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Mike Duncan argues that the Farrer Hypothesis is the best working solution to the Synoptic Problem in New Testament studies by way of rhetorical theory, as he sees the Synoptic Problem as less about source and textual criticism and more as a writing problem that concerns how and why they were composed The book's six chapters feature case studies of different aspects of gospel rhetoric, such as how the different post-resurrection accounts interact with each other and how the apostles are portrayed from gospel to gospel. These chapters form a collective argument-that the synoptic gospels are competing rhetorical narratives about Jesus, with the authors of Luke and Matthew reacting to previous gospels with the goal of superseding the previously composed versions of Jesus's life. However, Duncan acknowledges that the Farrer Hypothesis has special difficulties and cannot be pushed beyond an educated guess, that the Synoptic Problem remains an unsolvable problem due to a lack of evidence and lost original context, and that it is only a philosophical acceptance of the inaccessibility of a solution that paradoxically allows a frank and unsentimental view of the alternatives.
List of contents
Introduction
Chapter 1: The History of the Synoptic Problem: Preferring the Worst Explanation, Except For All The Others
Chapter 2: Competing Narratives: What Happened After The Resurrection?
Chapter 3: The Farrer Hypothesis, the Universality of Writing, and Unsolvable Problems
Chapter 4: Mark the Originator: John the Baptist and the Invention of the Gospel Genre
Chapter 5: The Rebranding of the Twelve Apostles in the Gospel of Matthew
Chapter 6: How Luke Destroyed the Sermon on the Mount: The Physical Composition of the Gospel of Luke
Conclusion
Appendix: Dating the Gospels
Bibliography
About the author
By Mike Duncan
Summary
Rhetoric and the Synoptic Problem tackles the question of literary relationship between the New Testament synoptic gospels by way of rhetorical theory and criticism. Mark, Matthew, and Luke are portrayed as competing rhetorical narratives about the life of Jesus, with the Farrier-Goulder hypothesis the best working solution.
