William Hemsworth's Blog, page 63

Benedict’s serious illness raises questions about pope emeritus protocols

In the various colleges of the prelature, “once the exercise of the authority of the college, such as the judicial and administrative authority, was renounced, the aggregation and privileges were preserved, even though the jurisdiction was no longer exercised,” he said. And so it would be for the pope emeritus, who “no longer exercises authority, […]

Benedict’s serious illness raises questions about pope emeritus protocols

Know The Old Testament To Understand The New

Understanding the Old Testament is essential in understanding the New.  Too often the Christians of today neglect the Old Testament.  It is seen as a book of laws that do not really apply because Christ established the new covenant.  Coogan states “The writings that counted as scripture for the New Testament writers are those they held in common with the Diaspora Jews: the Torah, prophets, Psalms, and assorted texts from the writings (Coogen, 475 ES).” If our forefathers of the faith understood this to be scripture so should we.

There are around 343 references to the Old Testament listed in the New Testament.  Many of them are quoted verbatim and are listed to convey doctrine.  In the Old Testament we have the creation accounts, the fall of man, and various prophecies about how God is going to make things right.  He prepares his people little by little.  He lets them live and they disobey over and over again.

Coogan states “Matthew’s set of fulfillment quotations, which assert that events in the life of Jesus were foretold by the prophets (Coogan, 475 ES).”  The early Christians did this in relation to the suffering of Christ on the cross.  This parallels what is found in Isaiah and the early Christians compared the story of Isaiah to that of the passion of Christ.  These prophecies no doubt gave the Israelites hope that something better will be coming, but they did not know when or where.  The writings of the New Testament help elaborate on the meanings of the Old and give new insights into an old idea.

It is essential that we have a working knowledge of the Old Testament to get a better understanding of the New.  As previously stated there are well over 300 direct quotes from the Old Testament in the New.  If they were not important they would not be there.  All scripture is important not just the passages that name Jesus directly.

Works Cited

The New Oxford Annotated Bible: With the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books, New

Revised Standard Version. Michael D. Coogan, editor. New York: Oxford UP, 2001

The most frequently asked questions about Pope Benedict XVI

Benedict was born in the city of Marktl, in Bavaria, southern Germany. How many trips did Benedict make? During his pontificate, Benedict visited 24 countries on six continents. Antarctica was the only continent he didn’t travel to as pope. Did Benedict have siblings? Yes, Benedict was the youngest of three siblings. His siblings were Georg […]

The most frequently asked questions about Pope Benedict XVI

Saints Alive! | The Holy Innocents

The Holy Innocents are the children who were slaughtered at the orders of King Herod, in the hope that by killing every boy born in Bethlehem at the same time as Jesus, he would succeed in killing the new-born King of the Jews. The Church venerates them as martyrs. It it is uncertain how many children were killed, whether a small number, or in the thousands. The Latin Church instituted the feast of the Holy Innocents in the fifth century. Today, they are also a reminder of the vulnerability of the child in the womb. May innocent lives be spared and expectant mothers protect the holy innocent in the womb. Holy Innocents, pray for us!For more about these saints, please click on the image. Peace be with you!

Saints Alive! | The Holy Innocents

Benedict XVI’s Health Deteriorates

The Vatican said that after the audience, Francis visited Benedict at his Mater Ecclesiae Monastery residence in the Vatican. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI (photo: Vatican Media ) Edward Pentin at the National Catholic Register, December 28, 2022 VATICAN CITY —Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI is suffering from aggravated kidney failure and had a recent modification to his […]

Benedict XVI’s Health Deteriorates

The Gospel Of Mark And The Problem Of Q

The authorship of the Gospels is a topic that is interesting.  There has been much work done on the topic and modern scholarship, at least since the 19th century, has come to the conclusion that the Gospel of Mark was written first[1].  This was not always the case, and many church fathers held that Matthew was written first[2].  There are similarities within Matthew, Mark, and Luke that would eventually become known as the synoptic problem.

