On Using Sources in Graeco-Roman, Jewish and Early Christian Literature

The present volume contains a selection of papers read at the ninth international conference of the Leuven Centre for the Study of the Gospels which was held at Leuven 9-11 December 2019 and dealt with the study of sources in Graeco-Roman, Second Temple and early Christian literature. The purpose of the conference was to bring together specialists of source-critical studies in these areas to look for parallels, patterns, and of course also differences in the way written sources are identified, used to explain the compositional history of a work, reconstructed, and generally evaluated as basic material for authors to compose and redact new texts. The essays address three general fields of interest: methodological principles for working with sources; concrete ways of using sources; and hypothetical or fragmented sources. The last one is perhaps the most debated aspect and has led some scholars to abandon the approach as such. The heyday of source criticism seems long gone, at least in biblical studies, but like other methods and approaches, this one too has never completely disappeared from the radar. The hypothetical character of synoptic and other source-critical theories and the finesses of reconstructing an author’s sources remain fascinating issues in which historical, literary, and social aspects come together to shed light on ancient compositional strategies and practices. It is to these issues that this volume hopes to contribute.