Humor in the Gospels: A Sourcebook for the Study of Humor in the New Testament, 1863–2014

Humor in the Gospels is the most comprehensive resource on Gospel humor to date. Terri Bednarz reviews and critiques a 150 years of biblical scholarship on the subject from little known journal articles and out-of-print books to the most well respected classical works of today. She covers a range of scholarly discussions on the various forms and functions of Gospel humor from frivolity to witty allusions to satirical barbs. She examines the barriers of associating humor with the Gospel depictions of Jesus, the difficulties of identifying humor in ancient biblical texts, and the advances of literary, contextual, and rhetorical approaches to recognizing Gospel humor. This important work includes an extensive bibliography for further study of Gospel humor in particular, and Biblical humor in general.