Synoptic-L

Synoptic-L is an academic list devoted to scholarly discussion of the Synoptic Gospels. Its purpose is to provide a forum for questions relating to the exegesis of Matthew, Mark and / or Luke, using and analysing the standard critical tools and methods, with a special emphasis on the interrelationships among the Synoptics.

Those who would like to apply for subscription should bear in mind that Synoptic-L is an academic list and that contributors are expected to be professional scholars or graduate students who are familiar with the sources, tools and methods used in the critical study and exegesis of the Synoptic Gospels. All subscribers are bound by Synoptic-L Protocol when contributing to the list.

Subscribing to Synoptic-L

• You may subscribe to Synoptic-L in any of the following ways:


• Send an e-mail to synoptic-subscribe@yahoogroups.com, briefly mentioning your academic background, professional status, and research/teaching interests.
• or send an e-mail subscription request to synoptic-owner@yahoogroups.com
• or go to the "group info" page at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/synoptic; press the button labelled "Join this eGroup"; then follow the instructions, filling in the requested information.
• As soon your application is approved by the group managers, you will be added to this discussion list and will automatically receive a "Welcome" e-mail with further information.

Note: By applying for membership, all subscribers agree to abide by the published Protocol for Synoptic-L.

• You can unsubscribe from Synoptic-L in any of the same three ways:


• simply send a blank e-mail to synoptic-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
• or send an e-mail requesting removal from the list to synoptic-owner@yahoogroups.com.
• or go to the "group info" page at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/synoptic; press the button labelled "Modify Subscription"; then press the "Unsubscribe" button on the next screen

Sending and Receiving Messages

• Subscribers will automatically receive copies of all correspondence sent to the list.

• If you wish to send a message to the list, it should be addressed to Synoptic@yahoogroups.com.

• NB: Please do not send messages to subscribe or unsubscribe to this address. On subscribing and unsubscribing, see above.

Subject Matter for Discussion

Synoptic-L is an academic list devoted to scholarly discussion of the Synoptic Gospels, the forum for questions relating to the exegesis of Matthew, Mark and / or Luke, using and analysing critical methods like source-criticism form-criticism, redaction-criticism and narrative-criticism, with a special emphasis on the interrelationships among the Synoptics.

Although Matthew, Mark and Luke will be the main focus of attention, it will be legitimate also to ask relevant, related questions concerning texts like the Fourth Gospel and the Gospel of Thomas. Q research is also regarded as a legitimate topic of discussion.

The discussion will relate to the Greek text of the Gospels and competence in Greek will be taken for granted. Although no particular way of representing Greek lettering is stipulated, it is recommended that the b-greek convention be adopted, using upper case transliteration as follows:

Protocol

1. Please keep messages as concise and as relevant as possible. Recipients are less likely to pay attention to an unnecessarily lengthy message.

2. Please quote only the relevant parts of messages to which you are responding. Recipients are likely to pay less attention to your message if they have to re-read irrelevant parts of previous, lengthy messages. As a rule of thumb, avoid quoting more than six lines of a previous message at a time.

3. Consider whether your contribution is relevant to Synoptic-L. Ask yourself whether there is another E-list to which your contribution might better be sent. For more information on similar lists, see The New Testament Gateway: Academic E-Lists.

4. Always re-read your own messages before sending them.

5. If you plan to forward to the list a message that was sent to you privately, first obtain permission from the original sender.

6. Check that you have addressed your Emails properly -- if it is intended for the list, make sure that you have Synoptic@yahoogroups.com in either the "To:" or the "cc." fields. If a message is not intended for Synoptic-L, make sure that you have not addressed it to the list.

7. Make sure that the subject heading is relevant to the content of your message. If you are responding to a minor aspect of a previous message, please change the subject heading.

8. It is essential to provide a full signature for every Email message sent to Synoptic-L. This signature should identify yourself, your address and, where appropriate, your institutional affiliation and homepage. Synoptic-L does not accept anonymous contributions or the use of pseudonyms.

9. Non-academic contributions of any kind are unwelcome on Synoptic-L.

10. Please avoid all critical comments of a personal nature. While the "cut and thrust" of academic argument is welcome, this should never descend into personal attack.

11. Those who refuse to observe these protocols will be warned and, if necessary, unsubscribed from the list.

On-Line Resources for the Study of the Synoptic Gospels

• The New Testament Gateway: Includes pages on:
  • The Gospels and Acts
  • The Synoptic Problem and Q

Synoptic-L Seminars

• John S. Kloppenborg Verbin: On-Line Seminar: this took place from 23 October -- 10 November 2000 and the topic was the book Excavating Q: The History and Setting of the Sayings Gospel (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2000).

Synoptic-L Articles

• Robert J. Derrenbacker, Jr., Review of Allan J. McNicol (et al), Beyond the Q Impasse, presented to the Synoptic Problem Seminar at SNTS, Copenhagen, Denmark, 4-8 August 1998; based on a review published in Toronto School of Theology Journal 14/1 (1998).

• William Farmer, The Present State of the Synoptic Problem, presented to the Synoptic Problem Seminar at SNTS (Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas), Copenhagen, August 4-8 1998.

• Timothy Friedrichsen, Critical Observations on a Team Effort -- Beyond the Q Impasse -- Luke's Use of Matthew, originally given at the Sixty-third International Meeting of the Catholic Biblical Association of America held at Loyola Marymount University, August 5-8 2000. This paper is available in:
  • PDF format (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader -- download for free)
  • MS Word format

• Jeffrey Gibson, Testing Temptation: The Meaning of Q 11:4b: [Pater (hmwn) ... kai] mh eisenegkhV hmaV eiV peirasmon, prepared for the Q Section of the SBL Annual Meeting, Orlando, Florida, November 1998.

• David Seeley, Jesus' Death in Q, New Testament Studies 38 (1992), pp. 222-34.

• David Seeley, Blessings and Boundaries: Interpretations of Jesus' Death in Q, Early Christianity, Q and Jesus, Semeia 55 (ed. John S. Kloppenborg; Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1991), pp. 131-46.

Synoptic-L Archives & Digests

• Yahoo Groups Synoptic-L Archives (1998-2005): this is the archive of all group messages from 1998 to 2005, when the group was hosted at the University of Birmingham but archived by Yahoo!Groups.

• Yahoo Groups Synoptic-LArchives (2005-): the current group archive.

• Also available from Yahoo Groups is a Digest Facility. Press the "subscribe" button and opt to see Synoptic-L messages in a daily digest form. An Email message will then be sent to you daily, by Yahoo Groups, listing the titles of the latest messages and providing a reference to the archive.

Coordinators

The List Owner of Synoptic-L is Mark Goodacre. The advisory committee is Stephen Carlson, Thomas Longstaff and Mahlon Smith.

If you encounter any difficulties connected with this list, please contact Synoptic-Owner@yahoogroups.com