Description
When the Gospel writings were first produced, Christian thinking was already cognizant of its relationship to ancient memorial cultures and history-writing traditions. Yet, little has been written about exactly what shaped the development of early Christian literary memory. In this eye-opening new study, Eve-Marie Becker explores the diverse ways in which history was written according to the Hellenistic literary tradition, focusing specifically on the time during which the New Testament writings came into being: from the mid-first century until the early second century CE.
While acknowledging cases of historical awareness in other New Testament writings, Becker traces the origins of this historiographical approach to the Gospel of Mark and Luke-Acts. Offering a bold new framework, Becker shows how the earliest Christian writings shaped "Christian" thinking and writing about history.
Product Details
| Publisher | Yale University Press |
| Publish Date | September 26, 2017 |
| Pages | 280 |
| Language | English |
| Type |  Hardback |
| EAN/UPC | 9780300165098 |
| Dimensions | 9.5 X 6.5 X 0.9 inches | 1.1 pounds |
About the Author
Reviews
--Carl R. Holladay
"Early Christian accounts of the life and teachings of Jesus, however else they may be labeled, are narratives of a remembered past told to shape a community's future, historiography broadly construed. Eve Marie Becker poses large questions about that literature, such as how memory works and what purposes it serves, how history relates to mythology, how time is construed and manipulated in narrating the past. This book will no doubt stimulate debate and renewed reflection on how early Christian texts relate to their literary context."--Harold Attridge, Yale University
--Harold Attridge
"In her excellent book, Eve-Marie Becker combines contemporary research on historiography, memory, rituals and visualization with ancient Biblical, Jewish, Christian and Pagan Texts. Becker illuminates the earliest history of Christian historiography in a fresh and enlightening way."--Christoph Markschies, Humboldt-University Berlin
--Christoph Markschies
"This fascinating study provides an innovative overview of the origins of Christian thinking and writing about history. Eve-Marie Becker insightfully manages to unfold the processess that brought about the transformation of memories into the narratives of Mark to Luke-Acts."--Doron Mendels, author of Memory in Jewish, Pagan and Christian Societies of the Graeco-Roman World
--Doron Mendels
"This is the first book in which the birth of Christian history is elucidated by comparing the narratives of the Gospels and Luke Acts with the cutting edge insights of modern Anglo-Saxon and German historiography. Eve-Marie Becker's book will be indispensable for all students of emerging Christianity."--Jan N. Bremmer, University of Groningen
--Jan N. Bremmer
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