Questions for Research and Discussion

1. How can we go about finding the life setting for the early church with regard to the Gospels? And when we have some idea of this life setting, what bearing does it have on the text itself?
2. While form criticism is more or less ignored in critical scholarship today, what value do you see it still having?
3. What was your first impression of the Evangelists as editors? What insight do you think we can gain from thinking of how they put their Gospels together? How might this help us in preaching, teaching, etc.?
4. What do you make of Richard Bauckham’s argument that the Gospels were intended as universal documents? How might this influence your interpretation of the Gospels?
5. What are the dangers of reader-response criticism? How do you propose that these dangers be mitigated?

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