How Much History is in the Passion Narratives?

According to this chapter, Jesus tradition refers to material or data that may stem from Jesus of Nazareth or from the period and places of his activity and death. The chapter intends to give an indication of its maximal extent in John. It gives precedence to the question of Jesus tradition in John, without deciding in advance the question of John and other gospels. Justified skepticism about the historicity of the Johannine portrait of Jesus has affected historical judgments about other aspects of the Gospel. In the Passion Narrative the parallels between John and Mark (or the synoptics) become pervasive. The discourses attributed to Jesus in John are quite different from the sayings tradition in the synoptic. Specifically, John conveys purportedly factual knowledge about Judaism, whether in Jesus' day or his own, about the land of Israel, and about Jesus himself. Keywords:factual knowledge; Gospel of John; Jesus Tradition; Johannine narrative; Markan narrative; Passion Narrative; sayings tradition; synoptic

Some recent redaction-critical work on Mark's passion narrative has questioned the existence of a pre-Markan passion account. This in turn has suggested another look at the relation between the gospels of Mark and John. Norman Perrin has put it plainly:For a long time the general opinion of New Testament scholars was that the passion narrative existed as a connected unit before the gospel of Mark was written, and it was easy and natural to think that John had known and used a version of that pre-Markan narrative rather than the gospel of Mark. But today the tendency is to ascribe more and more of the composition of the passion narrative to the evangelist Mark himself and to doubt the very existence of a pre-Markan and non-Markan passion narrative extensive enough to have been the basis for the gospel of John. A particular consideration is the fact that the trial before the High Priest (John 18: 19–24) is set in the context of the denial by Peter (18: 15–18, 25–7), as it is also in the gospel of Mark. But there is a strong case that Mark himself originally composed this account of the trial at night before the Jewish authorities and then set it in the context of the story of Peter's denial. If this is so, the evangelist John must necessarily have known the gospel of Mark.

A NOTHER title could be affixed to this article: Beyond Form Criticism. The new discipline of Form Criticism was developed in gospel study because Source Criticism could reach only so far and could yield only limited returns. Form Criticism, the child of this disappointment, opened up the whole field of the oral period and the tradition living in the living church. We propose to raise the question, Can we go back of the church tradition of to the point of origin? This is a question of procedure and method in the historical investigation of gospel materials. We may not go much beyond the question, for this paper is intended to be exploratory and its conclusions are only tentative. When we have finished, we may have simply underscored the obvious. The title of Dibelius' book, From Tradition to Gospel, has set the limits of much gospel study in the last twenty-five years. We have heard much about the living tradition in the church, the method of its transmission through kerygma and didache. We have seen church life reflected in the gospel material. We have made conjectures as to the form of the preliminary drafts of gospel stories and the crystallization of the passion narrative. This period of the earliest Christian community has become clear to us. Equally clear are the units of the tradition which can be seen in the gospels as finally written down. But what of the original impact of Jesus? What of the tradition at the point of origin? We have hesitated to ask such questions, for some of these thorough-going form critics have left us deeply sceptical. These students discredited the aims of the Jesus of history school and left us in uncertainty. Bultmann said, Interest in the personality of is excluded . . . I think that we can now know almos nothing concerning the life and person ity of Jesus.1 They said, We can hear only the whisper of his voice. Lightfoot joined the chorus: It seems, then, that the form of the earthly no less than of the heavenly Christ is for the most part hidden from us.2 In some quarters the scholars seem to have abandoned the attempts to reconstruct the historical figure of Jesus, and many are content to stop with the well-defined faith of the primitive church. And of course this faith can be directly related to the faith of the church today. What was good enough for the early church is good enough for us; that seems to justify the current point of view that rests with the belief of the primitive community. For example, Alan Richardson in his book, The Miracle Stories of the New Testament, treats the miracles as part of the gospel record but considers them chiefly as signs of his teaching and as the result of meditation on the person and acts of Jesus. He says that the story of the blind man at Bethsaida is an enacted parable and that it is a secondary question whether the blind man was an histori-

The relationship between Paul and the Jesus tradition is a central issue in New Testament scholarship. Although it is customary to look for Gospel traditions in the Pauline epistles, an opposite approach would better fit the chronology of the sources. It is more probable that the evangelists were influenced by Paul than the other way around. For this reason, a re-evaluation of the development of the Jesus tradition from Jesus, via Paul, and to the Gospels, is necessary. This essay examines the possibility of viewing Paul as a source of the Gospels.

