Intro to the New Testament

Study Guide for Quiz #1

Spring 2004 St. Joseph's University

Reading

Bible: Gospel of Mark, 1 Thessalonians, Galatians, Philemon
Barnstone: Gospel of Thomas, Manual of Discipline 1&2 (pp 208-213), Psalms of Solomon 16 (pp. 253 f), Thanksgiving Psalms (pp. 255-266)
Theissen: pp. 1-81
Handout: Josephus on Jesus

Terms

Diaspora
geniza
halakha
Hellenism
Misogyny (misandry, misanthropy)
myth

Introductory Material

Myth in religious studies
The problems/advantages of theism vs. atheism in approaching the study of ancient religious texts

Canon

Historical development of Jewish Canon Torah (= 'Law' = 'Pentateuch' = 1st 5 books of the Bible) ~ 450 BC

Palestinian vs. Diaspora Judaism?
Christian Old Testament

Note parallel between order of NT books & Christian OT:
Gospels (=Torah)
Acts (=historical)
Epistles (=wisdom)
Revelation (=prophetic)

Dead Sea Scrolls

types of documents
Sectarian
Biblical
Parabiblical
Qumran
May have hid scrolls when the Romans were coming to destroy them
May have used caves as a type of geniza

2nd Temple Time Line

Time Line with dates
Babylonian Captivity
Diaspora
impact on emerging Judaism
Persian Empire
Restoration
Ezra
Alexander
Hellenistic Empires
Seleucid (Seleucius)
Ptolemaic (Ptolemy)
Hellenization
Hellenism
syncretism
Gymnasium
Spread of Greek Language
Circumcision
Antiochus IV "Epiphanes"
Emperor worship
Maccabean revolt
Hashmon (Hasmonians)
Rome
Pompey
Herod
Jesus
Birth of Early Christianity
1st Jewish War
Vespasian / Titus
Bar Kokhba Revolt
Persecution of Christians under the Roman Empire
Constantine the Great
legalization of Christianity

The Synoptic Problem

Terms
epitome
gospel
literary dependence
synoptic
Similarities/differences
92% of Mark in Luke or Matthew
4 unique Marcan pericopes
Matthew and Luke not identical in Marcan parallels
Matthew and Luke often parallel on non-Marcan material
Matthew and Luke each also have exclusive material
Eye-witness variations theory
Not all eye-witnesses report events the same way
similarity of gospels may come from similar memories
Many in ancient world had better trained memories for oral material than do we in our literary culture
Some material verbally identical suggesting literary influence
influence of oral transmission
communication between evangelists (gospel writers)
carefulness in preserving actual words of Jesus
but some verbal parallels are strange use of language
unlikely oral structure even when not words of Jesus
Traditional theory of synoptic dependencies (Augustine)

        Matthew
         | \    'Mk'
         |  \   /
         |  Mark
    'L'  |  /
       \ | /
        Luke
    

Griesbach hypothesis

        Matthew
         | \    'L'
         |  \   /
         |  Luke
    'Mk' |  /
       \ | /
        Mark
    

Matthew + 'Lk' = Luke
Matthew + Luke + 'Mk' = Mark ('Reader's Digest version'=epitome)
Problems with
Two Source Hypothesis

    'L'  Mark 'Q'  'M'
      \   |\  /|   /
       \  | \/ |  /
        \ | /\ | /
         \|/  \|/
        Luke Matthew
    

Hypothetical documents: 'Q', 'M' & 'L'
The nature of Q
M & L may not be documentary
Arguments for 2 source theory
Papias and Hebrew Matthew = Q?
Papias -- early 2nd century
quoted in Eusebius -- Early 4th century
Not clear that Papias is even talking about a gospel
Thomas / 'Q' connection?

Gospel of Thomas

Possible age
Sayings gospel // Q
No birth, passion or miracles
Mostly parallel to synoptics with a few extra sayings
Gnostic influences and possible translation issues
Coptic translation of (mostly) lost Greek original
Literary tendency to overlay new material on old in this period
Saying 114 & gender issues
Rel. to Galatians 3:28?
Jewish views of women in this period
compare ben Sira 25:25 f
Christian view (2nd c. & later) of women as seductresses
some speculation on whether they were even human

Dating the Gospels

Problem of the synoptic apocalypse
If historical reference, the earliest synoptic gospel cannot have been written earlier than ~67 CE
vaticinium ex eventu
If it is just a prophecy, similar to Jeremiah, the earliest synoptic gospel could have beeen written earlier
Details don't always match historical events of 70 CE
In either case, Paul, for example, does not seem to use any of our gospels, even if they existed

Problem of the Historical Jesus

Josephus
Testimonium Flavianum
on James the Just
Gospels as historical sources
most scholars say written at least 40 years after the fact
eye-witnesses scarce or unavailable
problems with oral transmission
transmission variations through interpretation
omission or minimalization of 'unimportant' details
caveats to the above
cultural emphasis on verbatim memorization of oral material
some eye-witnesses around for verification
importance to community may yield carefulness in transmission
Gospels as Christian portraits or theological reflections rather than biographies
reflect needs of target community

Christianities

Jewish Christianity (Judaizers)
Position held by most earliest Christians
Continued to observe Jewish laws, including
Circumcision
Temple sacrifice
Kosher diet
Sabbath observance (on Saturday)
Earliest Christianity seen as
Jewish cult by outsiders (including Jews)
The true Judaism by earliest believers in Jesus
Pre-Christian Jewish Proselytism
Mikva (" baptism)
Hellenistic Christianity
Eventually emerges as orthodoxy
Paul
Born in Diaspora, trained in Palestine
Conservative re. Jewish Christians, liberal re. Gentile Christians
Abrogation of Jewish covenant Law
Includes circumcision, kosher diet, etc.
Does not abrogate universal ethical law (stealing, sexual freedom, murder, etc.)
Libertinism
Jesus' sacrifice eliminates all law