Endnote 2 – The Gospels

This position was proposed in 1915 by Clyde Webber Votaw (and largely ignored by his contemporaries) in two articles entitled “The Gospels and Contemporary Biographies,” American Journal of Theology 19 (1915), pp. 45–73 and 217–249; later published together as The Gospels and Contemporary Biographies in the Greco-Roman World (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1970). More recent proposals include Charles H. Talbert, What is a Gospel? The Genre of the Canonical Gospels (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1977), and Philip L. Shuler, A Genre for the Gospels: The Biographical Character of Matthew (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1982). For a more recent discussion see Aune, The New Testament, pp. 17–76.