The Making of the New Testament Documents: (39 Biblical Interpretation Series)

The Making of the New Testament Documents investigates literary tradition and their implications for the authorship, origin and dating of the New Testament Gospels and letters. Building upon earlier research, it identifies and compares preformed pieces that, in the letters, call into question the traditional view that the letters were the sole product of an individual whose authorship could be vetted by internal criteria of vocabulary, style and theological expression. The numerous and diverse epistolary traditions, many non-authorial, argue for a kind of corporate authorship, that until now has been unappreciated and apparently unknown to critical scholarship. A comparison of the traditions, and of the common opposition they sometimes have in view, supports a synchronic relationship of the various New Testament documents, all of which with the exception of John's Gospel and letters reflect the pre-AD 70 period. It thus challenges the tradition of F.C. Baur, still widely followed, that apart from a few Pauline letters, dates New Testament writings from the last decades of the first century to the first half of the second. The author contends that the New Testament is the product of four contemporaneous and cooperating apostolic missions, each of which produced a Gospel and a number of letters and each of which faced the same judaizing-gnosticizing countermission. These four allied missions shared both Gospel and epistolary traditions even as they pursued their discrete tasks in the service of the church. The arguments of this book, if persuasive, will require a reassessment of the history of early Christianity. This publication has also been published in paperback, please click here for details.

About the Author :
E. Earle Ellis, is Research Professor of Theology, Southwestern Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas, has authored The Old Testament in Early Christianity (1992), Paul's Use of the Old Testament (1991), and Prophecy and Hermeneutic (1993).

Review :
'This book deserves to be read by any who are interested in the study of the origins of the NT and who posses the intellectual integrity to interact with arguments that may force them to abandon long-cherished views on the literary history of its documents.' Eckhard Schnabel, Bulletin for Biblical Research, 2002. 'The book is a monumental achievement, built on a lifetime of research and thought.' C.F.D. Moule, The Journal of Theological Studies, 2001. 'This is a detailed and methodical study displaying a masterly level of scholarship.' Edward Adams, The Expository Times, 2000. 'This is a remarkable book that has tremendous implications for biblical scholarship…' Cory J. Hailey, SBC Life, 2000. ‘Ellis’s arguments are strong, provocative and worthy of further exploration. His paragdim may revolutioniz critical New Testament studies.’ J.M. Givens, Review and Expositor, 2001.