Recent discussions on this forum have made me want to try to determine just what kinds of materials can plausibly be posited as sources for the Christian gospels (not just the canonical ones: all of them). I do not intend this thread to be about debating the merits of each item, and my initial list is going to include a couple of possibilities I consider to be marginal candidates. But I want to answer the question, given any particular verse in the gospels: "What might the immediate source of this juicy tidbit be?"
Here is my list; I will add to it if others have good ideas. Each item will come with a possible example of that kind of sourcing (in parentheses):
Jewish scriptural prophecies fulfilled (the birth of the Jesus based on Isaiah 7.14).
Jewish scriptural models imitated (Jesus as a new or better Moses or Elijah/Elisha).
Jewish scriptural types exploited (Jesus as the Passover lamb).
Jewish traditions now ensconced in the Mishnah/Talmud, the Targumim, the DSS, and other texts (Jesus pronounces the divine name in Mark 14.62).
Jewish traditions emanating from contemporary or near contemporary religious figures (John the Baptist, Gamaliel).
Anecdotes or experiences from Jewish history/historians (a detachment from Legio X Fretensis becomes a herd of swine).
Anecdotes or experiences from Christian life among the readers of the gospel (inroads by "false prophets" framed as dominical predictions).
Anecdotes or experiences from pagan history/historians (Jesus as a miracle worker based on Apollonius of Tyana).
Christian liturgy (the Lord's prayer; the Last Supper as eucharist; the baptismal formula in John 3.3).
Christian prophecy (a prophetic prediction of the end becomes the Olivet discourse).
Christian teaching (a catechismic catena much like Didache 1.3b-5a becomes Matthew 5.38-48; 7.12a and Luke 6.27-36).
Christian praxis (concern for the poor).
Christian gospel writings (Q, Signs Source, Passion Narrative).
Christian nongospel writings (influence from the Pauline epistles).
Jewish, Christian, or pagan gnostic speculations in story form (the Word made flesh in the Johannine prologue).
Eyewitness testimony (Mark basing his gospel on Petrine or similar preaching).
Sheer invention for the sake of storytelling (the beloved disciple reclines on Jesus' breast "like so" [οὕτως] in John 13.25).
Sheer invention for the sake of theology or prejudice (the Jews condemn themselves in Matthew 27.25 or implicate themselves in Peter 7.25).
Confusion or intermixing of Jesus of Nazareth with other figures named Jesus (Joshua, Jesus ben Ananias).
Visions, dreams, revelations, hallucinations, or divine signs or encounters (the resurrection appearances).
Specialized popular traditions (magical protocols as found in the magical papyri inform the synoptic exorcism stories).
Generalized popular traditions (a Galilean feast tradition becomes the feeding of the 5000/4000).
Classical or Greco-Roman texts (influences from the Odyssey and the Iliad).
Linguistic puns, transliterations, translations, or idioms (translations from Aramaic to Greek or from Greek to Latin).
Imperial propaganda (Mark 1.1 a counter both to the spirit and to the letter of the Priene inscription).
Numerology or gematria (the number of fish in John 21.11 is a triangular number and much more).
This list is off the top of my head. No way can it be exhaustive. What are some others? (Please include an example with each item so I know for certain what is meant.)
Ben.
Last edited by Ben C. Smith on Thu Apr 05, 2018 3:02 pm, edited 15 times in total.
Bernard Muller wrote:What about eyewitness(es) testimony?
Cordially, Bernard
Doesn't really apply.
It certainly does in this case. This is just a list of possibilities. I actually intended to include a similar item on the list for which Rufus and Alexander was going to be the example, but simply forgot in the process of compiling the list. But "eyewitness testimony" is better put than what I was going to use, anyway.
“Finally, from so little sleeping and so much reading, his brain dried up and he went completely out of his mind.”
― Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote
What about true present & past events affecting Christian communities?
Can you give an example from the gospels? (I am not sure what you mean.)
The fall of Jerusalem, its destruction and killing of its people (Mk 12:1, 9: 13:1-2, 14).
False Christs and prophets threatening to destroy Mark's community (Mk 13:6, 21-22).
There are many more, as shown in gMark parables (disguised prophecies in order to address concerns in the Christian community: http://historical-jesus.info/appd.html
Cordially, Bernard
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