Introduction to the New Testament

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Fall 2009

Wed 11-1

Scott Lewis S.J.

office 922-5474 ext. 256

e-mail scott.lewis@utoronto.ca

 

 

W

elcome to Introduction to the New Testament! The focus of this course is on the various methodologies for reading and analyzing the New Testament rather than theology and spirituality. Why is an introductory course necessary? Can’t we just open the New Testament and read the text as it is? The sad events of our own world illustrate some of the dangers of superficial and overly literal readings of religious writings. Biblical literacy should not be the privilege or duty of a select few, but the right and responsibility of all Christians. The purpose of our study is to provide the tools necessary for an in-depth reading of the New Testament utilizing a variety of methodologies. No one methodology is definitive or exhaustive; each one examines the text from a different perspective and reveals another aspect or layer of the passage in question. Although the material might seem technical and esoteric at times, providing the people of God with a biblical message that is rich, life-giving, and based on a sound understanding of the text is an eminently pastoral undertaking.

 

COURSE DETAILS:

 

Attendance is required – this is an integral part of the course. Please be sure to have read and prepared the material before coming to class.  The questions need not be written – they are to guide your study and reflection. The lecture will be followed by practical application and discussion of the material.

 

The texts we will be using are:

·        The New Testament. A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings by Bart D. Ehrman. 4rd edition. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2007).

 

·        The Historical Jesus: An Essential Guide. By James H. Charlesworth. (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2008).

 

·        The Bible (with the Apocrypha / Deuterocanonical Books). RSV or NRSV versions. Oxford Annotated Edition or SBL Study Edition preferred.

 

·        Gospel Parallels: A Synopsis of the First Three Gospels (5th edition, Nashville: Nelson, 1992).

 

All of these books are available at the Crux Book Store (Wycliffe College). Any additional readings will be placed on reserve in the Regis College Library.

 

These documents relating to biblical studies can be downloaded from:

http://catholic-resources.org/ChurchDocs/

 

·        Interpretation of the Bible in the Church. Pontifical Biblical Commission. (Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1993). 

·        The Pontifical Biblical Commission. The Jewish People and their Sacred Scriptures in the Christian Bible. 2001.

 

Grading is as follows:

·        Terminology Quiz 30%

·        Exegetical exercises 20%

·        Final take-home exam 50%

 

Class assignments and announcements are posted on Blackboard. You access this with your UTORid at portal.utoronto.ca. Since this will be the primary means of communication outside the classroom, it is important that you logon as soon as possible. You will need a University of Toronto email address (only!) and your UTORid. See attached sheet for details. Note that I will not provide assistance for internet, UTOR, or email problems.  My website contains links to other websites helpful for biblical studies: www.newtestamentworld.org

 

Course Schedule – Fall 2009

 

September 16.  Introduction: Reading the Gospels

 

Readings:

 

1.       Bart Ehrman, The New Testament: A Historical Introduction, chapter Chapters 1, 3 and 5.

2.       Interpretation of the Bible in the Church. Pontifical Biblical Commission

 

Questions:

 

1.     Ehrman states that he approaches the New Testament from the historical rather than the confessional perspective (p. 14).  Describe each perspective.  Look at Mark 1:9-15 from both a historical and confessional perspective.

 

2.     How do you define the “Word of God”?

 

3.     What does it mean to say that the Bible is ‘inspired’?

 

4.     What kinds of questions and expectations do you typically have when you read the New Testament? 

 

 

September 23.  The Gospels in their Political and Historical Context

 

Readings:

 

1.     Ehrman, Chapters 2, 4, 16.

 

2.     Charlesworth, pp. 33-61

 

3.     Richardson, Peter, Herod. King of the Jews and Friend of the Romans. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1999. pp 1-10.

 

Questions:

 

1.     What were the chief sects in first century Judaism? What role did they play in Palestinian society?

 

2.     Are there critical problems in taking the portrait of the Pharisees found in the New Testament at face value?

 

3.     Numerous figures were hailed as ‘messiah’, both before and after Jesus. Does this have implications for the understanding of Jesus as Messiah?

 

4.     Describe the ways in which (1) the Maccabean revolt and its aftermath and (2) the Roman occupation and Jewish resistance to it, which culminated in the war of 66-70 CE, helped to shape the world of Jesus and the early church.

