CHAPTER 3 SURVEYING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE

“Why did Jesus live? What, in other words, about the bit between the stable and the cross? There were, after all, Christmas carols and other hymns that took Jesus straight “from his poor manger to his bitter cross. ” Did it matter that, according to the four gospels, he had a short period of intense and exciting public activity at the latter end of his life? What truth could we learn from it? Why did it have to be like that? Does it matter that he did all those things, that he said all those things, that he was all those things? Would it have made any difference if, as the virgin-born son of God, he had been plucked from total obscurity and crucified, dying for our sins, without any of that happening? If not, why not? ” Excerpt From: N. T. Wright. “How God Became King. ”

Creator of all things, true source of light and wisdom, lofty origin of all being, graciously let a ray of Thy brilliance penetrate into the darkness of my understanding and take from me the double darkness in which I have been conceived, an obscurity of both sin and ignorance. Give me a sharp sense of understanding, a retentive memory, and the ability to grasp things correctly and fundamentally. Grant me the talent of being exact in my explanations, and the ability to express myself with thoroughness and with charm. Point out the beginning, direct the progress, and help in the completion; through Christ Our Lord, Amen.

Objectives Writing of the New Testament Survey of the New Testament The Pauline Epistles

Survey of the Old Testament The Prophetic Books: MAJOR PROPHETS: Isaiah Jeremiah Ezekiel Daniel

Survey of the Old Testament The Prophetic Books: MINOR PROPHETS: Hosea Joel Amos Obadiah Jonah Micah Nahum Habakkuk Zephaniah Haggai Zechariah Malachi

Survey of the New Testament What does a Biography tell? The Who The What The When The Where

Survey of the New Testament He was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another obscure village, where he worked in a carpenter shop until he was thirty. Then for three years or so he was an itinerant preacher. He never had a family or owned a home. He never traveled more than two hundred miles from the place he was born. He never wrote a book or held an office. He did none of the things that usually accompany greatness. While he was still a young man, the tide of popular opinion turned against him. His friends deserted him. He was turned over to his enemies, and went through the mockery of a trial. He was executed like a common criminal. While he was dying, his executioners gambled for the only piece of property he had—his coat. When he was dead, he was buried in a borrowed grave. Twenty centuries have come and gone. Today he is the central figure for much of the human race. All the armies that ever marched, and all the navies that ever sailed, and all the parliaments that ever sat, and all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of humankind upon this earth as powerfully as this one solitary life. -Anonymous

Survey of the New Testament Stage 1: 6 BC—AD 30/33 Stage 3: AD 50—c. 120 Stage 2: AD 30— 50

Survey of the New Testament Stage 1: The Historical Jesus lived a typical life of a Jewish boy Began his public ministry c. 28 AD Taught, healed, and proclaimed the coming of the Kingdom of God Crucified by Pontius Pilate c. 30 AD Rose from the dead three days after his crucifixion

Survey of the New Testament Stage 2: Oral Tradition --Understanding Oral Traditions-1. Selective Traditions- Choosing events that matter. Ex: George Washington, chops down a cherry tree. “I cannot tell a lie. ” 2. Shaped by the current experiences and knowledge 3. Transmitted by non eye-witnesses Some events that there were no eye witness Most people did not learn about Jesus from the Disciples (Learned through networks and friends)

Survey of the New Testament Stage 2: Oral Tradition “Go out to the whole world; proclaim the gospel to all creation” KERYGMA—preaching to unbelievers DIDACHE—teaching, further catechesis LITURGY—worship of the Christians

Survey of the New Testament Stage 2: Oral Tradition Why commit the Oral Tradition to writing? The end of the world was not coming as quickly as the early Christians at first thought it would Distortions to the Gospel were occurring More instruction was needed

Survey of the New Testament Stage 2: Oral Tradition Written Collections (50 -65 AD) Once a story gets written down and saturated throughout a common place they become standardized.

