The four Gospels at the center of history
Rosenstock-Huessy considers the four Gospels as the fruit of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the turning point in world history.
This part of the website is under construction, as I am still studying Rosenstock-Huessy’s work “The Fruit of the Lips” regarding the Gospels. This is a small work of approximately 100 pages, which forms part of one of Rosenstock-Huessy’s major works, “The Language of Human Race.” Rosenstock-Huessy considers Jesus Christ as the cornerstone and keystone of human history.
First of all, here is a summary of this small work. It can serve as a reading guide for reading the work itself (available in Dutch as “De Vrucht der Lippen”) and, for the reader already somewhat familiar with the subject, also as a summary thereof. Already familiar: necessarily, a summary is actually too short. The work itself is already very short and concise. It requires more study in itself to understand it properly. Moreover, this little work leads to a number of questions that I will address later on these pages.
1. The meaning and summary of “The Fruit of the Lips”.
2. The questions this raises regarding the New Testament and regarding our current era.
So there is more to come. But here is what is already here.
The question naturally arises as to what Rosenstock-Huessy’s position regarding the Gospels has to do with the state of current Gospel research. That is, in itself, not a monolithic piece of research. New Testament scholars, and not only they, differ considerably in their views on the Gospels. I have personally tried to find a path in this, and that path takes shape in the following eight texts. The first seven texts are quite technical in nature. They are intended to examine the evidential value of the texts regarding the order of origin of the Gospels. This cannot be entirely separated from their place in history, the urgency to which the Gospel responds, and thereby the message. However, those who prefer to start with my interpretation would do better to begin with text eight. That brings together the various insights and reflects my views on this gospel research.
1. The four Gospels at the crossroads in history
2. Butler on the priority of Matthew
3. Farrer on the redundancy of a source “Q” for Matthew and Luke
4. Goulder’s view on Luke
5. Farmer: Mark after Luke
6. One gospel out of two
7. Robinson on the dating of the Gospels, all before 70
8. The message of Mark – for whom and why?
Rosenstock-Huessy is brief: the aforementioned work “The fruit of our lips” comprises less than a hundred pages. What is decisive in this work is that the various cultural currents of antiquity are brought together into a unity that transcends each of them individually. The Gospels, Jesus Christ, is the node from which the different currents of human society are turned towards one another. Here begins the unity of the human race.
I am currently carrying out the following program:
1. Explaining the context of Rosenstock-Huessy’s positioning of the Gospels.
2. Presenting his reading of the Gospels
3. Testing his reading of the Gospels against common and less common views on the origin and message of the Gospels. And vice versa, incidentally.
I have realized part of the program to such an extent that I can publish it on the website.
This part mainly concerns the interconnectedness, origin, and message of the synoptic Gospels.