After recounting the personal story of seeing Mel Gibson’s controversial but compelling The Passion of the Christ in a crowded theatre shortly after its premiere in 2004, the author reflects upon the performance of the gruff Bulgarian actor, Hristo Shopov, as Pontius Pilate. Set against his more compassionate wife played by Claudia Gerini, this Pilate speaks in Latin and Aramaic, but he seems motivated by twenty-first century concerns for power and position. Shopov will appear again as Pilate in the less compelling Italian production La Inchiesta (The Final Inquiry) from 2006. Several versions of the Passion narrative that have Pilate at their centre are made a decade later: the best of these is Risen, with Joseph Fiennes as a centurion-turned detective Clavius ordered to find Christ’s body by Peter Firth’s Pilate. Two productions by Mark Burnett and Roma Downey likewise appear in 2016. The remake of Ben-Hur features Pilous Asbaek as Pilate, while the NBC miniseries, A.D. The Bible Continues stars Vince Regan in the part. Each of these prefects is notable for his over-the-top villainy, while the vehicles as a whole reflect the increasingly militarised world that dawned after 9/11.

In this epilogue, the author reflects upon the context in which he wrote most of this book about Pilate and film, the worldwide lockdown resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic. He considers productions of the Passion story that seem to be currently underway, including a sequel by Mel Gibson of his Passion of the Christ as well as a film now in post-production by Terrence Malick called The Last Planet. In addition, the author envisions what future film and TV versions of Pontius Pilate might be, noting that social and political anxieties often make their way into productions ostensibly about the Bible. “When, as they perennially do, filmmakers turn once again to the Passion narrative, it will be worth thinking about Pontius Pilate and this period, during which, as the coronavirus ravaged our lands, our leaders time and again acted as though there were no such thing as truth and we were all obsessively washing our hands,” he writes in the book’s final sentence.

The Gospel of Mark contains much information about Jesus from the baptism by John, through the public ministry, to the passion narrative and the empty tomb. This chapter gives an overview of the understandings of the Gospel of Mark and of Mark, the evangelist, throughout the centuries. It then surveys the various methodologies for studying the Gospel that have emerged over the last one hundred and fifty years and evaluate their implications for using Mark to reconstruct the historical Jesus. Author turns to contemporary scholarship's views and uses of Mark to construct Jesus, summarizing present views on Mark's authorship and provenance, addressing how current Markan commentaries treat the historical Jesus, and viewing how representative Jesus scholars use Mark. He then focuses on the overall (un)reliability of Mark. He concludes with a few brief suggestions regarding the use of Mark in historical Jesus studies. Keywords:authorship; baptism; evangelist; Gospel of Mark; historical Jesus; scholars

