REDACTION CRITICISM
John the Baptist: John the Baptist is an important figure in the Gospels. He lives in the desert, wearing animal skins and fasting. He has a huge following and he preaches that Jews should repent their sins; as a sign of this repentance, he baptizes people in the River Jordan. He is executed by Herod Antipas at the time when Jesus began his ministry (perhaps 30-32 CE).
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This passes the criterion of multiple attestation: its in all the Gospels and Flavius Josephus describes John baptizing people in his Jewish Antiquities (94 CE). The criterion of embarrassment makes it likely John really did baptize Jesus (it's embarrassing for the early Christians to admit so they wouldn't make it up) and the criterion of dissimilarity adds to idea that this is a historical event.
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prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit - 2 Peter 1: 21
YES
If we accept that Matthew and Luke adapt Mark, Q and their own special sources, then Redaction Criticism helps us understand why they leave some things in, take other things out and make the changes they do. It credits the Gospel-writers with being artists with a message rather than just regurgitating sources and oral traditions.
There are many puzzling gaps in the Gospels or passages that don't make obvious sense. Redaction Criticism clarifies these passages by looking at the historical context in which the Gospels were written and who their audiences were. It provides the best way of getting back to the 'historical Jesus' behind the 'Christ of faith'.
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NO
Many Christians reject the idea of the Q-Source or Proto-Gospels, arguing there's no evidence for these documents existing. Traditionalists view the Gospels as eyewitness accounts of Jesus' life and Resurrection, not the work of editors imposing their own 'slant' on events they never personally saw
The puzzling passages in the Gospels should be approached with prayer and humility, not by assuming the Gospel-writers are liars. Most of the historical context Redaction Critics write about is pure speculation and there is a strong atheist agenda in a lot of Redaction Criticism to portray Jesus as an ordinary 'man of his time' rather than the Risen Son of God.
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