Jesus Tradition, Early Christian Memory, and Gospel Writing: The Long Search for the Authentic Source

Breaking a 200-year impasse on the origins of the gospels

Biblical scholars want to get to the roots of the gospels—the very earliest memories of Jesus and his world. Though scholars know about all the major concepts at work—Q, the Urgospel, priority—it seems like a definitive solution to the Synoptic problem is hopelessly unattainable. Why the impasse? And where do we go from here?

In Jesus Tradition, Early Christian Memory, and Gospel Writing, Alan Kirk guides us through the history o...