REDACTION CRITICISM THE HUMAN AUTHOR

ORIGINS It started in Germany of the 2nd World War. It had 3 founding fathers: Gunther Bornkamm: Matthew. Hans Conzelmann: Luke Willi Marxsen: Mark The three worked independently.

WHAT IS IT? It is a method of analyzing the bible which pays special attention to the communal influence on the biblical authors and the theological input of the same authors in the stories which they wrote. BASIC ASSUMPTION The biblical writers were human, who, although working under the influence of God’s inspiration, were influenced by forces that influence all writers, in general.

TASKS IN THE SYNOPTIC GOSPELS It examines the Gospels in order to identify: The caliber of the writer; The situation of the audience/community; The purpose of writing; The theology of the community; The theology of the writer; and The input of the writer.

THE TRANSMISSION PROCESS There is a big gap between the death of Jesus and the writing of his words and deeds. Initially, these stories circulated orally. In the process some stories were altered to suit the life setting of the community. Some stories were completely dropped out because they were not relevant to the context of the community.

HUMAN WRITERS They were influenced by their educational background. They responded to the problems the communities to which they wrote were experiencing. Their works were not histories. They had personal and theological interest.

5. They made mistakes, edited some stories, or omitted some. 6 5. They made mistakes, edited some stories, or omitted some. 6. They were also influenced by the general beliefs of the world in which they wrote. 7. Although working under the influence of the Holy Spirit, they remained human authors. 8. That is why we do have same stories which are presented differently in the Gospels.

QUESTIONS ASKED Who was the author? What was the identity of his audience? What were the audience’s context and problems? How would Jesus have responded? How did the Gospel author respond to such problems? What words were put in the mouth of Jesus by the writer? Why did he respond in that manner? Did his response help the community?

CHALLENGES It minimizes the inspiration of the stories. It makes the Gospels mere human stories. It diminishes the importance of scriptures. It makes the Gospel stories irrelevant to modern contexts. It is difficult to unearth the exact words of Jesus (Ipsissima verba).