 

September 30.  Synoptic Literary Relationship

 

Readings:

 

1.     Ehrman, chapters 7. Review chapters 4 and 5.

 

2.     Throckmorton, vii-viii.

     

Questions:

 

1.     What are the reasons that one must assume a literary relationship between the first three gospels?

 

2.     Examine §§ 6 and 188 in Throckmorton following the pattern we used in class.  In other words, identify all of the agreements and disagreements between all three gospels and between each combination of two.  Explain the patterns of similarity and difference using the two-document hypothesis (2DH).  Assuming the 2DH, how do you account for the Matt-Luke agreements against Mark?

 

3.     Repeat the procedure for § 4 in Throckmorton.  In your analysis, be sure to consider the words “and fire” in Matt 3:11 and Luke 3:16.  What is the source for these words?  In what way do they pose a problem for the 2DH?  How does the 2DH account for such anomalies?

 

 

October 7.  Gospel of Mark

 

Readings:

 

1. The entire Gospel of Mark, preferably at one sitting.

 

2. Ehrman, chap. 6 (“Jesus, the Suffering Son of God: The Gospel According to Mark”).

 

Questions:

 

1.     Look at the prologue (Mk 1:1-15).  What narrative themes are foreshadowed here?

 

2.     Define the messianic secret as the term is used in scholarship and list the passages where you see evidence for this theme.

 

3.     Do you see any development in Mark’s portrayal of the disciples throughout the course of the gospel? 

 

 

 

October 14.  Gospel of Matthew

 

Readings:

 

1.     Gospel of Matthew (preferably in one sitting)

 

2.     Ehrman, chapter 8, “Jesus the Jewish Messiah”

 

Questions:

 

1.     Compare Matthew’s text to the parallel in Mark in the following examples:
a) Matt 3:13-17 (§ 6, Throckmorton)
b) Matt 16:5-12 (§ 120, Throckmorton)
In each case make a note of every change that Matthew makes to his source.  What effect do these alterations have on the stories?  What might these changes say about Matthew’s interests and concerns?

 

2.     Reflect on the portrayal of Peter in this gospel, especially in Matt 14:22-33 (§ 113, Throckmorton) and 16:13-23 (§ 122, Throckmorton).  Use the tools of redaction criticism to reflect on Matthew’s portrait: How does Matthew’s portrayal of Peter differ from Mark’s?  What is Peter’s overall function in this gospel?

 

3.     Reread Matt chapter 18 comparing it to the parallels in Mark and Luke.  Take note of how Matthew collects and recombines material; note what he eliminates and what he alone includes.  What does Matthew accomplish through this editing?  Based on the finished chapter, what specific communal issues do you think he might be addressing? 

 

 

October 21.  The Gospel of Luke

 

Readings:

 

1.     Read the Gospel of Luke in one sitting, and then skim the Acts of the Apostles, paying careful attention to chapters 1-3 and 27.

 

2.     Read chapters 9 and 10 in Ehrman’s The New Testament.

 

Questions:

 

1.     Do you find an overall purpose and structure in Luke 9:51 – 19:44?  Do the stories, parables and teachings in this section display a distinctive theology?  Are they present in the other Gospels?  What sources is Luke using?

 

2.     In what ways is Luke 4:16 – 30 and 24:13 – 35 a summary of Lucan theology?

 

3.     What symmetry or structure do you find in Luke 1 – 2?  What OT allusions do you find and what purpose do they serve?

 

4.     Compare the account of the crucifixion of Jesus in Luke with the other Gospels.  In Luke, how do the words of Jesus differ?  The words of the centurion at the foot of the cross?  How does Luke express his theology in his redaction of the crucifixion?

 

5.     How do Luke’s descriptions of table fellowship reflect the theology of 4:16 – 30?

 

6.     In the Book of Acts, Luke describes Paul’s conversion three times (9:1 – 19; 22: 1 – 21; 26: 12 – 18).  Do these three accounts differ in any way?  If they do, to what purpose?

 

 

November 4.  The Gospel of John

 

Readings:

 

1.     Read the entire Gospel of John.

 

2.     Ehrman, chapters 11 and 12.

 

3.     R. Allan Culpepper, The Gospel and Letters of John [IBT] (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1998), pp. 62-86; 109-120.

 

Questions:

 

1.     Describe the plot of the Fourth Gospel. Note the significance of the “journey motif”, the role of conflict, belief and unbelief as well as recognition scenes.

 

2.     The Johannine Prologue (1:1-18) contains a number of themes that are played out in the rest of the gospel. Identify as many of these as you can. Are there features of the Prologue that do not appear subsequently in the gospel?