Survey of the New Testament Stage 3: The Writing of the New Testament First written books of the New Testament were the letters of St. Paul The four Gospels, Acts, Catholic Epistles, and Revelation were probably written in the latter half of the 1 st century

Survey of the New Testament Stage 3: The Writing of the New Testament The Sacred Tradition of the Church, administered by the Apostles and their successors, determined which books were to be included in the canon and which were not under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

Survey of the New Testament Stage 3: The Writing of the New Testament Gospels The heart of the Scriptures Mark (~60— 75) Matthew (~80— 90) Luke (~85) John (~80— 110)

Survey of the New Testament Stage 3: The Writing of the New Testament Full Narratives (65 -90 AD) -Shift to stories of the life of Jesus 100 years of fellowship affect on the gospels The early church put the 4 gospels side by side: Mark, Matthew, and Luke: Very similar called synoptic gospels John different from other gospels, less than 10% of John appears in any other gospel, whereas 90% of Mark appears in Matthew. John is more theologically developed and has different traditions than the other gospels.

Survey of the New Testament Stage 3: The Writing of the New Testament “Synoptic Problem”: What is the relationship between Matthew, Mark and Luke? -There are some instances where the synoptic gospels match up word for word. Some scholars argue that Mark was written first and Matthew and Luke borrowed from it

Survey of the New Testament Stage 3: The Writing of the New Testament 1. Mark is always the common link between the commonalities. 2. Mark writes in a very awkward style of Greek. If he borrowed from Matthew and Luke why would he make the Greek awkward, more likely Matthew and Luke borrowed from Mark and cleaned up the Greek. There are verses that appear in Matthew and Luke but do not appear in Mark. German scholars credit an outside source for this commonality. Includes: temptation in the wilderness, Lord’s Prayer, beatitudes, Parable of the mustard seed, Treasure in Heaven, Ask seek knock.

Survey of the New Testament Stage 3: The Writing of the New Testament And finally: Matthew and Luke have some commonalities that are not in Mark. How can this be?

Survey of the New Testament Stage 3: The Writing of the New Testament Stage 4 The Narrowing of the Gospels down to 4

Survey of the New Testament Stage 4: The Finalization of the Gospels Marcian’s Gospel ~ 150 AD Tatian’s Diatessaron ~ 180 AD

Survey of the New Testament Stage 4: The Finalization of the Gospels So brings us to the question of: Why these 4? There are no recordings from the early church as to why?

Survey of the New Testament Stage 4: The Finalization of the Gospels Why these 4? 1. Narratives that culminated with the death and resurrection of Jesus. 2. Engage the Hebrew Bible (talk about how the Hebrew bible led to Jesus) 3. Avoid Theological Extremes (Jesus as non-human or adopted by god) 4. Credible Origins Stories. 5. Acceptance by the People

Survey of the New Testament Stage 4: The Finalization of the Gospels By 180 AD the core of the bible had been formed. (4 gospel cannon)

Survey of the New Testament Stage 5 Final Determination 3 rd century: Debates turned to the fringe books 4 th century (360 -390 AD) Bible takes uniform modern form. 2 factors shaping fringe books: Support of important bishops, and popularity among people

Survey of the New Testament Gospels The heart of the Scriptures Mark (~60— 75) Matthew (~80— 90) Luke (~85) John (~80— 110) Four Unique Gospels

Survey of the New Testament Gospels Mark: (literary analysis) to discover how a suffering and crucified man can be the messiah. Matthew: (reader analysis) To speak to Jews who were struggling with the Torah and where Jesus fits in with that. Luke: (reader analysis) Gentiles and Christian community to those who were struggling with whether Jesus came for the non-Jews.

Survey of the New Testament Gospels KERYGMA—preaching to unbelievers Read Acts 2: 14 -36

Survey of the New Testament Stage 3: The Writing of the New Testament Acts of the Apostles Second part of the Gospel of Luke Acts tells the early history of the Church

Survey of the New Testament Stage 3: The Writing of the New Testament Pauline Letters Circulated in his name; either written by Paul himself or a disciple of Paul 1 and 2 Thessalonians Galatians Philippians 1 and 2 Corinthians Romans Philemon Colossians Ephesians Titus 1 and 2 Timothy

Survey of the New Testament Stage 3: The Writing of the New Testament Canon

Survey of the New Testament Stage 3: The Writing of the New Testament Catholic Epistles Letters intended “for all” (Catholic means “universal) James 1 and 2 Peter Jude 1, 2 and 3 John

Survey of the New Testament Stage 3: The Writing of the New Testament Revelation This highly symbolic work’s purpose was to encourage Christians who were undergoing persecution for their faith in Jesus Christ.