Whose Outline Templates Did The Gospel Writer Use?

 Whose Outline Templates Did The Gospel Writer Use?

February 28, 2022

Brett Todd

I’m sure you have all had to write an essay outline a time or two in grade school.  I think it was mandatory for every student to learn how to create a template.  You know, “Introduction, Thesis Statement, Body, Conclusion.  After that, writing was kind of like filling in the blanks, so to speak.  Thinking back, I loathed making these templates, I just wanted to sit down and write.

It might be a revelation for you, but the authors of the New Testament also used templates to write their literature.  This is especially true in the Gospel of Mark where you can see almost identical templates used and reused. Although the templates were the same, the author would just fill in the blanks with different names and places to create a completely different story.  Let me give you an example. The underlined items below were the blank spaces filled in by the author of Mark:

     Template Mark 11:1-6 Mark 14:12-16

A    Person (s) two disciples two disciples

B    Command said to them said to them

C    Where go to village go to city

D    Instructions         find colt find man

E    Instructions fulfilled found colt found man

The first story, Mark 11:1-6, is about finding a colt which Jesus would ride into Jerusalem, and the second story, Mark 14:12-16, it is about finding a man carrying a jar in preparation for the Last Supper.  Throughout the Gospel of Mark and the Bible, we find templates that are the same, and yet, the stories are different.

Where do these outline templates in the New Testament come from?  We know many of these templates came from the Hebrew Scriptures (the Old Testament). But there are also possibilities that other templates came from such authors as Homer. Dennis R. MacDonald presents us with a small sample.  Here, Mark 5:1-20 in the story of the demoniac and the swine draws from Homer’s template in Book 9 of the Odyssey to create a new story.  Note the parallel:

Homer's Odyssey	Gospel of Mark
Odysseus reaches the land of the Cyclops with several ships and his 12 followers	Jesus reaches the area of ​​the Gerasenes with several ships and the 12 disciples
Odysseus goes ashore with 12 companions. His other men are supposed to wait in the ship for his return	Jesus goes ashore, his companions are to wait in the ship for his return
He meets a supernatural opponent, the Cyclops Polyphemus	he meets a supernatural opponent, the demons who have occupied a man
who lives in a cave	who lives in "graves"
The Cyclops asks Odysseus his name.	Jesus asks the man his name
Odysseus answers with a play on words, a quantity: "Nobody"	The man answers with a play on words, a quantity: “My name is Legion; because we are many. "
Odysseus defeats the Cyclops	Jesus defeats the demons
Odysseus' men escape over a herd of cattle (cling to the bellies of sheep)	The demons escape over a herd of cattle. "And the devils all asked him and said: Let's go to the swine!"
Odysseus returns to his ship and calls out to the Cyclops who he really is, Odysseus, King of Ithaca	Jesus returns to his ship and calls to the man to praise this benefit of God.

As we read the stories of the Bible, it is beneficial to be aware that these stories are not unique and separate from all other literature.  We know the writers of the New Testament were familiar with Greek and Roman literature.  It is very possible, that the authors of the New Testament drew from some of their thoughts, stories, and beliefs, and yes, they used their templates to create their own stories and writings. 

In our next article, we will look at the question: “What Bible did the early Christians use?