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Papers by Martin Mosse

This is a book with a double thrust. Dr Mosse presents an unremittingly logical assault upon the ... more This is a book with a double thrust. Dr Mosse presents an unremittingly logical assault upon the Synoptic Problem which develops into a general treatment of the major issues in New Testament history. Repeatedly affirming the testimony of Papias and the Early Fathers, Mosse offers a carefully integrated case for early dates and traditional authorship of the three Synoptic Gospels and Acts in opposition to the redundant hypothesis of Q. This in turn leads into a study of Paul's later career, including a detailed discussion of the dates and provenance of his later epistles.Along the way he addresses cruces such as the chronology of Jesus' ministry in "Mark" and "John"; the day and date of the crucifixion; the identification and dates of Paul's visits to Jerusalem; Paul's ever-changing Corinthian itineraries; the date and addressees of Galatians; and many others. All this is supported by a wealth of reference material including a full chronology of th...

Since there is no evidence at all that Q ever existed, it can play no part in the solution of the... more Since there is no evidence at all that Q ever existed, it can play no part in the solution of the Synoptic Problem, any more than the tooth fairy explains how a child's milk tooth is 'magically' transformed into a coin. It is instead an extraordinarily successful con trick, just like the King's New Suit of Clothes in the fable by Hans Christian Andersen. How successful, is witnessed by the multitudes of scholars who have been taken in by it, completely unaware that they have.

This paper seeks to re-establish the early reign of Claudius [and specifically 45], as the most p... more This paper seeks to re-establish the early reign of Claudius [and specifically 45], as the most probable date of Mark's Gospel, as held unambiguously by the Early Fathers. There is no historical evidence supporting today's fashionable dating in terms of the destruction of the Temple in AD 70. The key lies in Eusebius EH Book II:15-16, a passage commonly ignored by leading scholars today.

Summarises some ot the arguments of The Three Gospels under the headings 'The Alternative to Q', ... more Summarises some ot the arguments of The Three Gospels under the headings 'The Alternative to Q', 'The Challenge to Form Criticism' and 'Relationship of John to the Synoptics'. Includes commented bibliography of essential works.

On the origins and dates of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, and the Book of Acts. Summari... more On the origins and dates of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, and the Book of Acts. Summarises as a coherent narrative many of the author's heterodox arguments in The Three Gospels.

The traditional geometrical definition of pi in terms of circles fails because it gives no indica... more The traditional geometrical definition of pi in terms of circles fails because it gives no indication of its value. Instead of telling us what pi IS (a number), it tells us only one of its properties - what it DOES. A far better definition is given by Leibniz' series, which computes a value. However the value it computes is not that of pi, but of pi/4; and the same is true of numerous other well-known (eg arctangent) formulae. Hence the importance generally attached to pi as the universal constant central to so much of mathematics is not its own, but derives from pi/4, which I call psi. If we then define psi as the sum of Leibniz' series, we can prove the formulae for the circumference and area of a circle from this, thereby making plain the relationships between arcs, angles and radii which are often ignored at this stage.

Our national life will benefit immeasurably from a fresh approach to mathematical education. Thi... more Our national life will benefit immeasurably from a fresh approach to mathematical education. This is true not just economically and socially. For mathematics, properly approached, is a tonic for the brain and a gymnasium for the mind, and possesses an unrivalled capacity for teaching us how to Think.

Mosse's theorem on recurrence sequences, presented as a mathematical conjuring trick.

Books by Martin Mosse

The Synoptic Problem is in large measure the province of ancient history, and a comprehensive sol... more The Synoptic Problem is in large measure the province of ancient history, and a comprehensive solution requires a consideration of both chronology and authorship as well as source dependencies. Tabular and graphical analysis of pericope order demonstrates that both Matthew and Luke used Mark, and suggests that Luke worked from a memorised copy of Matthew. This gives us the priority of Mark as the first Greek gospel. Q falls to Occam's Razor as redundant, vindicating the Farrer Hypothesis (Luke used Matthew). Matthew's first work, preceding Mark, was an Aramaic collection of logia of c.44 resembling Thomas; with this he later conflated Mark to produce his Greek Gospel. Traditional authorship of all four canonical gospels is supported as believed by the early Church. Papias' comments on Matthew and Mark derive from St John the Apostle and are therefore to be upheld, 'John the Elder' being an invention of Eusebius. The 'Little Apocalypse' is strong evidence that all three Synoptics were written before 70, not after. Mark's Gospel was written before Peter's death, not after, and represents his teaching. Examination of Paul's later epistles indicates that he was released without trial in 62 from his first Roman imprisonment, which is one of several strands giving us a secure date of 62 for Acts. All the Synoptics precede this: Luke (60-1); Matthew (late 40s/50s); Mark (45). Paul was later rearrested c.66 in Asia on a capital charge and taken back to Rome, following a prolonged confrontation with heretics in Ephesus which is echoed in the Pastorals. His last extant epistle was Philippians. Appendices comprise a full New Testament chronology, historical summaries of all the epistles and of Paul's three major captivities, a separate chronology of the movements of Peter and Mark, and a survey of the part played by Antioch.

In addition it tackles perennial chestnuts such as the chronology of Jesus' ministry in Mark and John, the day and date of the crucifixion, the identification and dates of Paul's visits to Jerusalem, Paul's ever-changing Corinthian itineraries, the date and addressees of Galatians, and many others.

This book is intended for anyone who wants to learn, or refresh their understanding of, some of t... more This book is intended for anyone who wants to learn, or refresh their understanding of, some of the basic elements of mathematics and how they relate to each other. It differs from conventional texts primarily in terms of the sequence in which its material is presented, and in the connecting threads between topics. Where possible, it seeks to present mathematics in the order in which humankind discovered it, giving passing references to the discoverers of particular branches as it does so, and showing how one discovery led to the next.

As a result, at whatever point a student leaves the course, he or she ought to have acquired a body of knowledge which has a definite beginning and progresses intelligibly towards a definite end.

In particular, we celebrate in this book the Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler (pronounced "oiler") (1707-1783), surely the greatest mathematician of the eighteenth century and unquestionably one of the greatest of all time. As Laplace said of him, 'He is the master of us all.' Euler's celebrated unification of trigonometry, complex numbers, and exponentials, described in his Introductio in Analysin Infinitorum (1744, published 1748), takes us to the climax of this book. In it he brings together the three most fundamental constants around which this book is based:

e : central to logarithms, exponentials and the calculus,

i : central to complex numbers, and

pi : central to trigonometry (and much else).

From this follows what is probably the most beautiful and astonishing equation in all mathematics:

e^i*pi + 1 = 0 or, re-expressed,
e^i*pi = -1

This book attempts to chart the path which leads to that climax.

In addition it touches on the philosophy of mathematics, commenting from time to time on the famous debate as to maths is discovered or invented.