The Oldest Gospel: A Missing Link in New Testament Scholarship

This book is about Jesus Christ and claims to be the oldest published account of his life. It was part of a collection that included ten letters supposedly written by the apostle Paul, who praised it with the words: “If anyone proclaims to you a Gospel contrary to what you received, let that one be accursed!” (Galatians 1:9). It is attested as early as the second century, but nobody knows who the author was, and its relationship to the four canonical gospels of the New Testament is not yet fully understood. In scholarly literature, it is often referred to as the “Marcionite Gospel.” Throughout the centuries, numerous attempts at reconstructing its text were undertaken, but few with the painstakingly detailed effort of Matthias Klinghardt, Professor of New Testament at the University of Dresden, Germany. He critically assessed the quotes, evaluated textual variants, and produced a critical edition of the Greek text for scholarly use. His translation is reprinted here with the permission of the publisher (Peeters Publishers, 2021) for the benefit of those who don’t have access to the scholarly tome. First published in 2018, this second edition provides numerous improvements. Specifically, the text now lists chapter and verse numbers and headings to facilitate quotations. Matthias Klinghardt added a brief introduction and a table comparing the structure and content of the Gospel with the Gospel according to Luke.