A careful literary reading of the Gospels

PAPER #1: “A Careful Literary Reading of the Gospels”
Using your Gospel Parallels, very carefully read the two pericopes noted below. Then, in considerable detail describe the similarities and differences among the three versions of each story. Finally—and this is the most important part of your paper—develop your own theory which might account for the types of similarities and differences among these stories. You may arrive at more than one possible explanation, and that is just fine. But key here are your explanations of how your various theories make sense of the similarities and differences. Please note: you are to use no sources for this paper other than the scripture passages themselves and your Bible (not the annotations in the margins). This is an exercise in fundamental biblical scholarship, not a research paper. Your paper should be approximately 2-3 pages long.
Of Special Note:
Be sure that you describe the similarities and differences for both pericopes BEFORE you suggest literary theories that might account for those similarities and differences.
Your theories need to account for the presence of both similarities and differences, not only one or the other. However, one way to handle this would be to say that theory x might explain the similarities, but not the differences, or theory #2 the opposite. In other words, show me in writing how you are testing out your theories. By no means should you feel that you must develop a theory that perfectly explains everything, but if it does not explain everything, then you need to say that. What I am looking for is the seriousness of your effort to describe the evidence and to explain why the similarities and differences might be there. Remember that your discussion must be from the historical, analytical perspective, not the perspective of faith. For example, someone might say that one way we might account for similarities is to say that all three authors were inspired by the Holy Spirit. That may well be true (and I think it is), but that is not a historical explanation of the situation. If you do not understand the difference, PLEASE contact me before you write your paper.
Dr. Sang
PERICOPES: p45 (Mt 8:1-4; Mk 1:40-45; Lk 5:12-16) and p53 (Mt 9:9-13; Mk 2:13-17; Lk 5:27-32)
Grading Criteria:
• Detail in your descriptions of both similarities and differences
• Detail in your attempt to explain how we might account for those similarities and differences
• College-level spelling and grammar
Due Date: TBA.

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