Augustinian hypothesis
Augustinian Proposal | |
Theory Information | |
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Order | Matt Mark Luke |
Additional Sources | Preaching of Peter |
Gospels' Sources | |
Mark | Matt, preaching of Peter |
Luke | Matt, Mark |
Theory History | |
Proponents | Augustine of Hippo |
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Augustine of Hippo |
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Augustinianism |
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The Augustinian hypothesis (sometimes referred to as the Augustinian Proposal) is a solution to the
The Augustinian hypothesis addresses certain fundamental points of contention surrounding the
The main two areas of contention within the Augustinian community are whether Matthew was originally written in
Origin
The hypothesis takes its name from Augustine of Hippo, an early 5th century bishop and church father, who wrote: "Now, those four evangelists whose names have gained the most remarkable circulation over the whole world, and whose number has been fixed as four, ...are believed to have written in the order which follows: first Matthew, then Mark, thirdly Luke, lastly John." And: "Of these four, it is true, only Matthew is reckoned to have written in the Hebrew language; the others in Greek. And however they may appear to have kept each of them a certain order of narration proper to himself, this certainly is not to be taken as if each individual writer chose to write in ignorance of what his predecessor had done..."[1]
Mark was famously dubbed by Augustine as "pedissequus et breviator Matthaei", the attendant and abbreviator of Matthew,[1] in direct contrast to the view most commonly held in academia today, that Mark's gospel was the earliest. Augustine also discussed the commonalities between the Synoptic Gospels, including the identical language found in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Augustine was not the first to articulate this view, as Irenaeus and Origen, among others, shared this ordering. However, Augustine is the earliest extant author to give a detailed scholarly textual analysis of the three texts' interdependence, and to articulate a theory for the express purpose of explaining this fact.
Ancient tradition
The Church Fathers who wrote about the order and authorship of the canonical gospels all supported some basic ideas of the Augustinian hypothesis. The fathers whose writings survive and who wrote about authorship are almost unanimous in agreement that Matthew the apostle was the author, wrote first, and did so for the Hebrews in their language.[2] A number of sources in antiquity asserted that Mark wrote his Gospel after Matthew based on the preaching of Peter. Various elements of this tradition are found in the writings of Irenaeus,[3] Origen,[4] Eusebius,[5] and others.
The text of the Gospel itself circulated with a title "According to Matthew", a tradition indisputably acknowledged before the close of the 2nd century.[6] In addition, the title "According to Matthew" is found in the earliest manuscripts.[7] A number of scholars have argued that the title must be dated no later than 125.[8] Many contemporary scholars, however, believe it was originally anonymous.[9]
The earliest surviving references to the gospel tradition are quoted by Eusebius (lived c. 263–339 CE), and different but related traditions appear in the works of Papias (wrote during the first half of 2nd century CE) and the works of Clement. A third ancient source, Irenaeus, also provides further information about the traditions, especially that of Papias, and possibly adds a third related tradition to the sources. These related traditions generally agree on the primary points of contention within the Augustinian hypothesis, though not without discrepancies. Rather than seen as a refutation to the hypothesis, instead these discrepancies are often cited in defense of the hypothesis[10] because they counter the argument that the entire tradition is merely a repetition of Papias's original assertion (therefore, if he were wrong, the great many historical sources supporting the theory would be inconsequential). Instead, slight disagreement is actually in favor of multiple, near identical traditions.
Papias
According to Irenaeus, Papias was "a hearer of John and a companion of Polycarp, a man of primitive times," who wrote a volume in "five books."[11] The benefit of historical immediacy, as argued by D. H. Fischer is one of the key determinants of historicity, and the church father Papias is a very early source in regard to testimony that the Matthew wrote his gospel first. Papias wrote that: "Matthew compiled the sayings in the Hebrew language, and everyone translated them as well he could."[12] (The 'Hebrew language' referred to by Papias has often been interpreted as Aramaic.)
It has been argued, because Papias does not cite an authority for his assertions concerning Matthew but does concerning Mark, that Matthew was already fully accepted at the time of his writings.[13]
Clement
Eusebius also recorded an important tradition from Clement of Alexandria (died c. 213):
In the same volumes Clement has found room for a tradition of the primitive authorities of the Church regarding the order of the gospels. It is this. He used to say that the earliest gospels were those containing the genealogies [Matthew, Luke], while Mark's originated as follows: When, at Rome, Peter had openly preached the word and by the Spirit had proclaimed the gospel, the large audience urged Mark, who had followed him for a long time and remembered what had been said, to write it all down. This he did, making his gospel available to all who wanted it. When Peter heard about this, he made no objection and gave no special encouragement. Last of all, aware that the physical facts had been recorded in the gospels, encouraged by his pupils and irresistibly moved by the Spirit, John wrote a spiritual gospel.[14]
This source claims multiple authorities of antiquity, not merely Papias; this is taken as evidence against the view that the testimony of the Fathers is based solely upon the witness of Papias. Furthermore the tradition of Clement concurs with the significant point of contention: Matthean priority. However, Clement conflicts with the Augustinian hypothesis concerning the order of Mark and Luke. The
Irenaeus
Irenaeus, who was familiar with the work of Papias and who knew Polycarp and possibly even the apostle John, wrote: "Now Matthew published also a book of the Gospel among the Hebrews in their own dialect, while Peter and Paul were preaching the gospel in Rome and founding the Church."[15]
Irenaeus gives here another tradition in accord with Papias, though containing more information. This has been taken as evidence of a third, yet harmonious tradition.[16] However, Irenaeus places the composition of Mark after Peter's death, while Clement (and others, such as Origen and Eusebius) claimed Peter was alive and approved the work. Nonetheless, because the Augustinian hypothesis does not address whether Peter was alive at the time of the composition of Mark or not, this discrepancy is not a basis for objection to the theory.
