Abstract
Despite initial appearances, Jesus' debate with the Sadducees over the resurrection of the dead does have good reason for being considered authentic. The pericope is clearly not a pure creation by Mark. Indeed, the criteria of discontinuity and coher ence argue for a basic historicity. The pericope is discontinuous (1) with the ten dency of the synoptic tradition to multiply dispute stories involving Pharisees, not Sadducees; (2) with the topics usually handled in dispute stories; (3) with the way Christians trcated and grounded the general resurrection; (4) with the texts used by Jews to ground the resurrection. While the general resurrection was not a direct topic of Jesus' preaching, it does cohere with and is implied hy some of his escha tological pronouncements: e.g. Mt. 8.11 par.; Lk. 14.14; Mt. 11.21-24 par.; Mt. 12 41-42 par.; Mk 9.43-47 par.; Mk 14.25.
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