David Laird Dungan was Distinguished Professor of the Humanities and Emeritus Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and a major scholar of the synoptic problem. As a member of the Research Team of the International Institute for Gospel Studies, he was a proponent of the Two-Gospel Hypothesis, also known as the Griesbach hypothesis, which argues that the Gospel of Mark

Gospel of Mark

The Gospel According to Mark , commonly shortened to the Gospel of Mark or simply Mark, is the second book of the New Testament. This canonical account of the life of Jesus of Nazareth is one of the three synoptic gospels. It was thought to be an epitome, which accounts for its place as the second...

 is derived from the Gospel of Matthew

Gospel of Matthew

The Gospel According to Matthew is one of the four canonical gospels, one of the three synoptic gospels, and the first book of the New Testament. It tells of the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth...

 and the Gospel of Luke

Gospel of Luke

The Gospel According to Luke , commonly shortened to the Gospel of Luke or simply Luke, is the third and longest of the four canonical Gospels. This synoptic gospel is an account of the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. It details his story from the events of his birth to his Ascension.The...

, thereby arguing against both Markan priority

Markan priority

Markan priority is the hypothesis that the Gospel of Mark was the first written of the three Synoptic Gospels, and that the two other synoptic evangelists, Matthew and Luke, used Mark's Gospel as one of their sources. The theory of Markan priority is today accepted by the majority of New Testament...

 and the necessity of the conjectural Q document proposed in the Two-Source Hypothesis

Two-source hypothesis

The Two-Source Hypothesis is an explanation for the synoptic problem, the pattern of similarities and differences between the three Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. It posits that the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke were based on the Gospel of Mark and a lost, hypothetical sayings...

.

The son of Presbyterian missionaries, Dungan was born in New Haven, Connecticut, and grew up in Shanghai

Shanghai

Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...

, China (until 1940), and in Berea, Kentucky

Berea, Kentucky

-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 9,851 people, 3,693 households, and 2,426 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,055.4 people per square mile . There were 4,115 housing units at an average density of 440.9 per square mile...

, where he graduated high school in 1953. He earned degrees from The College of Wooster

The College of Wooster

The College of Wooster is a private liberal arts college primarily known for its Independent study program. It has roughly 2,000 students and is located in Wooster, Wayne County, Ohio, United States . Founded in 1866 by the Presbyterian church as the University of Wooster, it was from its creation...

 (B.A. 1957), McCormick Seminary in Chicago (B.D. 1963), and Harvard Divinity School

Harvard Divinity School

Harvard Divinity School is one of the constituent schools of Harvard University, located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the United States. The School's mission is to train and educate its students either in the academic study of religion, or for the practice of a religious ministry or other public...

 (Th.D. 1968). From 1967 to 2002, he was a faculty member in the Department of Religious Studies

Religious studies

Religious studies is the academic field of multi-disciplinary, secular study of religious beliefs, behaviors, and institutions. It describes, compares, interprets, and explains religion, emphasizing systematic, historically based, and cross-cultural perspectives.While theology attempts to...

 at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, teaching courses in Biblical literature, Church history, and images of Jesus. He was also invited to teach at the Pontifical Biblical Institute

Pontifical Biblical Institute

The Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome, Italy is an institution of the Holy See run by the Jesuits that offers instruction at the university level...

 in Rome in 1976-1977 and again in 2006.

He died suddenly on November 30, 2008. He was working on a major multimedia

Multimedia

Multimedia is media and content that uses a combination of different content forms. The term can be used as a noun or as an adjective describing a medium as having multiple content forms. The term is used in contrast to media which use only rudimentary computer display such as text-only, or...

 book project entitled Images of Jesus in Cultural Perspective. Colleagues have assembled a volume honoring his life of scholarship: Resourcing New Testament Studies: Literary, Historical, and Theological Essays in Honor of David L. Dungan, edited by Allan J. McNicol, J. Samuel Subramanian, and David B. Peabody (T & T Clark International, 2009).

Publications by David Laird Dungan

Books Authored

• Constantine's Bible: Politics and the Making of the New Testament (Augsburg Fortress Publishers, 2006).

• A History of the Synoptic Problem: The Canon, the Text, the Composition, and the Interpretation of the Gospels (Yale University Press, 1999).

• Beyond the Q Impasse: Luke's Use of Matthew: A Demonstration by the Research Team of the International Institute for Gospel Studies, co-authored with Allan J. McNicol, David B. Peabody, Lamar Cope, William R. Farmer, and Philip L. Shuler (Trinity Press International, 1996).

• The Sayings of Jesus in the Churches of Paul: The Use of the Synoptic Tradition in the Regulation of Early Church Life (Philadelphia: Fortress Press; Blackwell Publishers, 1971).

Books Edited

• International Bible Commentary: a Catholic and Ecumenical Commentary for the 21st Century, co-edited with William R. Farmer, Dominique Barrios-Delgado, Armando Levoratti, and Sean McEvenue, English language edition (Liturgical Press, 1998).

• Documents for the Study of the Gospels, co-edited with David R. Cartlidge, revised and expanded edition (Augsburg Fortress Publishers, 1994). Originally published as Sourcebook of Texts for the Comparative Study of the Gospels: Literature of the Hellenistic and Roman Period Illustrating the Milieu and Character of the Gospels, co-edited with David R. Cartlidge, Society of Biblical Literature (Scholars’ Press, 1974).