 

3.     Analyze John 18:28-19:16a. How is this episode structured? How are Jesus, Pilate and “the Jews” characterized? Is there irony? What difference does it make to the story?

 

November 11.  The Social and Cultural World of the First Century

 

Readings:

 

1.     Malina, Bruce J.  Honor and Shame in Luke-Acts:  Pivotal Values of the Mediterranean World,” in The Social World of Luke-Acts:  Models for Interpretation.  Ed. Jerome H. Neyrey.  Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1991, 25-65.

 

2.     Moxnes, Halvor.  “Patron-Client Relations and the New Testament Community in Luke-Acts,” in The Social World of Luke-Acts:  Models for Interpretation.  Ed. Jerome H. Neyrey.  Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1991, 241-268.

 

3.     Hanson, K.C. and Oakman, Douglas E., Palestine in the Time of Jesus. Social Structures and Social Conflicts. Second Edition. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2008, 57-91.

 

Questions:

 

1.     What does the statement “ancient religion was embedded in kinship and politics" mean?  What are the implications of this for the study of the New Testament?

 

2.     Explain how the social experience and customary thinking associated with honour/shame is part of the meaning of the following texts: Matt 16: 13 – 20, Mark 6: 1 – 4, cf. Matt 5: 3 – 12; challenge/response: Matt 4: 1 – 11, 22: 15 -  22, Mark 2: 1 – 12; purity/pollution: Matt 8:  2 -  4; Mark 7: 1 - 13.

 

3.     Explain how the social experience and customary thinking associated with the patron-client system is part of the meaning of the following texts:  Mark 9:14 – 28, Luke 7: 1 – 10.

 

 

November 18. What Did the Evangelist Actually Write? Textual Criticism

 

Readings:

 

1.     Throckmorton, pp. ix-xxxvi.

 

2.     Ehrman, Chapter 30.

 

Questions:

 

1.     Be able to describe the 3 major text types, Alexandrian, Western, and Byzantine (koine), and be prepared to give the approximate date and text type of the following papyri, codices, and versions: ((75, (45, Codex Sinaiticus, Codex Vaticanus, Codex Bezae, Old Latin (itala).

 

2.     Explain how the principles of the ‘shorter reading’ (lectio brevior), the ‘more difficult reading” (lectio difficilior), and the ‘non-harmonistic reading’ are used to decide which variant more likely represents the better reading.

 

3.     Be prepared to describe the textual witnesses and apply the principles of textual criticism to the following variants:

 

Mark 1:2 (“s” in Throckmorton §1)

Luke 11:11 (“x” in Throckmorton §38)

Matt 8:13 (“c” in Throckmorton §46)

Mark 2:22 (“n” in Throckmorton §54)

Luke 5:39 (“o” in Throckmorton §54)

Matt 6:13 (“f” in Throckmorton §146)

Matt 24:36 (“m” in Throckmorton §221)

Matt 27:49 (“s” in Throckmorton §250)

 

 

November 25.  Whose Exegesis? Feminist, post-colonial, and liberation approaches.

 

Many factors influence how one interprets a biblical text. For instance, one’s racial and ethnic background, gender, social and economic class, and personal experience all play key roles. Everyone approaches the text from a different perspective, and this should not be a cause for concern. What should concern us, however, is elevating any one view of the text to an absolute status. Cultural studies or ideological criticism, which includes feminist, post-colonial and post-holocaust readings, adopts an interpretive stance in which “different tongues engage in critical dialogue with one another.” Once we recognize the presuppositions and presumptions we bring to the text we can begin to experience the richness of other points of view.

 

Readings:

 

1.     Ehrman, pages 395-407.

 

2.     Sandra M. Schneiders, The Revelatory Text: Interpreting the New Testament as Sacred Scripture (San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 1991) Chapter 7: “A Case Study: Feminist Interpretation of John 4:1-42.” 2 copies are on reserve in the Regis library

 

3.     Segovia, Fernando, “’And They Began to Speak in Other Tongues’: Competing Modes of Discourse in Contemporary Biblical Criticism,” in Reading from this Place, Volume 1: Social Location and Biblical Interpretation in the United States, ed. F. F. Segovia and M. A. Tolbert.  Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1995, pp. 1-34.

 

 

Questions:

 

1.     Read the Syrophoenician Woman in Matthew 15:21-28.  How would a non-western interpretation understand the story?

 

2.     Read Luke 10:38-42. What has been your understanding of the meaning of this passage until now? What are some of the other possibilities? Do you consider the text liberating or oppressive?

