Christian Texts and History • Re: How many is many?

Since Luke 1:1 points to a non-canonized text prior to Luke, what was it?

So far I have a few candidates.

• "Proto-Luke" - just a classic generic term from the history of the synoptic problem that takes many forms. This option assumes it doesn't pop up anywhere but as Luke's source. This would make it one of those "hypothetical" sources, except that Luke 1:1 requires something. But it is one of those "shape-shifter" sources, where we have nothing concrete and can shape it however we imagine. As boring as it is, it's unfortunately possible that this source was completely lost except for Luke's knowledge of it.
• "Q" - see "proto-Luke." (We've already counted Mark and Matthew as sources.)
• Proto-Peter - something like this was championed by J.D. Crossan, although today we realize (because of Mark Goodacre) that the cross didn't speak. But it's not crazy. If the Gospel of Peter were post-Luke, then it might have incorporated Luke's third source (not knowing that it would not become canonical...).
• Proto-Thomas - this is a pretty solid option in terms of having another document to work with (Thomas) that may bear some relationship to Luke and that may attest to some of the text that is prior to Luke. And maybe this is Luke's fourth source, but I don't think a sayings collection would be called a "narrative."
• The Gospel of the Egyptians - quoted by Clement of Alexandria. Has sayings in common with 2 Clement and the Gospel of Thomas. Not much extant, but if Thomas also used the Gospel of the Egyptians, that might be interesting.
• The Gospel of the Hebrews - supposedly both Papias and Hegesippus used this one, so it could have been early enough to be Luke's third source. It's a narrative gospel, similar to Mark, Matthew, and Peter.
• The Preaching of Peter - we know that Heracleon and Clement of Alexandria use this text. Note also: "Origen even faces the possibility of its being genuine in whole or in part. The earliest of the Greek apologists for Christianity whose work we have, Aristides, takes a very similar line to the Preaching, and is thought to have used it." (link) I just noticed myself that Aristides (ca. 117-138 CE) has many parallels and is relatively early. Along with the reference from Heracleon as well, more attention might be paid to the Preaching of Peter.
• Papias - it's possible that Luke post-dates Papias and references his books.
• The Gospel used by Marcion - it's possible that Luke references this book.

Perhaps the most interesting items on this list are the Gospel of the Hebrews, the Preaching of Peter and the Gospel of the Egyptians. I haven't seen much by the way of analysis of their relationship to Luke, if any. But there's lots of interesting possibilities here. Any other possibilities that people find interesting?

Statistics: Posted by Peter Kirby — Wed Nov 13, 2024 12:10 am

---