OVERVIEW: The curious presence of numerous conceptual and verbal parallels between the New Testament writings is one of the most enigmatic phenomena of biblical literature. What might explain the presence of these parallels? What is their significance? The phenomenon has raised the intriguing possibility that the authors of NT books which contain parallel texts may have borrowed written material from one another. Such a possibility could lead to far-reaching implications, not only for matters pertaining to origin of the NT documents, but also for exegetical study of the interdependent NT books. The true significance of parallels for the likelihood of intertextual borrowing, however, has been shrouded in mystery throughout the long history of NT scholarship, primarily due to the lack of commonly accepted methods and defensible criteria for evaluating the parallels. In this book, Elizabeth Myers introduces an innovative assessment methodology that can objectively gauge the significance of literary parallels for the likelihood of borrowing by the authors. In order to ensure consistent and reliable results, the methodology approaches the task as a mathematical probability analysis. Myers first explains in detail how the likelihood of a direct literary connection and the most likely direction of borrowing can be determined by applying probability theory to literary parallels observed between NT books. Readers are then guided through two practical applications which demonstrate both usage and reliability of the methodology: First, a case involving two books that bear little resemblance to one another (James and Philippians), and second, a case involving two NT books that exhibit many striking literary parallels (2 Peter and Jude).
KEY FEATURES: The book presents rationale and detailed descriptions for each step of the methodology for determining the likelihood of literary dependence and the direction of borrowing between NT documents. This includes critiques of published methods and traditional criteria used to evaluate the significance of intertextual parallels, thorough explanations of how literary parallels can be objectively evaluated for intertextual borrowing using probability theory and relevant literary indicators, and multiple illustrative examples. The described methodology can easily be adapted for use with documents in other collections of ancient works such as the Septuagint, the Pseudepigrapha, and even the Hebrew Bible. Practical demonstration of the methodology involves evaluation and selection of an appropriate negative test case (James and Philippians) and an appropriate positive test case (Jude and 2 Peter), specification of criteria for selecting literary parallels to be included in the analyses, identification of parallels between the documents of interest that satisfy the selection criteria, demonstration of how to use the defined scoring scheme to extract the necessary data from each literary parallel included in the analyses, step-by-step execution of the probability calculation with actual data, and explanation of how to interpret the results. The front matter of the book includes a list of contents, a list of 46 figures, a list of 56 tables, and a list of abbreviations. The back matter includes appendices with tables of supporting data from the analyses, a list of works cited, an extensive index of Scripture and other ancient sources, and an index of modern authors.
OVERVIEW: Who wrote the books of the New Testament? Does it matter? Some might argue that the identity of the authors is irrelevant in light of divine inspiration that is believed to underlie the biblical writings. In truth, however, questions concerning authorship are vitally important for biblical studies today. Assumptions made about the human authors influence, not only the perceived authenticity and authority of the writings, but also interpretation of the texts. Historical-critical methods of NT interpretation rely largely on the historical context from which the author writes, which is difficult to ascertain for books of uncertain authorship. Conclusive answers to questions of authorship, however, often are elusive. Authorship of Hebrews, in fact, is one of the greatest mysteries of the NT, and although apostolic authorship of 1 Peter was largely uncontested throughout the Christian era, recent studies claiming pseudonymous authorship have posed serious challenges to the traditional view. In this book, Elizabeth Myers offers a fresh perspective on authorship of 1 Peter and Hebrews by taking a new approach that allows important new evidence to emerge. Myers first demonstrates that the author of Hebrews very likely knew and used the letter 1 Peter while crafting the epistle to the Hebrews. The matter of authorship then comes to light by examining the relationship between the Hebrews author and his/her sources. Focusing on why the author used 1 Peter as a source and how the author came to be acquainted with the letter, Myers discovers new evidence which not only shows that the author of Hebrews understands 1 Peter as having been authored by the apostle, but also reveals a striking portrait of the elusive Hebrews author which narrows the large field of proposed authors to just one credible candidate.
KEY FEATURES: Authorship of 1 Peter is illuminated by focusing on why the Hebrews author chose to use 1 Peter as a source. Hebrews bears witness to the authorship of 1 Peter through a trail of literary clues about how the author regards his/her sources, which leads to the conclusion that the author most likely understands 1 Peter as authentically apostolic. Authorship of Hebrews is addressed by focusing on how the author came to be acquainted with 1 Peter. This includes testing the hypothesis that the author was among the original recipients of 1 Peter. Hypothesis testing involves the use of detailed multi-faceted profiles of the original receiving community of 1 Peter, the original receiving community of Hebrews, and the author of Hebrews. Analysis shows that the hypothesis is not only plausible, but very likely. The author's identity is illuminated through construction of an identity profile that considers his/her status as an original recipient of 1 Peter, as well as his/her understanding of appropriated sources. The identity profile reveals distinguishing features of the author's lifetime and lifespan, educational background, vocation, geographic location when defining events occurred, and community affiliation, as well as the agent responsible for the author's evangelization and some important restrictions. The identity profile is used to evaluate 15 proposed candidates for fitness to be the author of Hebrews. The outcome delimits the proper historical context for exegetical study of 1 Peter and Hebrews. It narrows the range of dates during which the books could have been written and identifies the likely provenance, intended destination, and original recipients of both books. The front matter includes a list of contents, a list of 21 figures, a list of 44 tables, and a list of abbreviations. The back matter includes appendices with tables of supporting data from the analyses, a list of works cited, an index of Scripture and other ancient sources, and an index of modern authors.
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