Markan priority
Markan priority, also spelled Marcan priority, is the hypothesis that the Gospel of Mark was written before Matthew and Luke. It dismisses the Augustinian hypothesis, which holds that Matthew was the first Gospel, written by Matthew the Evangelist, and that Mark amplified some of the material in Matthew with additional details.
Copying fatigue
In several passages of the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke they appear to make more precise a reference made by the Gospel of Mark, such as the official title Herod as a "tetrarch" rather than "king", but apparently due to fatigue in copying the other Gospels later appear to copy the Gospel of Mark directly despite being inconsistent with the initial precision.[1]
Presented external evidence against Markan priority
Beginning in the 19th century Heinrich Julius Holtzmann, together with other German scholars, abusing the literary tools of historical-critical methods in opposition to Augustinian tradition, declared on their authority as German scholars that Mark's Gospel was the first to be written down, about A.D. 50. This theory is called "Markan priority," and it was aggressively spread as part of Bismarck's anti-Catholic 'Kulturkampf' policy.[2] This view is widely held by liberal biblical scholars in German and English speaking countries. In the United States acceptance of Markan priority has often been a test of the "academic competency" of those faculty members who teach biblical studies.[3]
Markan priority has lately come under more exacting scrutiny by textual critics who have found little substantial basis for continuing to maintain that Mark was written before Matthew.
References
- â See Mark Goodacre, "Fatigue in the Synoptics"
- â Kulturkampf and the Gospel, by John Beaumont
Church in History. The ChurchinHistory Information Centre. BISMARCK AND THE FOUR GOSPELS 1870 - 1914, by William R. Farmer (University of Dallas) Editor of A NEW CATHOLIC BIBLE COMMENTARY. The theory that Mark's Gospel was published before Matthew's is widely held in German and English speaking countries. This article shows how this theory, with little supporting evidence, came to be spread as part of Bismarck's anti-Catholic 'Kulturkampf' policy. BIBLIOTHECA EPHEMERIDUM THEOLOGICARUM LOVANIENSIUM. THE FOUR GOSPELS. 1992 (churchinhistory.org) - â Mark's Gospel--Prior or Posterior?: A Reappraisal of the Phenomenon of Order, By David Neville
See also
External links
- Markan priority summarized
- Gospel of Matthew in Hebrew: Marcan Priority Claim Invalid (google.com)
- What are the arguments in favor of Matthean priority? (hermeneutics.stackexchange.com)
- Marcan Priority (wow.com) examines both sides of the debate, gives evidence supporting rejection of Marcan priority in favor of Matthean priority, discusses Mark as posterior to both Matthew and Luke.