The christological narratives The Gospels as literature

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Jean-Nöel Alett

Abstract

The author of this essay tries to compare the Gospels with the Roman and Greek literature of the first century. He shows that from the very beginning the Gospels were never considered as genuine literary works. They never pretended to be so in those days as their language did not have the refined requirements to be treated as such by the contemporary cultivated people. We are, therefore, entitled today not only to go beyond their similarities with other contemporary biographies but to discover in their pages a genuine renovation of the biographical genre and a new way to express the truth concealed in this kind of texts. A new hermeneutic space was, indeed, created with them.

Keywords:
Bible and literature Gospels Christ Religion

Article Details

Author Biography

Jean-Nöel Alett, Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana

Jesuita. Doctor en Sagrada Escritura del Instituto Bíblico de Roma. Profesor en el Instituto bíblico de Roma. Entro otros ha publicado: Saint Paul, Epître aux Ephésiens, Ed. Gabalda, coll. «Etudes bibliques», Paris 2001, 352 p.; Israël et la loi dans la lettre aux Romains, Les éditions du Cerf, coll. «Lectio divina», Paris 1998, 320 p.; Quand Luc raconte : le récit comme théologie, Cerf, coll. «Lire la Bible n° 115», Paris 1998, 302 p.; Jésus-Christ fait-il l’unité du Nouveau Testament ?, Desclée, coll. «Jésus et Jésus-Christ n° 61», 1994, 296 p. Tradujo del original francés: Oscar Londoño Builes.