This would eventually lead scholars to conclude that the three must have had a common source in which they got their material.  Further research showed that Matthew and Luke contained great amounts of the Gospel of Mark that were elaborated on[3].  One of the notions in modern scholarship is the idea of the Q source.  This source was said to have contained sayings of Jesus and utilized by Mark in the creation of his Gospel[4].  The purpose of this post is to dig deeper into the scholarship of Q as well as the tradition of the early church idea of Matthean priority to determine if Mark wrote his Gospel first as modern scholarship asserts.

The Early Church on Matthew and Mark

As previously stated, the early church believed that the Gospel of Matthew was written first.  This was the view of Papias, Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, and Augustine among others.   The great early church historian Eusebius, though not naming names, records the overall view of the Christian church at the time.  In book VI of his Church history, he writes that he learned that Matthew wrote his Gospel first and that was initially in the Hebrew language and was later translated to Greek[5].  Clement of Alexandria would also say that Luke was written before Mark.

Mark was believed to be an abbreviation of the Gospel of Matthew, and as such some such as Augustine, saw it as important but inferior[6].  It soon proved to be an invaluable work and many in the early church attribute the Author to being John Mark who was a secretary of sorts to Peter in Rome[7].  Early church figures such as Origen, Papias, and Clement of Alexandria wrote similar things in regard to origin and authorship.  While commentaries and works about Matthew, Luke, and John appeared quite early in the church’s history, a commentary on Mark did not appear until the fifth century[8].  On the surface it certainly appears that Matthew is written first.

Is Q a Viable Option For The Synoptic Problem?

Matthean priority in Gospel authorship was the predominant view in biblical scholarship until the 19th century.  As previously stated, the first three Gospels have a number of similarities, and this led scholars to speculate on their origins.  One proposed theory, that has been accepted as fact in most circles, is the now lost Q source.  The Gospel of Luke attests to Luke gathering eyewitness testimony to accurately portray the events that he records in his Gospel (See Luke 1:1-4).  Q is short for the German Quelle that is translated to mean source.  Therefore, this material consists of the common sayings of Jesus that are present in Matthew and Luke that are not present in Mark, and is said to have originated in the early 60’s[9].  There is some dispute as to what Q is.  Some like, Markus Tiwald, say that these saying were written down and utilized by the Gospel authors[10].  While others, such as Alan Kirk, say that it was transmitted orally[11].

Over the last few years, it appears that the common answer to the synoptic problem, mainly that of Q, has been challenged by advances in Gospel studies.  For example, the Farrer hypothesis states that Matthew was an adaptation if Mark, and that Luke was an adaptation of Matthew[12].  However, others go further than that to show that Luke relied little on the other two synoptics and use the genealogy as an example.  Those who hold this attribute great writing skill and research capabilities to Luke[13].  This is not unreasonable given Luke’s occupation, but it is in the minority.

The subject of Q is important and holds the key to which Gospel was written first.  However, there is not a unanimous vote among scholars as to what it is.  Is it written or verbal?  Some would argue with what is called a high verbatim agreement hypothesis[14].  Since there is a lot of agreement between Matthew and Luke it is said that a written Q is the cause, but again there are varying views on the issue.

Q is a way to try to solve the synoptic problem, but it brings up more questions than it solves.  It discounts the overwhelming patristic evidence for Matthean priority in an attempt to answer why there are similarities.

Bibliography

Brooks, James A. Mark. Vol. 23, The New American Commentary. Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1991.

Cox, Steven L., and Kendell H. Easley. Harmony of the Gospels. Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2007.

Drane, John William. Introducing the New Testament. Completely rev. and updated. Oxford: Lion Publishing plc, 2000.

Duval, J. Scott, and J. Daniel Hays. The Baker Illustrated Bible Background Commentary. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2020.

France, R. T. The Gospel of Mark: A Commentary on the Greek Text. New International Greek Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI; Carlisle: W.B. Eerdmans and Paternoster Press, 2002.

Keener, Craig S. The IVP Bible Background Commentary. Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2015.

