Purpose of Gospel of Matthew
A 'gospel' The written gospels have always been of the greatest significance to the Christian church, because they form the principal source of knowledge of the life of the Lord Jesus. The word 'gospel' means good news and the use of the term for a written report about Jesus goes back to the first- or second-generation Christians. It does not so much indicate a literary genre but characterises the contents of the book: good news about Jesus Christ. The gospel describes the good news of how God has realized salvation in and through Jesus Christ.
A matter that is discussed time and again in synoptic studies is the question of whether or not the gospels form a unique literary genre. Although in the past this was rather strongly suggested, scholars have been reconsidering this proposal during the last few years. Aune (1987: 46-76) concludes that the authors of the New Testament wanted to write according to the well-known genre of Greco-Roman biography (cf. Hengel 1983: 223-224). Shuler (1982) even argues for the identification of the gospels with a specific type of ancient biographical literature (encomium biography). This has tremendous implications for our understanding and exegesis of the gospels. The gospel writers wanted to describe a 'life of Jesus'. Of course, it is clear that we are not dealing with a biography in the modern sense of the word: this appears simply from the fact that the evangelists gave their primary attention to the last few years of Jesus' life. Among other things, the gospel writers had a missionary vision in mind with their writings, which explains their relatively extensive treatment of the history of Jesus' passion, death and resurrection. The authors themselves were completely devoted to the person about whom they were writing.
Character and structure The primary purpose of ancient biographies was praise. At times this purpose incorporated apologetic concerns, while at other times imitation seems to have been important to the
A matter that is discussed time and again in synoptic studies is the question of whether or not the gospels form a unique literary genre. Although in the past this was rather strongly suggested, scholars have been reconsidering this proposal during the last few years. Aune (1987: 46-76) concludes that the authors of the New Testament wanted to write according to the well-known genre of Greco-Roman biography (cf. Hengel 1983: 223-224). Shuler (1982) even argues for the identification of the gospels with a specific type of ancient biographical literature (encomium biography). This has tremendous implications for our understanding and exegesis of the gospels. The gospel writers wanted to describe a 'life of Jesus'. Of course, it is clear that we are not dealing with a biography in the modern sense of the word: this appears simply from the fact that the evangelists gave their primary attention to the last few years of Jesus' life. Among other things, the gospel writers had a missionary vision in mind with their writings, which explains their relatively extensive treatment of the history of Jesus' passion, death and resurrection. The authors themselves were completely devoted to the person about whom they were writing.
Character and structure The primary purpose of ancient biographies was praise. At times this purpose incorporated apologetic concerns, while at other times imitation seems to have been important to the