福音書研究の方法に関する一考察

抄録

It is being recognized by some scholars that the method for studying the Gospels must be re-examined today. The same situation is found in the study of the sacred books in general, but the problem seems to be concentrated in the study of the Gospels, because of their special character and the remarkable development in the study of them since the beginning of the 20th century. The purpose of this paper is to point out this problem by reflecting the methods up to now and suggest the coming subjects.
The historical-critical method has made it possible to analyze the Gospels into small traditions, and many propositions have become the hypotheses as a result of it. Then, on the other hand, such a method often permits to adopt unconsciously a simple frame for the interpretation of the history. What appears as the frame, is a formula of the evolution of a formula of the devolution. Both formulas are essentially the same. In the first place, it must be questioned whether the adoption of these formulas is adequate for the scientific study.
The sources of the new methods, which are used by some scholars in the recent Bible studies, are the structuralism and the sociology of the literature. These methods surely explain the important phases of a part of documents and traditions at least. But, as a whole, they only supply the historical-critical method at present, and the priority of the historical approach in the Bible studies has not been changed. Therefore, in spite of questions, the historical approach is obliged to be continued also in the study of the Gospels. Nevertheless, it must be observed in taking the same method that the historical occurrences can be related each other, though they cannot be united in a simple formula. Then thestudy of the Gospels will have a position as a fundamental work in the study of the history of the early Christian literature. The point, which is remarked there, is not only the content but also the literary type as the Gospel.