 

 

3.     How would you define ideological criticism? What are its advantages and disadvantages?

 

4.     Is it possible to read the Bible “objectively”?

 

1.     What do you think is the significance of experience for interpreting scripture?

 

2.     How would you identify your perspective – the lens through which you interpret scripture?

 

December 2. These Four and No More: The Formation of the Canon, Lost Gospels,       and Mary Magdalene

 

Readings:

 

1.     Robert J. Miller, “The Gospels That Didn’t Make the Cut,” Bible Review, August

1993, pp. 14-25.

 

2.     Charlesworth, pp. 15-32.

 

3.     Ehrman chapters 1 and 13.

 

Questions:

 

1.       What sort of information can be derived from such ‘lost gospels’ as the Gospel of Judas? What do they tell us about Jesus?

 

2.       Of what value for Christianity are those works that were excluded from the canon?

 

3.       The present canon reached its finished state after a long period of development. Some that were initially excluded were eventually included and vice versa. What lesson can we draw from this?

 

 

December 9. The Historical Jesus. New Testament Research and the Life of the Church: preaching, liturgy, proclamation.

 

Readings:

 

1.       Ehrman, Chapters 14, 15, 16, and 17. 

 

2.       James H. Charlesworth, The Historical Jesus: An Essential Guide. Pp. 1-15; 62-122.

 

Questions:

 

1.       Apply all the relevant criteria of historical authenticity to the following passages and make a determination about their historical reliability.  Where two gospels disagree explain which version would be considered more authentic than the other.
a) Matt 5:3-12//Luke 6:20-23 (Throckmorton § 19)
b) Luke 12:49-53//Matt 10:34-36 (Throckmorton § 160)
c) Luke 17:20-22 (Throckmorton § 183)

 

2.       Look at §24, 176, 187 – the sections on divorce. How many independent witnesses are there? Using the criteria for historical research, would you consider this an authentic teaching of Jesus?

 

 

3.       What do you see as the most important contribution of historical Jesus’ research?  What is your greatest concern with this field of study?  Try to provide specific examples of gospel texts that illustrate these contributions and concerns.

 

 

December 16 - Final Assignment/Examination

 

 

Logging in to you Blackboard course website
Like many other courses, RGB1501 uses Blackboard for its course website.  To access the RGB1501 website, or any other Blackboard-based course website, go to the U of T portal login page at portal.utoronto.ca and login using your UTORid and Password. Once you have logged in to the portal using your UTORid and Password, you’ll find the link to RGB1501 course website along with the link to all your other Blackboard-based courses.

 

Activating your UTORid and Password

If you need information on how to activate your UTORid and set your password for the first time, please go to www.utorid.utoronto.ca. Under the “First Time Users” area, click on “activate your UTORid” if you are new to the University or “create your UTORid” if you are a returning student, then follow the instructions. New students who use the link to “activate your UTORid” will find reference to a “Secret Activation Key”. This was originally issued to you when you picked up your T-card at the library. If you have lost your “Secret Activation Key” you can call 416-978-HELP or visit the Help Desk at the Information Commons on the ground floor of Robarts library to be issued a new one. The course instructor will not be able to help you with this. 416-978-HELP and the Help Desk at the information commons can also answer any other questions you may have about your UTORid and Password.

 

Email communication with the course Instructor

At times, the course Instructor may decide to send out important course information via email. To that end, all UofT students are required to have a valid UofT email address. You are responsible for ensuring that your UofT email address is set up AND properly entered in the ROSI system. You can do that by using the following instructions:

 

To submit the information to activate your UTORid and Password (see above), you will need to click the “Validate” button. Follow the instructions on the subsequent screens to receive your utoronto.ca address. Once you have your UofT email address go to the ROSI system, (www.rosi.utoronto.ca) log in and update the system with your new institutional email address.

 

You can check your UofT email account from either

1. The UofT home page http://www.utoronto.ca/  (Choose “quick links” - choose “myutoronto.ca” - enter your UTORid and Password – choose “webmail”

Or

2. Via Outlook, Mozilla etc. Visit the helpdesk at the information commons for help with the set up. 

 

Forwarding your utoronto.ca email to a hotmail, gmail, yahoo mail or other types of accounts is not advisable. In many cases, hotmail/gmail/yahoo automatically filters email from any utoronto.ca address into the junk mail folder. Therefore emails from your course instructor will end up in your junk mail folder.

 

You are responsible for:

1. Ensuring you have a valid UofT email address that is properly entered in the ROSI system

2. Checking your UofT email account on a regular basis.