapters. Those chapters alone are worth the cost of the book. Regardless of whether you agree with everything you read there, when you're done you will be less inclined to blindly accept statements by other biblical scholars that are presented as fact, but are actually highly questionable.

Toto · 05-14-2011, 11:37 AM

The Birthing of the New Testament (or via: amazon.co.uk)

can be previewed on Google Books

Toto · 05-16-2011, 09:58 AM

No one has added any comments, but I know that some of our regular posters think highly of Brodie.

Peter Kirby · 05-16-2011, 07:55 PM

I was struggling to remember where I remember him. I looked at Amazon; he had written The Quest for the Origin's of John's Gospel in 1993.

He is a good researcher, and if there is merit to his methodology, I hope it's discussed, both in the book/journal world and online. It'd be interesting and potentially quite helpful to have an outline of it.

Peter Kirby · 05-16-2011, 08:04 PM

I went to Google books. You can find his criteria for determining literary dependence starting from page 45. Even more interesting may be the next chapter, which deals with the true nature of oral tradition.

Toto · 05-16-2011, 10:28 PM

Michael Turton references his The Crucial Bridge: the Elijah-Elisha Narrative as an interpretive synthesis of Genesis-Kings and a literary model for the Gospels (or via: amazon.co.uk) in his work on the Gospel of Mark.

robert_bumbalough · 05-20-2011, 12:59 PM

Many thanks to Toto and Mr. Kirby for taking time to reply. Best Wishes Too.

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05-14-2011, 11:37 AM	#2
Toto Contributor Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: Los Angeles area Posts: 40,549	The Birthing of the New Testament (or via: amazon.co.uk) can be previewed on Google Books

05-16-2011, 09:58 AM	#3
Toto Contributor Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: Los Angeles area Posts: 40,549	No one has added any comments, but I know that some of our regular posters think highly of Brodie.

05-16-2011, 07:55 PM	#4
Peter Kirby Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: the reliquary of Ockham's razor Posts: 4,035	I was struggling to remember where I remember him. I looked at Amazon; he had written The Quest for the Origin's of John's Gospel in 1993. He is a good researcher, and if there is merit to his methodology, I hope it's discussed, both in the book/journal world and online. It'd be interesting and potentially quite helpful to have an outline of it.

05-16-2011, 08:04 PM	#5
Peter Kirby Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: the reliquary of Ockham's razor Posts: 4,035	I went to Google books. You can find his criteria for determining literary dependence starting from page 45. Even more interesting may be the next chapter, which deals with the true nature of oral tradition.

05-16-2011, 10:28 PM	#6
Toto Contributor Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: Los Angeles area Posts: 40,549	Michael Turton references his The Crucial Bridge: the Elijah-Elisha Narrative as an interpretive synthesis of Genesis-Kings and a literary model for the Gospels (or via: amazon.co.uk) in his work on the Gospel of Mark.

05-20-2011, 12:59 PM	#7
robert_bumbalough Junior Member Join Date: May 2011 Location: DFW, Texas Posts: 7	Many thanks to Toto and Mr. Kirby for taking time to reply. Best Wishes Too.

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