The argument of the thesis is, that in the Synoptic tradition Jesus is portrayed as having a broadly sympathetic attitude to the ‘Living Natural World’ and that there is no significant difference in any of the three Synoptic Gospels in the way he is portrayed in this respect. In the thesis, the term ‘Living Natural World’ denotes animals and plants, including domestic animals. (There was no clear-cut division between wild and domestic animals in the Jewish world [<i>m. Kil. </i>8.6]). Since the work covers a range of texts, there is no discussion of historical Jesus scholarship, instead the thesis concentrates on how Jesus is perceived by his followers. The thesis follows the consensus that Matthew and Luke each used Q and Mark, as well as extra material peculiar to themselves. A number of key texts are discussed: these have been chosen to give a balance between those which appear to display a more positive approach to the Natural World, such as ‘the lost sheep’ (Luke 15:4-6; and //) and those which appear to display a more negative approach like ‘the Gerasene swine’ (Mark 5:1-20; and //). Synoptic texts referring to animals are very often figurative references to people. To resolve the tension between the symbolic and the literal, the thesis employs two methods. The historical-critical approach looks at the realities of the living animal or plant and its place in the Jewish world, while the exegetical literary approach examines the text, its context(s), what the symbolism conveys to the reader and the implied attitude contained in the reference to the animal or plant.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:642067 |
| Date | January 2002 |
| Creators | Brown, Christine |
| Publisher | University of Edinburgh |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://hdl.handle.net/1842/19445 |
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