Solving the Synoptic Puzzle: Introducing the Case for the Farrer Hypothesis

by Eric Eve

Publisher:

Wipf and Stock

, 2021

Overview

The question of how the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke relate to each other has become the subject of often intense debate. No longer is it safe to assume that the long dominant Two Document Hypothesis can be accepted without much question. In this book, Eve introduces students and other interested readers to the issues surrounding the Synoptic Problem and goes on to argue for an alternative theory (the Farrer Hypothesis) which does away with the need for the hypothetic source Q. In the course of doing so he also provides a helpful discussion of the how and why of first-century Gospel authorship. While the reader is alerted to the difficulties and complexities that surround solving the puzzle of Synoptic relations, the discussion is kept as accessible as possible and assumes no prior knowledge of New Testament scholarship or Greek.

Key Features

• Offers a clear and balanced discussion of the Synoptic Problem
• Delivers a convincing explanation of the whys and hows of Luke's task as a gospel writer
• Presents a powerful case for dispensing with the hypothetical Q source, in favor of taking Luke to be dependent on both Mark and Matthew

Contents

• The Nature of the Problem
• Gospel Writing in the First Century
• The Two Document Hypothesis
• Luke's Knowledge of Matthew
• An Orderly Account?

Praise for Solving the Synoptic Puzzle

Eric Eve walks students through the complex thickets of Synoptic Puzzle scholarship with clarity and grace, plausibly arguing that Matthew used Mark's Gospel and that Luke used both Mark and Matthew. Solving the Synoptic Puzzle is persuasive and compelling, a rare gem that leaves the reader wanting more.

—Mark Goodacre, Duke University

Eric Eve covers every important aspect of the Synoptic Problem fairly and expertly, and with minimal jargon. He presents a powerful case for dispensing with the hypothetical Q source, in favor of taking Luke to be dependent on both Mark and Matthew. Although Eve discusses Luke's motivations with due openness to a range of views, he delivers a convincing explanation of the whys and hows of Luke's task as a gospel writer.

—John C. Poirier, coeditor of Marcan Priority without Q

Eric Eve’s Solving the Synoptic Puzzle offers a clear and balanced discussion of the Synoptic Problem. The appeal of the book, both for the teacher and the student, is that it presents the Synoptic Problem with its complexity in a remarkably clear, accessible, and balanced fashion. Competing synoptic hypotheses are given their due while Eve makes a credible case for the Farrer hypothesis.

—John S. Kloppenborg, University of Toronto

All too easily the Q hypothesis becomes the Q document, a genuine early Christian text that modern scholars claim to have recovered from the texts of Matthew and Luke. In this clear and compelling book, Eric Eve demonstrates both the weakness of standard arguments for Q and the plausibility of an alternative scenario: that Luke shares specific material and broader emphases with Matthew because he found them in Matthew.

—Francis Watson, Durham University, and author of Gospel Writing

Product Details

• Title: Solving the Synoptic Puzzle: Introducing the Case for the Farrer Hypothesis
• Author: Eric Eve
• Publisher: Wipf and Stock
• Print Publication Date: 2021
• Logos Release Date: 2023
• Pages: 126
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Reader Edition
• Subjects: Bible. Gospels—Criticism, interpretation, etc; Synoptic problem
• ISBNs: 9781725283886, 1725283883
• Resource ID: LLS:SLVNGSYNHYPTHSS
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2024-08-19T17:47:26Z

About Eric Eve

Eric Eve is fellow and tutor in theology at Harris Manchester College, Oxford. He has published a number of articles and other short pieces on various aspects of the Gospels and Jesus—usually related either to miracles or to the Synoptic Problem and is also the author of The Jewish Context of Jesus’ Miracles and The Healer from Nazareth.