• The Interrelations of the Gospels: a Symposium Led by M É Boismard, W R Farmer, F Neirynck, Jerusalem 1984, Bibliotheca Ephemeridum Theologicarum Lovaniensium 95 (Louvain, Belgium: Leuven Univ. Pr, 1990; repr. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 2002).

Articles and Essays Authored

• "The Bible and Ecology," co-authored with Dan Deffenbaugh, in International Bible Commentary: a Catholic and Ecumenical Commentary for the 21st Century, edited by William R. Farmer, et al., English language edition (Liturgical Press, 1998).

• "What is the Synoptic Problem?" co-authored with John Kloppenborg, in International Bible Commentary: a Catholic and Ecumenical Commentary for the 21st Century, edited by William R. Farmer, et al., English language edition (Liturgical Press, 1998).

• "'Eppur Si Muove': Circumnavigating the Mythical Recensions of Q," Soundings 78:3-4 (1995): 541-570.

• "The Year of Living Dangerously: An East–West Dialectic," co-authored with Linda Ehrlich, The New Orleans Film Review 19.3-4 (1993): 118-124.

• "The Two Gospel Hypothesis," Anchor Bible Dictionary, vol. 5 (New York: Doubleday 1992), 671-679.

• "Response to the two-source hypothesis," in The Interrelations of the Gospels: a Symposium Led by M É Boismard, W R Farmer, F Neirynck, Jerusalem 1984, Bibliotheca Ephemeridum Theologicarum Lovaniensium 95 (Louvain, Belgium: Leuven Univ. Pr, 1990; repr. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 2002), 201-216.

• "Synopses of the Future," in The Interrelations of the Gospels: a Symposium Led by M É Boismard, W R Farmer, F Neirynck, Jerusalem 1984, Bibliotheca Ephemeridum Theologicarum Lovaniensium 95 (Louvain, Belgium: Leuven Univ. Pr, 1990; repr. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 2002), 317-347.

• "Jesus and Violence," in Jesus, the Gospels, and the Church. Essays in Honor of William R. Farmer, edited by E. P. Sanders (Mercer University Press, 1987), 135 –162.

• "Critique of the Main Arguments for Mark's Priority as Formulated by B. H. Streeter," in The Two-Source Hypothesis: a Critical Appraisal, edited by Arthur J. Bellinzoni, Jr., Joseph B. Tyson, and William O. Walker (Mercer Univ. Press, 1985; repr. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 2002), 143-161.

• "Critique of the Q Hypothesis," in The Two-Source Hypothesis: a Critical Appraisal, edited by Arthur J. Bellinzoni, Jr., Joseph B. Tyson, and William O. Walker (Mercer Univ. Press, 1985; repr. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 2002), 427-433.

• "Synopses of the Future," Biblica
  Biblica (journal)
  Biblica is an academic journal published by the Pontifical Biblical Institute. The editor-in-chief is Dean Béchard....
  
  66 (1985) 457–492.

• "A Griesbachian Perspective on the Argument from Order," in Synoptic Studies: The Ampleforth Conferences of 1982 and 1983, edited by Christopher M. Tuckett, Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement Series #7 (Sheffield, England: Sheffield Academic Press 1984; repr. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 2002), 67-74.

• "The Purpose and Provenance of the Gospel of Mark According to the 'Two Gospel' ([Owen-]Griesbach) Hypothesis," in Colloquy on New Testament Studies: a Time for Reappraisal and Fresh Approaches, edited by Bruce C. Corley (Mercer Univ. Press, 1983; repr. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 2002), 133-179. Repr. in New Synoptic Studies: the Cambridge Gospel Conference and Beyond, edited by William R. Farmer (Mercer Uni. Press, 1983; repr. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 2002), 411-440.

• "Theory of Synopsis Construction," Biblica
  Biblica (journal)
  Biblica is an academic journal published by the Pontifical Biblical Institute. The editor-in-chief is Dean Béchard....
  
  61 (1980): 305–329.

• "Survey of Nineteenth Century ‘Lives of Jesus’," Religious Studies Review (Oct. 1978): 113–127.

• "Lives of Jesus Series," review article co-written with James O. Duke, Religious Studies Review 4.4 (1978): 259-265.

• "Albert Schweitzer’s Disillusionment with the Historical Reconstruction of the Life of Jesus," in Perkins Journal 29 (1976): 27–48.

• "Reconsidering Albert Schweitzer," Christian Century 92.32 (8 Oct. 1975): 874-880.

• "New Testament Canon in Recent Study," Interpretation
  Interpretation (journal)
  Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology is an academic journal on theology published by Union Presbyterian Seminary....
  
  29.4 (1975): 339-351.

• "Reactionary Trends in the Gospel Producing Activity of the Early Church: Marcion, Tatian, Mark," in L’évangile du Marc, Bibliotheca Ephemeridum Theologicarum Lovaniensium #34, edited by M. Sabbe (Louvain Univ. Press 1974), 179–202.

• "Mark the Abridgment of Matthew and Luke," in Jesus and Man’s Hope, vol. I, edited by D. Miller (Pittsburgh Theological Seminary Press, 1970), 51–79. Repr. in The Two Source Hypothesis: A Critical Appraisal, edited by A. Bellinzoni (Mercer University Press, 1985).