[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-40990-en":3,"doc-seo-40990-105":30,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":92},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":20,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":21,"is_downloadable":21,"audit_status":21,"page_count":22,"language":23,"language_code":24,"site_id":25,"html_lang":24,"table_of_contents":26,"faqs":27,"seo_title":13,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":28,"read_time":29},40990,1374391974564,"Clementine","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/14000253aa45c000a9e?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1779874745381141002",9,"Religion & Spirituality","The Origins of Early Christian Literature","The Origins of Early Christian Literature argues that the Synoptic gospels should not be understood mainly as straightforward records of intra-group oral tradition spoken for by religious communities. Robyn Faith Walsh instead presents them as creative productions shaped by educated elite cultural producers and literate specialists operating in the Greco-Roman literary world. The study compares ancient literature to bridge the divide between Synoptic gospel research and classics, contextualizing the New Testament through post–Jewish War Judean teaching, practices, and paradoxographical interests.","The Origins of Early Christian Literature  \nConventional approaches to the Synoptic gospels argue that the gospel authors acted as literate spokespersons for their religious communities. Whether described as documenting intragroup “oral traditions” or preserving the collective perspectives of their fellow Christ-followers, these writers are treated as something akin to the Romantic Poets speaking for their Volk – a questionable framework inherited from nineteenth-century German Romanticism. In this book, Robyn Faith Walsh argues that the Synoptic gospels were written by elite cultural producers working within a dynamic cadre of literate specialists, including persons who may or may not have been professed Christians. Comparing a range of ancient literature, her groundbreaking study demonstrates that the gospels are creative works produced by educated elites interested in Judean teachings, practices, and paradoxographical subjects in the aftermath of the Jewish War and in dialogue with the literature of their age. Walsh’s study thus bridges the artificial divide between research on the Synoptic gospels and classics.  \nRobyn Faith Walsh is Assistant Professor of the New Testament and Early Christianity at the University of Miami, Coral Gables. An editor at the Database of Religious History, her articles have appeared in The Classical Quarterly and Jewish Studies Quarterly, among other publications.  \nThe Origins of Early Christian Literature  \nContextualizing the New Testament within Greco-Roman Literary Culture  \nROBYN FAITH WALSH  \nUniversity of Miami  \nUniversity Printing House, Cambridge cb2 8bs, United Kingdom One Liberty Plaza, 20th Floor, New York, ny 10006, USA  \n477 Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne, vic 3207, Australia 314–321, 3rd Floor, Plot 3, Splendor Forum, Jasola District Centre, New Delhi – 110025, India  \n79 Anson Road, \\#06–04/06, Singapore 079906 Cambridge University Press is part of the University of Cambridge.  \nIt furthers the University’s mission by disseminating knowledge in the pursuit of education, learning, and research at the highest international levels of excellence.  \n[www.cambridge.org](www.cambridge.org)  \nInformation on this [title: www.cambridge.org/](title: www.cambridge.org/9781108835305)[9781108835305](title: www.cambridge.org/9781108835305)[ ](title: www.cambridge.org/9781108835305)doi: 10.1017/9781108883573  \n© Cambridge University Press 2021  \nThis publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press.  \nFirst published 2021  \nA catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library.  \nLibrary of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data names: Walsh, Robyn Faith, 1980– author.  \ntitle: The origins of early Christian literature : contextualizing the New Testament within  \nGreco-Roman literary culture / Robyn Faith Walsh. description: Cambridge, UK ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2020. | Includes  \nbibliographical references and index.  \nidentifiers: lccn 2020023256 (print) | lccn 2020023257 (ebook) |  \nisbn 9781108835305 (hardback) | isbn 9781108793131 (paperback) | isbn 9781108883573 (epub)  \nsubjects: lcsh: Bible. Gospels–Criticism, interpretation, etc. | Christian literature,  \nEarly–History and criticism. | Classical literature–History and criticism. | Christianity and literature–History–To 1500.  \nclassification: lcc bs2555.52 .w36 2020 (print) | lcc bs2555.52 (ebook) |  \nddc 226/.067–dc23  \nLC record available at [https://lccn.loc.gov/](https://lccn.loc.gov/2020023256)[2020023256](https://lccn.loc.gov/2020023256)[ ](https://lccn.loc.gov/2020023256)LC ebook record available at [https://lccn.loc.gov/](https://lccn.loc.gov/2020023257)[2020023257](https://lccn.loc.gov/2020023257)[ ](https://lccn.loc.gov/2020023257)isbn 978-1-108-83530-5 Hardback  \nCambridge University Press has no resp","cbCainh0dU0NIZsT","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCainh0dU0NIZsT","pdf",4748916,7,1,248,"English","en",105,"# Preface\n# Introduction: “Diamonds in a Dunghill”: Seeking New Approaches in Early Christian Studies\n# The Paradigm of Exceptionalism\n# Premises and Debts\n# 1 The Myth of Christian Origins\n## Rectifying Our Categories: Terminology, Vocabulary, and Anachronism\n## The Invention of Tradition\n## “Hero-Paul”: A Case Study\n# 2 The Romantic “Big Bang”: German Romanticism and Inherited Methodology\n## Homeric Precursors\n## The Nibelungenlied and the Brothers Grimm\n## The “Primitive” Christians\n# 3 Authorship in Antiquity: Specialization and Social Formations\n## Setting the Stage: Ancient Writers as Literate Specialists","[{\"question\":\"What conventional view does the book challenge about the Synoptic gospels?\",\"answer\":\"It challenges approaches that treat gospel writers primarily as literate spokespersons documenting intra-group oral traditions for their religious communities.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the book describe who wrote the Synoptic gospels?\",\"answer\":\"It argues that the gospels were produced by elite cultural producers and literate specialists, who may or may not have been professed Christians.\"},{\"question\":\"What is the book’s main scholarly goal regarding methods and disciplines?\",\"answer\":\"It seeks to bridge the divide between Synoptic gospel research and classical studies by comparing the gospels with ancient literature and situating the New Testament in Greco-Roman literary culture.\"}]",1783317547,625,{"code":4,"msg":31,"data":32},"ok",{"site_id":25,"language":24,"slug":33,"title":13,"keywords":34,"description":14,"schema_data":35,"social_meta":87,"head_meta":89,"extra_data":91,"updated_unix":28},"the-origins-of-early-christian-literature","",{"@graph":36,"@context":86},[37,54,69],{"@type":38,"itemListElement":39},"BreadcrumbList",[40,44,48,51],{"item":41,"name":42,"@type":43,"position":21},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":45,"name":46,"@type":43,"position":47},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":49,"name":12,"@type":43,"position":50},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/religion-spirituality/",3,{"item":52,"name":13,"@type":43,"position":53},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/the-origins-of-early-christian-literature/40990/",4,{"url":52,"name":13,"@type":55,"author":56,"headline":13,"publisher":58,"fileFormat":61,"inLanguage":24,"description":14,"dateModified":62,"datePublished":63,"encodingFormat":61,"isAccessibleForFree":64,"interactionStatistic":65},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":57},"Person",{"url":41,"name":59,"@type":60},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-07-23","2026-07-06",true,{"@type":66,"interactionType":67,"userInteractionCount":20},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":68},"ViewAction",{"@type":70,"mainEntity":71},"FAQPage",[72,78,82],{"name":73,"@type":74,"acceptedAnswer":75},"What 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