The existence of a source behind the Markan passion narrative was considered one of the assured results of twentieth-century scholarship. Brandon Massey traces the origins and assumptions underlying the existence of this source and shows that it cannot be sustained outside of a form-critical paradigm.
Brandon Massey presents the first intellectual history of the preMarkan passion narrative hypothesis, once considered the »most assured result« of form criticism. He traces the origin and development of the hypothesis from the History of Religions school's conception of Jesus tradition to its origin in form-critical investigations of the Synoptic tradition and subsequent attempts to reconstruct the source of the Markan passion narrative. This history of the hypothesis reveals that the preMarkan passion narrative, and all attempts to reconstruct the source, are based upon a form-critical conception of Jesus tradition. Advancements in scholarship over the past decades challenge the form-critical consensus that prevailed throughout much of the twentieth century and lead to the abandonment of this conception of the Jesus tradition, and, with it, the preMarkan passion narrative.
Table of contents:
Introduction
Chapter 1: The Prehistory of the PreMarkan Passion Narrative: From Urmarkus to Jesus Tradition in the History of Religions School
Chapter 2: The Birth of the PreMarkan Passion Narrative: The Form-Critical Conception of Jesus Tradition
Chapter 3: The PreMarkan Passion Narrative in British Form Criticism
Chapter 4: The Golden Age of the Quest for the PreMarkan Passion Narrative
Chapter 5: Challenges to the Form-Critical Consensus
Chapter 6: Further Challenges to the Form-Critical Consensus and Attempts to Revive the PreMarkan Passion Narrative Hypothesis
Conclusion: The PreMarkan Passion Narrative After the Death of Form Criticism
