The formation of the Resurrection narratives

About this book

The palpable inconsistencies--both major and minor--in the Gospel accounts of the Easter events have become for many an obstacle to belief in the resurrection. In order to discover the reasons for these discrepancies and the meaning of the narratives for contemporary faith, the author begins with the earliest record of the Easter tradition in 1Cor. 15, and then applies the tools of tradition and redaction criticism to the Easter narratives of the four Gospels. He reconstructs the history of the tradition from its earliest recoverable form in allegedly factual reports through its successive developments in the preliterary and literary stages. In this process, the author exposes the motivations behind the developments and shaping of the narratives into their final form.