As Humphrey Palmer has rather trenchantly remarked, whether or not the early church was adept at thinking up stories about Jesus to fit church settings, the form critics have certainly been adept at thinking up church settings to fit the stories about Jesus.
— D. A. Carson, 'Redaction Criticism: on the legitimacy and illegitimacy of a literary tool', in Scripture & Truth (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1992), 125, referring to Humphrey Palmer, The Logic of Gospel Criticism (New York: St. Martin's, 1968), 193.This seems to be a fairly widely-known quote which is also referenced by Morna Hooker, Thomas and Farnell, and Craig Evans. If anyone has a copy of Palmer's book, i'd be interested in borrowing or buying it.
