The Son of Man in the Synoptic Tradition

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Westminster Press, 1965 - Bible - 366 pages
The problem of the term "Son of Man" is agreed to lie at the heart of Gospel studies, and Dr. Todt's examination of the evidence is recognized as one of the most important, although controversial, books in the post-Bultmann phase of Biblical scholarship. Now for the first time a detailed analysis is made of the three groups of sayings in the synoptic tradition concerning the parousia, the earthly activity, and the passion and resurrection of the Son of Man. The author shows how the dispute over the messianic self-consciousness of Jesus obstructed the independent problem about the meaning of the Son of Man sayings. He endeavors to establish for each of the three groups of sayings their essential significance and their roots in the history of the tradition, in order to elucidate the Christological meaning of the designation "Son of Man" in the Synoptic Gospels. Here follows a detailed analysis of the "Son of Man" sayings as found in the Marcan Gospel, in Q, in the Matthean Gospel, and in the Lucan Gospel. In each case, the actual Biblical references are given. The author argues that the term "Son of Man" denotes the transcendent sovereignty celebrated in apocalyptic literature, and was not applied by Jesus to himself. It was only the Easter revelation that persuaded at a very early stage, before the oral tradition developed into Q and Mark. This study has led Dr. Todt to conclude that on the one hand the passion-kerygma and on the other hand the "Son of Man" and the Christology of his supreme authority are together the two sources of the Christological discover. "We have arrived at the conclusion," he says, "that there is a Christology in the synoptic tradition the basis of which is not a Christological concept of Jesus' person. This Christology conceives of Jesus' authority on earth. It does not conceive of a transcendent person, the Son of Man as immanent in Jesus." Another valuable contribution of the book is its many references to other scholarly literature, including a new appendix covering recent British work in this field. It also confronts the minister with a challenge: Does his preaching express the spiritual relationship to Jesus' authoritative word which the earliest collection of the Lord's sayings demands? -Publisher

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Contents

Preface II
11
The transcendent sovereignty of the Son of Man
22
The sayings concerning the coming Son of Man in
32
Copyright

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