A Dynamic Analysis of the Production of Gospel Texts

 

Author:HOU Chunlin, Associate Professor, School of Chinese Language and Literature, Institute of Comparative Literature and Culture, Henan University

Abstract:


The Gospel was never a ready-made text, but was formed through an extremely complex, dynamic process, with stages of writing, canonization, copying and revising. In light of the western Marxist theory of Textual Production, the production process of the Gospel can be divided into two periods, according to the different type of production mechanism: manual duplication and mechanical duplication. Analysis shows that whether by manual reproduction or mechanical reproduction the Gospel has been adulterated with a variety of ideological elements during the process of text generation, and subtle changes in the text have exerted a particular ideological effect in history. The confrontation and reconciliation between different ideologies led to a series of important theological disputes, which were important in the construction and shaping of early Christianity, and are vividly seen in the early dynamic formation of the Gospel texts.



Keywords:

Gospel, text production theory, ideology, canonization, transmission of ancient text


Full Text (International Version):

HOU ChunlinSCN JSCC.pdf

Full Text (Simplified Chinese Version):

HOU ChunlinSCN JSCC.pdf