Theology
Martin Hengel
Die vier Evangelien und das eine Evangelium von Jesus Christus
Studien zu ihrer Sammlung und Entstehung
[The Four Gospels and the One Gospel of Jesus Christ. Studies of their Collection and their Origins. Student Edition.]
2008; unrevised e-book edition 2019; Original edition 2011; 2011. XI, 420 pages.
Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 224
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Published in German.
Why does the church have four different written Gospels, although according to Paul there was only one orally proclaimed Gospel from the very beginning? Martin Hengel attempts to answer this question by showing how the collection of the four Gospels developed in the 2nd century and by tracing their origins. The reading of these four Gospels, in addition to the texts of the Old Testament, during the church service played a decisive role in the collection and the affirmation of these Gospels as part of the church canon. The author also deals with the authors of the Gospels and the time in which they were written. He bases his study on the fact that Mark was the first to write a Gospel. It is very probable that Matthew, who wrote the later Gospel, was familiar with the earlier Gospel according to Luke and that he used this. The numerous minor agreements between Luke and Matthew against Mark make it reasonable to suppose this hypothesis to be correct.This is the substantially enlarged German version of the English book The Four Gospels and the One Gospel of Jesus Christ, translated by John Bowden, published by SCM Press in the year 2000.