James R. Edwards (born 1945) is an American theologian and New Testament scholar. His primary research interests include Biblical studies and the history of the early church, with secondary interests in the Reformation and history of the twentieth-century German Church struggle. After earning degrees from Whitworth University, Princeton Theological Seminary, and Fuller Theological Seminary, and pursuing additional study at the University of Zürich and the University of Tübingen, Edwards taught at Jamestown College for nearly 20 years. He joined Whitworth's faculty in 1997, later holding the Bruner-Welch Endowed Chair of Theology. He continues to serve as professor emeritus of theology.
The Hebrew Gospel and the Development of the Synoptic Tradition In 2009, Edwards advanced a controversial theory that the synoptic Gospels are partly dependent on the "Hebrew Gospel", which includes the Gospel of the Hebrews, a syncretistic Jewish–Christian text believed by most scholars to have been composed in Koine Greek, the Hebrew Gospel hypothesis of Lessing and others, and traditions of a writing of Matthew's supposed to have been written by him “in the Hebrew language” (Papias) and Hebrew Gospel of Matthew, 1385, a rabbinical translation of Matthew's gospel.The Whitworthian Monday, November 23, 2009 "Professor's book 'controversial' - News "Edwards said the Hebrew Gospel has remained largely unstudied in the theological world and, in his opinion, has been scandalously overlooked. "Most scholars don't know much about the Hebrew gospel and many deny that it existed," he said. Throughout history, Edwards said, Christians have been hesitant to accept a Hebrew ancestor to the gospels. The theory of the Hebrew Gospel is still unpopular with many in the theological world. Though no copies of the Hebrew Gospel are known to exist, Edwards' research and study of ancient manuscripts has convinced him to believe unwaveringly that it once did. "We know [the Hebrew Gospel] did exist because it was referred to about 100 times in the first nine centuries of Christianity," he said."The Whitworthian FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 2010 Whitworth professor of theology releases groundbreaking new book about the gospels - James Edwards challenges long-held "Q hypothesis," asserts existence of a Hebrew gospelDallas Theological Seminary review Edwards argues that patristic citations from "the Hebrew Gospel" correlate more distinctly and repeatedly with sections called "Special Luke" in the Gospel of Luke than with either the Gospel of Matthew or the Gospel of Mark.James R. Edwards - The Hebrew Gospel and the Development of the Synoptic Tradition 2009 "In Chapters Two and Three I attempt to show that when the fathers actually quote from the Hebrew Gospel the quotations correlate more distinctly and repeatedly with Special Luke than with either Matthew or Mark. The fourth chapter shifts from a survey of the patristic tradition to a detailed discussion of Lukan Semitisms in which the above thesis is argued on the dual basis of philological evidence in Luke and the testimony of the prologue."
Two separate reviews were published by the Society of Biblical Literature in which the reviewers were not convinced of Edwards' thesis. John S. Kloppenborg also reviewed Edwards' thesis negatively.
Edwards also rejects the modern division, by Schneemelcher and others, of the Jewish-Christian Gospels' fragments into three or more separate lost Gospels.
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Other books
——— (2019). Between the Swastika and the Sickle: The Life, Disappearance, and Execution of Ernst Lohmeyer. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans. . ——— (2021). From Christ to Christianity: How the Jesus Movement Became the Church in Less than a Generation. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic. . ——— (2026). In the Beginning. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans. .
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