Reviewed by: The Story of Jesus: A Mosaic by Roy A. Harrisville Troy M. Troftgruben The Story of Jesus: A Mosaic. By Roy A. Harrisville. Foreword by Mark C. Mattes. Eugene, Oregon: Resource, 2020. xx + 229 pp. To Lutheran scholars, Roy A. Harrisville needs no introduction. Professor Emeritus at Luther Seminary and author of many books, Harrisville's scholarly career has been devoted not only to New Testament interpretation in general, but also to the significance of Jesus more specifically. He has particularly reflected on the advantages and limitations of scientific methods such as the historical-critical method for arriving at clearer understandings of Jesus of Nazareth. He culminates a lifetime of work in a concise portrait of Jesus—a "mosaic"—in a book that is at once biographical, theological, confessional, and poetic. Harrisville writes this book because "despite the decline … of mainline Christian denominations, the fascination with Jesus of Nazareth is still existent, particularly among the youth" (xvii). The book takes its cues from the four New Testament Gospels, since Harrisville finds their witness credible, despite the challenges of skeptics. After the Introduction, the book has five parts, four of which progress chronologically through Jesus' life: Beginnings, Beginnings of Jesus' Ministry, Schooling the Disciples, The Passion, and Summary. In each section, Harrisville discusses the significance of Jesus' ministry as it is collectively portrayed in the New Testament Gospels. In these discussions, Harrisville routinely begins with traditions deemed [End Page 193] the earliest, making Mark's Gospel the most consistent starting point. But the book considers traditions from other Evangelists no less, and without diminishing their contributions. Throughout, Harrisville demonstrates broad awareness of parallels from Jewish and Greco-Roman literature, enriching the discussion. Although he surveys the gamut of Jesus material in the Gospels, the areas most substantively discussed are miracles (35–52), parables (53–73), conflict with religious leaders and others (79–110), discipleship matters (117–39), and the Passion narrative (149–89). The book reads like a hybrid that is part New Testament commentary, part historical-critical reconstruction, and part theological assessment or confession of faith. A regular dialogue partner, it seems, are historical-critical assessments that are more confident in scientific reconstruction and skeptical of the miraculous. An example is the section on miracles (35–52), which concludes: "We are left with the alternative that the exorcisms are to be set down to the legendary or mythical, or are to be believed as having actually occurred" (34). The book is more positivist regarding what may be known about the "inner life" or "psychic states" of Jesus, for which Harrisville finds Mark's Gospel the richest in material (143–48). The book ends with "A Final Reflection on the Resurrection of Jesus" (200–03), in which Harrisville incorporates insights from authors as varied as Martin Luther, William Blake, and C.S. Lewis. Regarding the resurrection, Harrisville confesses: "Human thought is a mendicant, a beggar. Its object does not need me to be, to be there; it is a given, a gift, an act of grace" (202). This book envisions an audience of college or seminary readers (xiii). Certainly, the more familiar readers are with New Testament scholarship from the last century, the richer the book will be. Even so, invested novices will find this book enlightening and thought-provoking, as well as enjoyable due to the turns of phrases playfully inserted throughout (for example, "The narrative of Jesus' stilling the storm… may appear to some as absurd as a purple cow" 45). Although minor misspellings occur, they do not diminish the clarity and profundity of the book's substance. The Story of Jesus is a concise compendium of Harrisville's teaching, historical-critical reflection, and theological discernment about the significance of Jesus [End Page 194] for today. It is at once enjoyable and profoundly instructive, from someone who has greatly influenced the conversations of New Testament theology to this day. Troy M. Troftgruben Wartburg Theological Seminary Dubuque, Iowa Copyright © 2023 Johns Hopkins University Press and Lutheran Quarterly, Inc.

Among the most vexing problems in the history of New Testament scholarship has been the relationship between Jesus and Paul. The problem is this: although Paul became one of the most prolific representatives of the movement that began with Jesus, by most modern accounts, he pays so little attention to the historical figure Jesus of Nazareth that, paradoxically, one has been forced to conclude that Paul really did not know much about Jesus, or perhaps even that Paul simply was not interested in the historical person Jesus. The discussion of the relationship (or lack thereof) between Paul and Jesus has a history that is both long and complex. But when one surveys the vast literature devoted to the subject one thing stands out: the major advances in the discussion have generally been achieved not by efforts to understand the apostle Paul better, but by new developments in the study of the historical Jesus and the theological program that has always attached itself to this thorny issue.

Many early Christian sects were aware of and accepted The Gospel of Thomas as authentic Christian scripture, despite its unorthodox, radical doctrine, igniting an ideological battle in and around the Thomasine communities of the ancient world. This ideological war is still raging and conflict renewed and amplified with the discoveries of the Greek and Coptic texts of The Gospel of Thomas in the first half of the 20 th Century. Since its discovery, The Gospel of Thomas has presented scholars with ferocious debate, as serious probability exists that Thomas preserves an older tradition of the historical Jesus than that of the Synoptic Gospels. Though the fierce theological battle of religious scholars in the 1990s hardly sparked The Gospel of Thomas debate, their combined research has renewed questions of how to validate Thomas, and thus, Jesus scholarship over the last half century has been restrained in the use and acceptance of Thomas. Failure of modern scholars to develop a shared understanding of the proper role of The Gospel in reconstructing Christian origins underscores the importance of accurately dating documents from antiquity. Progress in Thomasine studies requires exploration of how texts and traditions were transmitted and appropriated in the ancient world. The greatest contribution of Thomas’ discovery will be to deepen knowledge and understanding of early Christianity. The Gospel clearly bears witness to an independent branch within early Christianity and is a prime example of the diversity of the early Christian Church. The Dead Sea Scrolls, the Lead Book of Codices, the Sea of Galilee (Jesus) Boat, the Pontius Pilate Inscription, the Shroud of Turin, the House of (Apostle) Peter, the Ossuary of Caiaphas and the Nag Hammadi texts . . . religious scholars may tend to differ slightly, but most would agree that these are among the most extraordinary archeological discoveries in the modern world. This essay will focus not only on one of the most astonishing of these finds, but also undoubtedly the most controversial – The Gospel of Thomas. That early Christians were aware of and accepted Thomas as authentic Christian scripture is unquestionable but Thomas’ controversy, a battle begun nearly 1,800 years ago, lies in the radical doctrine and theology that developed in and around the Thomasine communities of the ancient world. This ideological war is still being waged and the conflict was renewed and amplified with the discoveries of the Greek and Coptic texts of The Gospel of Thomas in the first half of the 20 th Century. 1 Haygood: 'Gospel of Thomas'

