Robert H. Gundry

Richard A. Horsley’s Hearing the Whole Story A Critical Review of its Postcolonial Slant

In Hearing the Whole Story Richard Horsley argues for a holistic view of Mark as narrative rather than theology or, more particularly, Christology. This view has Mark presenting Jesus as a prophet who opposes economic exploitation by Roman rulers and Judean elites and to this end appeals largely to oral rather than scriptural traditions. The opposition is nonviolent and oriented to village and family life rather than individual discipleship. At the expense of male disciples, women disciples take a leading role. The present review takes issue with such a reading of Mark by highlighting Markan Christology and calls to individual discipleship, by questioning a contrast between oral and scriptural traditions, and by noting the women’s failures.

The Hellenization of Dominical Tradition and the Christianization of Jewish Tradition in the Eschatology of 1–2 Thessalonians

The eschatological teachings in 1–2 Thessalonians have a common purpose: correction. In 1 Thessalonians Paul wants to correct a disbelief that caused sorrow over the fate of deceased Christians. The author of 2 Thessalonians wants to correct a belief in the immediacy of Christs return, a belief that may have had its origin in (or at least have been abetted by) exhortations to readiness in 1 Thessalonians. In both letters, earlier traditions come into play for the purposes of correcting the disbelief that caused sorrow, of exhorting the readers to readiness, and of correcting the belief in immediacy. Both dominical and Jewish materials make up these traditions. Though we may take a side-glance at the question of authorship in 2 Thessalonians, an examination of the ways in which the traditions are molded to make the correction in that epistle depends very little on the answer to the question. We shall discover that Paul (whose name will cover the authorship of both letters without prejudice) hellenizes dominical tradition and Christianizes Jewish tradition in order to make his corrections and rein-force his exhortation.

‘Verba Christi’ in I Peter: Their Implications concerning the Authorship of I Peter and the Authenticity of the Gospel Tradition

The Epistle of I Peter has occupied a rather large place in recent critical studies of the New Testament. E. G. Selwyn has advanced the view that the epistle draws from four primary sources: a liturgical document, a persecution fragment, a primitive Christian catechism, and verba Christi . E. Lohse prefers to think that the early church had a common stock of oral paraenetic tradition, from which the epistolary writers drew. F. W. Beare has popularized in English the liturgical-homiletical hypothesis widely accepted in Europe, namely, that the major part of I Peter (i. 3–iv. 11) is the transcription of a baptismal liturgy-homily, transformed into an epistle by the addition of i. 1 f. and iv. 12–v. 14. The view has been carefully worked out by F. L. Cross, but has encountered increasing resistance.

The Theme of Jewish Persecution of Christians in the Gospel According to St Matthew

Preface List of abbreviations 1. General remarks on the nature of the conflict between Jews and Christians 2. Survey of the data of Jewish persecution of Christians in sources other than Matthew 3. References to Jewish persectuion of Christians in the Gospel according to St Matthew 4. Matthews understanding of the causes of persecution 5. The Christian response to persecution by the Jews as evidenced by Matthew 6. Summary and conclusions Appendices Bibliography Indices.