Did Early Christian Communities Write the Gospels? | Robyn Faith Walsh

Did Jesus exist as a historical figure? Who wrote the Gospels? And are modern scholars still influenced by assumptions inherited from nineteenth-century Germany?In this episode, New Testament scholar Robyn Faith Walsh discusses some of the most important questions surrounding the origins of Christianity, Gospel authorship, and historical method.Drawing on her influential work on the social world of early Christian literature, Walsh challenges the traditional view that the Gospels emerged from distinct Christian communities preserving oral traditions. Instead, she argues that the Gospel authors were educated literary figures operating within the broader intellectual culture of the Greco-Roman world.Topics discussed include:• The historical Jesus and the evidence for his existence• Who wrote the Gospels• Dating the New Testament texts• The "community model" of Gospel origins• German Romanticism and its influence on biblical scholarship• Oral tradition versus literary creativity• Paul and the earliest Christ groups• Early Christian diversity• Marcion and the Pauline tradition• Martyrdom, persecution, and the Roman Empire• Mara bar Serapion and non-Christian evidence for Jesus• The strengths and weaknesses of modern Gospel methodology• The most significant developments in biblical studiesRobyn Faith Walsh is Associate Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at the University of Miami and the author of The Origins of Early Christian Literature. Her research focuses on the literary culture of the ancient Mediterranean world and the social context of early Christian texts.For early access to interviews, bonus content, and to support the show, visit LogosLeaper on Substack.