This article clarifies a perennial problem relating to the concept of ‘orality’ in Gospels studies and attempts to provide some resolution to that problem. Specifically, Gospels criticism has struggled to conceptualize the relation between the Jesus tradition as it was orally performed and early textual (written) expressions of that tradition. The binary opposition ‘literacy/orality’ has failed to provide any help in this conceptualization, and this failure is rooted especially in the rather nebulous (yet widespread) concept of ‘orality’. New Testament scholarship requires a set of culturally specific models of textuality, including the non-communicative functions of written texts and the non-literate use of written traditions. Before we can develop the necessary models, however, we need to deal with the problems we have created by appealing to ‘orality’.

Firearm injury deaths are rising and as of 2017 exceed motor vehicle crash deaths in the USA. We as healthcare professionals treat many of the injured, including those cared for in the network of over 560 ACS-verified trauma centers. In order to address this public health crisis that affects us all, we need to develop a multifaceted public health strategy to decrease and prevent firearm injuries and deaths. While personal opinions about firearm ownership vary significantly across the USA, an inclusive, consensus-based, public health approach to reducing firearm deaths is possible. This article reviews recent literature on this approach, first building consensus among surgeons and then extending across the entire healthcare professional community. There is broad support for a public health approach which focuses on the understanding and addressing the underlying causes of violence while also making firearm ownership as safe as possible. This approach requires the expertise and committed support of healthcare and public health providers, along with their professional organizations, healthcare systems, and public health networks which they lead. To achieve the goals of eliminating preventable firearm-related death and disability also requires engaging firearm owners and members from vulnerable communities as key stakeholders in the public health solution. In order to achieve the goals of the public health approach, increased federal and philanthropic research funding is required to identify and evaluate the most effective injury prevention initiatives.

Violence

This article reviews prison crowding research. In the first section, the legal, political, and social context of prison crowding is evaluated. The second section explores the relationship between crowding and violence. It is argued that most prison crowding studies do not investigate intervening mechanisms that may account for a relationship between crowding and violence, if and when a relationship is found. Furthermore, it is suggested that one reason for the inconsistency in the results of such studies is that researchers have failed to examine the proximal causes of violence as well as the formal mechanisms prison administrators use to control or limit violence. In the third section, I reexamine the evidence on the most consistent finding in the crowding and health area, that dormitories are associated with higher illness reporting rates than are other types of housing. I conclude that this finding is probably an artifact of selection bias. Furthermore, illness reporting is the result of a complex set of circumstances that is affected as much by psychological and sociological causes as by the health status of the inmate. Despite the prevailing sentiments about the harmful effects of crowding, there is little consistent evidence supporting the contention that short- or long-term impairment of inmates is attributable to prison density. The purported consistency of findings is challenged in the fourth section. One reason for the lack of consistency may be that researchers have failed to consider management interventions under periods of high confinement and have failed to account for conditions other than crowding that affect inmate debilitation.

Apart from the Gospels and the Acts, 1 Timothy is the only New Testament writing to mention Pontius Pilate. This article studies the context, structure, and content of 1 Tim 6:12-13, with its parallelism between Timothy’s and Jesus’s experiences. Thereafter it develops two major arguments in favor of viewing 1 Tim 6:12-13 as an echo of what was already or was to become part of the Johannine passion narrative. This would provide an additional indication of the late composition of 1 Timothy.