WHAT ARE THE GOSPELS?

A Comparison with Graeco-Roman Biograpy

twenty-fifth anniversary edition

Richard A. Burridge

BAYLOR UNIVERSITY PRESS

© 2018 by Baylor University Press Waco, Texas 76798. Distributed with permission of Baylor University Press for personal use only.

First edition published 1992 by Cambridge University Press. Second edition published 2004 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. This edition published 2018 by Baylor University Press with the ISBN 978-1-4813-0874-8.

All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission in writing of Baylor University Press.

Appendix II was originally published as Richard A. Burridge, “Gospel Genre, Christological Controversy and the Absence of Rabbinic Biography: Some Implications of the Biographical Hypothesis,” in Christology, Controversy and Community: New Testament Essays in Honour of David Catchpole, ed. David G. Horrell and Christopher M. Tuckett (Leiden: Brill, 2000), pp. 137–56. Used by permission.

Appendix III was originally published as Richard A. Burridge, “The Genre of Acts—Revisited,” in Reading Acts Today: A Festschrift for Loveday Alexander, ed. S. Walton, L. Pietersen, F. S. Spencer, and T. E. Phillips (London: T&T Clark, 2011), pp. 1–26. Used by permission.

Cover Design by Aaron Cobbs

Cover image: Medallion, Early Byzantine, depicting the adoration of the wise men.

© The Trustees of the British Museum. All rights reserved.

The Library of Congress has cataloged the Eerdmans second edition as follows.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

What Are the Gospels? a comparison with Graeco-Roman biography / Richard A. Burridge; with a foreword by Graham Stanton — 2nd ed.

p. cm. — (The biblical resource series)

Includes bibliographical references (p.) and indexes.

ISBN 978-0-8028-0971-1 (pbk.: alk. paper)

1. Bible. N.T. Gospels — Language, style.

2. Jesus Christ — Biography — History and Criticism.

3. Greek literature, Hellenistic — History and Criticism.

4. Greek literature — Relation to the New Testament.

5. Religious biography — History and criticism.

I. Title. II. Series.

BS2555.52.B88 2004

226'.06 — dc22

2004047152

Web PDF ISBN: 978-1-4813-0876-2

2020 ePub ISBN: 978-1-0877-2414-0

Contents

Preface to the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Edition

Foreword to the Second Edition

Preface to the Second Edition

Preface to the Original Edition

Abbreviations

Gospels and Biography, 2000–2018: A Critical Review and Implications for Future Research

Part One: The Problem

Chapter 1: Historical Survey

Chapter 2: Genre Criticism and Literary Theory

Chapter 3: Genre Criticism and Graeco-Roman Biography

Chapter 4: Evaluation of Recent Debate

Part Two: The Proposed Solution

Chapter 5: Generic Features

Chapter 6: The Generic Features of Early Graeco-Roman Βίοι

Chapter 7: The Generic Features of Later Graeco-Roman Βίοι

Chapter 8: ...