Evangelien im Dialog mit Paulus

English summary: The Synoptic Gospels, composed 70-100 AD, have often been studied without any references to Paul (who died around 60 AD) and his theology. This present work sets a new direction in the study of the Synoptic Gospels: it proffers a new perspective to understand all three Synoptic Gospels as a dialogue with the greatest theologian of the Early Christianity, Paul. Putative scholarship has identified a number of Jesus traditions which are found in both the Gospel of Mark...
More Description

English summary: The Synoptic Gospels, composed 70-100 AD, have often been studied without any references to Paul (who died around 60 AD) and his theology. This present work sets a new direction in the study of the Synoptic Gospels: it proffers a new perspective to understand all three Synoptic Gospels as a dialogue with the greatest theologian of the Early Christianity, Paul. Putative scholarship has identified a number of Jesus traditions which are found in both the Gospel of Mark and in the letters of Paul. This study shows that Mark in fact takes over Paul's terminology of the gospel, and then transforms it. On the whole, Mark stands very close to Paul in the latter's theology of the cross. Therefore, Mark is neutral to Paul. The Gospel of Matthew, on the other hand, evidently contends against Paul in several places. Matthew formulates his own Gospel which emphasizes on ethics in the messages of Jesus, but at the same time in outright opposition to Paul's way of evangelism among the Gentiles. Luke, in contrast to the other two authors, admires Paul. The core of his teachings on justification can be traced back to pre-Pauline time, so that even Peter, one of Paul's early opponents, can accept them. This research employs intertextual reading as a method to draw out the components of the dialogue within the related texts. The 'Dialogizitat' method is therefore most suitable in this study as it capitalizes on the incoherencies between the original text (i.e., Paul) and the secondary text (i.e., the Synoptic Gospels), whereby the latter is not bound by the original text. Historically speaking, such a dialogue is very likely to have taken place, for all the three Synoptic Gospels would never have existed at all without the Gentile mission of Paul. Given Paul's mere popularity and the traditions he started it is highly unlikely that these authors did not know about Paul and his theology.