«Here’s my own ad hoc list of what I think are major developments in
the study of NT/Christian origins over the last century or so. [...] These are developments in the historical study/approach to the
NT and earliest Christianity, so other matters don’t appear (e.g.,
hermeneutical/theological issues). [...]
- The “de-throning” of the textus receptus and the turn to a
critically-based NT text. Westcott & Hort (1880s) were crucial
(though they built much on the work of earlier scholars). Today, all
scholars agree that our editions of the NT must be based on sound
critical principles and the best evidence subjected to critical
analysis.
- The discovery & publication of early NT papyri. In particular,
the Chester Beatty biblical papyri (which includes both NT & OT) in
the 1930s had profound effects thereafter on scholarly notions about the
early history of the NT writings. The Bodmer biblical papyri
(1950s-1960s) furthered this. We now have copies of NT writings (often
partial/fragmentary) that take us back to ca. 200 CE, and so allow us to
peek back into the second century. This evidence still needs to be
mined further, but has already generated significant shifts in scholarly
views (e.g., the demise of the “Caesarean text” of the Gospels, and
theories of a 3rd or 4th century “recension” behind the “Alexandrian”
text of the Gospels).
- Methods in text-critical analysis. These include more soundly-based
quantitative methods (prompted particularly by E.C. Colwell in the
1960s) for establishing textual relationships of manuscripts. Now, with
the development of computer-applications, there are further
developments, esp. the Muenster-based “Coherence Based Genealogical Method” for attempting to map the “textual flow” of the transmission of
NT writings.
- A greater sophistication in our handling of the Gospels: In
particular, the recognition that the Gospels incorporate (1)
Jesus-tradition that stemmed from Jesus, then (2) passed through a few
decades of circulation and adaptation in early churches, and also (3)
the editorial and authorial work of the individual authors of the
Gospels. This development really captures scholarly work across several
decades.
- The growing recognition that the apostle Paul was firmly Jewish in
formative background and remained so in his life as apostle to the
Gentiles. From Schweitzer, Machen, W.D. Davies, Munck, and then E.P.
Sanders and others more recently, this has now become the general stance
for Pauline scholarship (a shift from some early 20th-cent views of
Paul as a “radical Hellenist”). Controversies remain, but the debate is
now conducted on this premise.
- A more vivid sense of early Christian diversity. It should have
been clear all along from the NT texts and early church fathers, but for
many it took the publication of various extra-canonical texts (e.g.,
the Nag Hammadi corpus) to realize this.
- A much more sopisticated understanding of the Jewish context of
earliest Christianity. The Qumran scrolls are crucial, of course,
generating changes on many issues (see the new Oxford Handbook on the Dead Sea Scrolls). But
also key work by Liebermann, Bickerman and Hengel (in particular),
built on by others subsequently, has crumbled earlier tight compartments
of “Palestinian-Jewish” and “Hellenistic” used then to shape views of
earliest Christianity.
- A more accurate sense of the social composition of earliest
churches. Correcting earlier notions of earliest Christianity as almost
entirely comprised of slaves and peasants, it is now clear that, e.g.,
Paul’s churches were made up of a more diverse collection of people, and
that the local leaders were more often small business people and others
with some property, schooling, and experience in leadership. Edwin
Judge’s 1960 classic is probably the turning-point: Edwin A. Judge, The Social Pattern of Christian Groups in the First Century
(London: Tyndale Press, 1960). Also, of course, there is now a far
greater sense of the important place of women in earliest churches.
- The early eruption of Jesus-devotion. To cite a more recent
development (i.e., of the last 20 yrs), it has become clear that a
remarkable devotion to Jesus emerged astonishingly early in the
aftermath of Jesus’ execution, so early that in Paul’s letters it is
already presumed as characteristic of Christian circles, both Jewish and
Gentile. (I immodestly note that I’ve had a hand in bringing this
awareness more to the fore, but a growing number of scholars have made
important contributions too.)»
*
Larry Hurtado,
Larry Hurtado's Blog, «
Developments in NT/Christian Origins»,
November 5, 2010 / 5 Νοεμβρίου 2010.