Kirk, Alan. “Orality, Writing, and Media Interface in Antiquity.” In Q in Matthew: Ancient Media, Memory Early Scribal Transmission of the Jesus Tradition. The Library of New Testament Studies. London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2016.

——— Poirier, John C., and Jeffrey Peterson, eds. Marcan Priority Without Q: Explorations in the Farrer Hypothesis. London: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2015.

, eds. Marcan Priority Without Q: Explorations in the Farrer Hypothesis. London: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2015.

Poirier, John C., and Jeffrey Peterson, eds. Marcan Priority Without Q: Explorations in the Farrer Hypothesis. London: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2015.

Roskam, H. N., ed. The Purpose of the Gospel of Mark in Its Historical and Social Context. Leiden: BRILL, 2004.

Schaff, Philip, and Henry Wace, eds. Eusebius: Church History, Life of Constantine the Great, and Oration in Praise of Constantine. Vol. 1, A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, Second Series. New York: Christian Literature Company, 1890.

Tiwald, Markus. The Sayings Source: A Commentary on Q. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer Verlag, 2020.

[1]. R. T. France, The Gospel of Mark: A Commentary on the Greek Text, New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Carlisle: W.B. Eerdmans and Paternoster Press, 2002), 41.

[2]. Steven L. Cox and Kendell H. Easley, Holman Christian Standard Bible: Harmony of the Gospels (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2007), 255.

[3]. H. N. Roskam, ed., The Purpose of the Gospel of Mark in Its Historical and Social Context (Leiden: BRILL, 2004), 1.

[4]. John William Drane, Introducing the New Testament, completely rev. and updated. (Oxford: Lion Publishing plc, 2000), 195.

[5]. Philip Schaff and Henry Wace, eds., Eusebius: Church History, Life of Constantine the Great, and Oration in Praise of Constantine, vol. 1, A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, Second Series (New York: Christian Literature Company, 1890), 273.

[6]. J. Scott Duval and J. Daniel Hays, The Baker Illustrated Bible Background Commentary (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2020), 857.

[7]. Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary (Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2015), 126.

[8]. James A. Brooks, Mark, vol. 23, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1991), 18.

[9]. Markus Tiwald, The Sayings Source: A Commentary on Q (Stuttgart: Kohlhammer Verlag, 2020), 24.

[10]. Ibid, 22.

[11]. Alan Kirk, “Orality, Writing, and Media Interface in Antiquity,” in Q in Matthew: Ancient Media, Memory Early Scribal Transmission of the Jesus Tradition, The Library of New Testament Studies (London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2016).

[12]. John C. Poirier and Jeffrey Peterson, eds., Marcan Priority Without Q: Explorations in the Farrer Hypothesis (London: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2015), 16.

[13]. Ibid, 22.

[14]. Ibid, 63.

Pope releases letter on St. Francis de Sales

On December 28, 2022, the 400th anniversary to the day of St. Francis de Sales’ death, Pope Francis has released an apostolic letter on the great saint and doctor of the Church. The French saint was born in the castle of Sales, in Savoy, on August 21, 1567, and died in Lyon on December 28, […]

Pope releases letter on St. Francis de Sales

Pope Francis says retired Pope Benedict is ‘very sick’

Saying that retired Pope Benedict XVI was “very sick,” Pope Francis asked people to offer special prayers for him.

Pope Francis says retired Pope Benedict is ‘very sick’

Understanding The Nicene Creed

On December 27, I was a guest of Gary Michuta on his Hands on Apologetics Radio program that airs on Virgin Most Powerful Radio. On this episode we discussed the Nicene creed, but we did not get through the whole thing so part two is coming soon. I hope you enjoy and take away something to help you grow in your faith.

Interview On The Nicen Creed

FDA says emergency contraception not abortifacient; bioethicist questions evidence

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The Food and Drug Administration just before the Christmas weekend revised consumer information, now saying that some forms of “emergency contraception” cannot cause abortions. Plan B One Step works before the release of an egg from a woman’s ovary, preventing ovulation, the FDA stated, saying it will not work after fertilization. But there is still […]

FDA says emergency contraception not abortifacient; bioethicist questions evidence