Gospels before the Book

Matthew D. C. Larsen

Challenges long-held assumptions about early Christian gospels
Presents a controversial, new thesis about the process of gospel writing
Offers a new methodological framework for future scholarship on early Christian gospels

Gospels before the Book

Matthew D. C. Larsen

Description

What does it look like to read the texts we now call the gospels like first- and second-century readers? There is no evidence of anyone regarding the gospel as a book published by an author until the end of the second century. So, put differently, what does it mean to read the gospels "before the book"? For centuries, the ways people discuss the gospels have been shaped by later ideas that have more to do with the printing press and modern notions of the author than ancient writing and reading practices. In Gospels before the Book, Matthew D. C. Larsen challenges several subtle yet problematic assumptions about authors, books, and publication at work in early Christian studies. He then explores a host of under-appreciated elements of ancient textual culture such as unfinished texts, accidental publication, post-publication revision, and the existence of multiple authorized versions of the same work. Turning to the gospels, he argues that the earliest readers and users of the text we now call the Gospel according to Mark treated it not as a book published by an author, but as an unfinished, open, and fluid collection of notes (hypomnmata). In such a scenario, the Gospel according to Matthew would not be regarded as a separate book published by a different author, but as a continuation of the same unfinished gospel tradition. Similarly it is not the case that, of the five different endings in the textual tradition we now call the Gospel according to Mark, one is "right" and the others are "wrong." Rather each represents its own effort to fill a perceived deficiency in the gospel. Larsen offers a new methodological framework for future scholarship on early Christian gospels.

Gospels before the Book

Matthew D. C. Larsen

1. Chapter One - Reading Gospels "Before the Book"
2. Chapter Two - Unfinished and Less Authored Texts
3. Chapter Three - Accidental Publication and Post-Publication Revision
4. Chapter Four - Multiple Authorized Versions of the Same Work
5. Chapter Five - The Earliest Readers of the Gospel of Mark
6. Chapter Six - The Earliest Users of the Gospel of Mark
7. Chapter Seven - Reading Mark as Unfinished
Epilogue
Appendix A: Synoptic comparison of Philodemus's On Rhetoric Book III
Appendix B: Synoptic comparison of Mark 16:1-8 with "shorter ending"
Bibliography

Gospels before the Book

Matthew D. C. Larsen

Author Information

Matthew D. C. Larsen, Dr., Yale University

Matthew Larsen is a Lecturer in the Department of Religious Studies at Yale University. He is a cultural historian of religion whose work focuses on the lived experiences of Jewish and Christian communities in antiquity and late antiquity. Matthew's research has been published in the Journal for the Study of Judaism, the Journal for the Study of the New Testament, and various other venues.

Gospels before the Book

Matthew D. C. Larsen

Reviews and Awards

Winner of the 2020 Manfred Lautenschlaeger Award for Theological Promise

"Without question, this is an excellent book. Larsen's writing is crisp, succinct, and evocative. His analysis is fresh and direct. I often find myself wondering, "How'd this guy find all these case studies?"-and every answer I can imagine requires exceptional diligence and ingenuity." - Greg Carey, Lancaster Theological Seminary, The Christian Century

"This book exemplifies and is itself facilitating a paradigm shift in gospel studies.No longer can interpreters approach the gospels without duly considering what kind of text it is that they are handling." - Review of Biblical Literature

"[an] elegantly written volume ... An invaluable resource for those seeking a clearer understanding of ancient literature, including (but by no means limited to) religious texts ... Highly recommended." - L. J. Greenspoon, CHOICE

"I commend this book to a wide reading audience, especially within the guild. All serious readers of Mark — especially those of us who read it as story — should engage this book. It invites fresh consideration of the emergence of the Gospel tradition in textual form." - Danny Yencich, Reading Religion

"With Gospels before the Book, Matthew Larsen offers a crucial intervention in studies of the Christian Gospels. As he demonstrates, anachronistic assumptions about the closed character of books and a persistent investment in the "genius of the author" have led modern scholars to miss an important fact: the Gospels, and Mark in particular, were not regarded as closed texts by early Christian readers. Instead, they were received as unfinished instantiations of a continuous and fluid gospel tradition that remained open to expansion and revision by later writers interested in "publishing" (in an ancient sense) books of their own. Larsen's stunning investigation will forever change the ways that biblical scholars, historians, and textual critics approach texts we thought we knew." - Jennifer Knust, author of To Cast the First Stone: The Transmission of a Gospel Story with Tommy Wasserman

"It is rare that one reads a work of scholarship that changes the terms of engagement for an entire field of study, but that is exactly what Matthew Larsen has done in his Gospels before the Book. In this deeply textured study, he dismantles a host of unhelpful assumptions operative in New Testament studies about ancient authors and the status of ancient books as published documents. You'll never view the Gospels the same way again." - Stephen J. Davis, author of Christ Child: Cultural Memories of a Young Jesus

"How often does it happen that you read something new and convincing that solves a large and centuries old problem, especially on such an overpublished field as the New Testament Gospels? This book does that! It is probably the best book on the Gospel of Mark and the synoptic Gospels in general, since they were written. It is a truly groundbreaking book that offers a novel and fully convincing interpretation of the Gospel of Mark, namely as incomplete archival notes. The argument is well-crafted, based just as much in deep knowledge of a wide range of sources (Jewish, Greek, Roman, Christian) as in sophisticated critical scholarship. This work is a field changer and will be the foundation for future gospel studies." - AnneMarie Luijendijk, Professor of Religion, Head of Wilson College, Princeton University