An original Aramaic version of Matthew does not exist in the sense that no copy survives in the original language today. Many proponents of the Augustinian hypothesis hold that the current
, and others in agreement.Augustinian revival
The Augustinian position, and the similar Griesbach hypothesis, has drawn recent interest, especially from
Butler argued that accepting the priority of Matthew rendered it possible to dispense with the hypothetical Q document altogether, a position he supported by arguments concerning the inadmissibility of appealing to Q as a sound explanation of the cases where Matthew appears to be more original than Mark.
Likewise it has been pointed out that differences between the Synoptic Gospels are as easily explained by differing purposes of the authors than by forced redactions or omissions due to ignorance.[21] Furthermore, against certain arguments that the “primitiveness” of the ideas within the Gospels is the determining factor in their literary interdependence,[22] it is observed that defining "primitiveness" carries obvious difficulties.[23]
Farmer argued that a modification of the Augustinian hypothesis the so called Two-gospel hypothesis, ordering Matthew-Luke-Mark, eliminated all reasons for the existence of Q, a position whose credibility was conceded by W.C. Allen and others.[24] Bernard Orchard also developed the Two-gospel hypothesis and suggested a plausible historic scenario that merged its ideas with the historic evidence that underlines the Augustinian hypothesis.
Modern position in detail
Recently, modern scholars accepting some form of the Augustinian hypothesis have attempted to develop a detailed argument explaining the theoretical origin of the gospels. There was a perceived need for this in response to recent competing theories, expressed by Bernard Orchard: “the two-document hypothesis and the priority of Mark are still only hypotheses, not infallible dogmas, and they have stood secure for so long chiefly because no one has been able to offer any satisfactory alternative."[25] Central to this process is the assumption that the gospel's development should be understood as a reaction to various developing needs of the early church.[26]
John Wenham argued that, in the early Jerusalem Church, there would have been an early need for the production of a written record to augment the "atmosphere of spontaneity" within which the apostles, disciples, and eyewitnesses would have given instruction. The reasons for this, he asserted, were: the need for instruction when no qualified teacher was available, the need for consistency and accuracy in what was taught as it spread throughout the first scattered Christian communities, and for the basic need of evangelization.[27] Wenham also argued that Matthew was a natural choice since, as a tax collector,[28] he would have had the requisite literacy, as well as his first hand memories, and perhaps even notes.[29] Others have observed that persecutions in Palestine, threatening dispersion of the Christians, would have been a motivating factor for a text of the life of Jesus.[30]
The majority Hebrew makeup of the primitive Church has been seen as support of Aramaic primacy.
Bernard Orchard identified the above period as a "first phase" of the development of the Gospels, distinguished from the subsequent phase by the events of the year 42:
- A savage persecution of the Church, begun by Herod Agrippa I in AD 42, was the signal for the dispersion of the apostles now possessing in the Gospel of Matthew the necessary tool to support and confirm their preaching, while at the same time preserving their theological unity. The first phase was completed, and the second phase of the Church's expansion was about to begin with the mission of Paul.[32]
Central to Orchard's characterization of this new second phase is the distinction between a primarily Hebrew orientation and a primarily Greek orientation, focusing not only on the Jewish converts to Christianity, but to the gentile converts as well. This, he argues, resulted in three key events: the translation of the original Matthew into Greek, the production of the Gospel of Mark within the context of Peter's preaching to Greek speaking converts in Rome, and Luke's authorship of his Gospel under the instruction of Paul. Cited in support of this are the comments of Clement,[33] Irenaeus,[34] and others who state that the Gospel of Mark was written by Mark, a follower of the apostle Peter,[35] based on his speeches. Orchard countered the claim that the Gospel of Mark must have been written first, since it contains less information than Matthew and Luke, by positing that Peter elected not to speak on certain subjects, such as the birth and resurrection narratives, since he had not been a direct witness of those events.
The notion that Peter employed Matthew in his preaching was supported by B.C. Butler, but not by John Wenham, who instead explained the similar structure by arguing simply that Mark used both his recollection of his instruction from the Gospel of Matthew and his memory of the preaching of Peter to pen his own synthesis.[36]
The association of the Gospel of Luke with
An unusual modern scholar who supported the notion that the Synoptic Gospels were of an early date, specifically before 70, was
- "Robinson places Matthew at 40 to after 60, Mark at about 45 to 60, Luke at before 57 to after 60, and John at from 40 to after 65."[40]
See also
- Farrer hypothesis
- Four-document hypothesis
- Gospel harmony
- Griesbach hypothesis
- Hebrew Gospel hypothesis
- Two-source hypothesis
References
- ^ a b St. Augustine, The Harmony of the Gospels, Book 1 chapter 2 paragraph 4. from hypothesis.com
- ^ John Wenham, Redating Matthew, Mark, and Luke, (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1991) p116.
- Against Heresies, 3.1
- ^ Origen, "As to the four Gospels, which alone are indisputable in the Church of God under heaven, I learned from tradition that the first to have been written was that of Matthew," cited in: Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, 6.25
- ^ Eusebius, "So brightly shone the light of the true religion on the minds of Peter’s hearers that, not satisfied with a single hearing or with the oral teaching of the divine message, they resorted to appeals of every kind to induce Mark (whose Gospel we have), as he was a follower of Peter, to leave them in writing a summary of the instruction they had received by word of mouth, nor did they let him go until they had persuaded him, and thus became responsible for the writing of what is known as the Gospel according to Mark. It is said that, on learning by revelation of the spirit what had happened, the apostle [Peter] was delighted at their enthusiasm and authorized the reading of the book in the churches." History of the Church
- ^ Donald Guthrie, New Testament Introduction (Leicester: Apollos, 1961) p43.
- ^ Nestle-Aland. Novum Testamentum Graece. 27th ed. Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Druck: 1996. p.1
- ^ e.g. J.H. Ropes, The Synoptic Gospels (1934) p103; N.B. Stonehouse, Origins of the Synoptic Gospels (1963) p16; et al.
- ISBN 0-19-515462-2.
- ^ e.g. see this article on The Gospel of Mark
- ^ Against Heresies 5.33.4; quoted by Eusebius, Historia Ecclesiastica 3.39.1.
- ^ cited in: Eusebius, History of the Church, 3.39.15.
- ^ for this and a full discussion of other arguments, see R.P. Martin, New Testament Foundations vol. 1 (1975) pp238-240.
- ^ Eusebius on Clement, History of the Church. 6.14.1.
- ^ Irenaeus, Against Heresies, cited also in Eusebius; trans. D. Theron.
- ^ e.g. J. Munck in Neotestamentica at Patristica (ed. W.C. van Unnik, 1962) p257.
- ^ For Papias, see Eusebius, History of the Church, 3.39.15. For Irenaeus, see Against Heresies, 3.1. For Origen, see Eusebius, History of the Church, 6.25. For Eusebius and Epiphanisu, see below.
- ^ Jerome, On Illustrious Men
- ^ Eusebius. History of the Church, 5.10.3.
- ^ Epiphanius. Panarion, 29.9.4.
- ^ e.g. A. Wikenhauser, New Testament Introduction (English translation 1958) p. 251
- ^ for example, J. Schniewind advanced such an argument in his Das Evangelium nach Matthaus, p. 5.
- ^ Guthrie, p. 173
- ^ W.C. Allen St. Matthew pp. xlvii; see Donald Guthrie, New Testament Introduction p. 171 n 6.
- ^ Bernard Orchard, Matthew, Luke & Mark (Manchester: Koinonia Press, 1976) vii.
- ^ Bernard Orchard and Harold Riley, The Order of the Synoptics: Why Three Synoptic Gospels? (Macon: Mercer University Press, 1987), p. 275
- ^ John Wenham, Redating Matthew, Mark, and Luke (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1991) p. 200.
- ^ Matthew 10:3
- ^ John Wenham, Redating Matthew, Mark, and Luke (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1991) p. 201
- ^ Cornelius a Lapide, The Great Commentary on the Scriptures, trans. Thomas W. Mossman, (London: John Hodges, 1893), p. 36.
- ^ Kevin Cathcart, Martin McNamara and Michael Maher, eds, The Aramaic Bible: the Targums, vol. 1A, trans. Martin McNamara, (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical, 1992), 14.
- ^ Bernard Orchard, in This Article Archived June 30, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Clement, cited in: Eusebius, History of the Church, 3.39.15.
- ^ Irenaeus, cited in: Eusebius, History of the Church, 5.8.2
- ^ 1 Pet. 5:12–13
- ^ Wenham p. 208
- ^ c.f. Harnack, The Date of Acts and the Synoptic Gospels (1911) p. 90; J.A.T. Robinson, Redating the New Testament pp. 86–92; et al.
- ^ Luke 1:1–5
- ^ Wenham, p. 209.
- ^ bethinking.org | Resource: The Dating of the New Testament