New Testament Foundations I: January 19, 1999

1. Scripture, reason, and tradition. Scripture does not rule in the church; only God rules. Scripture contains all things necessary for salvation, but must be received with critical intelligence, which we call reason, and with all the scholarship that has gone before, which we call tradition.

2. The creation of the New Testament. When Paul refers to scriptures, generally he is referring to what we call the Old Testament, although the canon was not generally settled even at that time. They did not have books; they had scrolls. Also, he had a Greek translation rather than a Hebrew translation in all likelihood. Paul went around saying that these scriptures had been fulfilled in Jesus Christ, and he tells the story of Jesus. (Look at 1 Corinthians 15.) He tells them to remember the basics that he had "handed on" to them, that Jesus lived, He died, He was buried, and He was raised.
a. In the early days following Christ's life and death, the Eucharist involved telling stories of His life, and then sharing a meal, much like a Greco Roman supper club. These supper clubs usually involved some form of entertainment, like a poet, followed by a meal.
b. In 65 - 70, a man named Mark, whom traditionally we believe knew Peter and Paul, could write a "bios" or "life" of Jesus. A "bios" was a Greek literary form that told the life of a particular person, (a precursor to our biographies?)
c. Perhaps Mark presented his work at one of these Eucharistic meals, and it was "performed." In other words, Mark intended it to be read aloud in one setting, with three "acts," bracketed by a prologue and an epilogue. He may have even employed a professional "reader" to perform it aloud. [This was demonstrated in class by a video presentation.]

3. Reading. Read 8.22 to 10.52, and read it as if it were being performed "live." It begins and ends with healing blind people. Then Jesus tries to explain that for Him to fulfill His mission, He has to die. They are on the road to Jerusalem, and He keeps trying to explain it, but they do not get it. Then we will read "Act III," which begins with Chapter 11. Scene 1 is in chapters 11 and 12. Scene 2 is the last discourse in Chapter 13. Then Chapters 14 and 15 comprise the passion story. We are in groups. I am in group 3, which will be Chapter 14. For Thursday, read part of the reading for unit 2. LTJ is a good place to start.

New Testament Foundations I: January 21, 1999

4. Mark 1.1-8: Prologue.
a. 1-3: Reference to Isaiah . . . "crying in the wilderness." This sets the story against a background; it did not spring up all by itself.
i. The setting is the Hope of Israel
ii. The hope of Israel is the restoration from the sin that started with Adam.
(1) The average Jews were not overly learned
(2) Their lives are dominated by a story, not forms, sources, etc.
(3) The story begins with the creation of the world, and in that story humankind has a major role, as God's vice regent.
(4) Then something goes wrong in the story - Adam's sin.
(5) Stage three is God starting to put things right, with Abraham.
(6) God's restores God's people out of Egypt and brings the people to a new land.
(a) Ps 105 tells the whole story.
(b) But, unfortunately, this was not the whole story.
(7) The people disobey again, and there is exile and tribulation.
(8) So, Ps 106 ends more gloomily.
iii. Israel, then sees itself in this scattered, gloomy state when Mark's gospel begins.
(1) When Israel spoke of "forgiveness of sins," it meant the corporate sins of the nation, not individual sins.
(2) All peoples of that time had a particular solidarity with their communities.
iv. When Israel spoke of the coming of the Kingdom, it meant God would act in God's royal power to vindicate and redeem God's people.
(1) Mark never says precisely what the Kingdom of God is, only what it is like.
(2) Perhaps Mark assumed everyone shared the same understanding of what the Kingdom is.
v. The "meta-narrative" then for Israel at this time was the coming of the Kingdom, and wondering how God would bring it about.
b. Christianity provided one of the answers to the question.
i. The Messiah has already come in Jesus
ii. Christians represent a "new humanity," no longer in Adam.
iii. The Eucharist is the foretaste of the heavenly banquet in the new Eden.
iv. That's why Christianity is sometimes called "realized eschatology."
(1) Eschatology means "last things."
(2) Realized means it has already occurred, or at least begun.
c. 1.4-8. Galilee, Judea and Jerusalem.
i. All of these places were stereotypical; people had certain expectations about folks from these parts.
ii. Galilee was considered less civilized. It was in the north, and southerners considered its people simple. Even their accents were different.
(1) Galileans felt somewhat independent, since it was not under a Procurator from Rome, like Judea, but under a claimed Jewish king, Herod. (Of course, Herod was a client of Rome.)
(2) Rebellions tended to break out first in the north. So Jesus' group might have been suspected of being politically subversive, just because of their geographical origin.
iii. Judea was associated with aristocracy and the power center of Jerusalem.

5. Mark 1.9 - 8.21: The ministry of Jesus in and around Galilee
a. The synagogue.
i. No-one knows where the synagogue came from; probably from the diaspora, since the word itself is Greek.
ii. The synagogue was the "house of study" or "house of interpretation." It is where people went to study Torah.
iii. We do not know how well-educated the general populace was.
iv. There is evidence that the educational system resembled the Greek.
b. Simon's mother-in-law. 1.30.
i. Another of the assumptions that was universal at this time was patriarchy.
(1) Men generally ran things
(2) Women had a more domestic role.
(3) We have to accept this as their way of life before we can get anywhere in New Testament study.

New Testament Foundations I: January 26, 1999

6. [Dramatic presentations]

7. Texts were considered preparation for utterance.
a. It was a manuscript society, so people expected to "hear" texts.
b. There were some personal notes, but public writings were all read aloud.
c. Further, the texts were obviously written to read as a whole, or at least in long passages, and not broken up as we do today.
d. So, should we read more dramatically in church?
i. We do not have to read in a dull monotone.
ii. There is a line somewhere between theatrics and dull
iii. Controlled passion, or restrained passion, is appropriate
iv. At least we should read as if we are interested in it.
v. The spoken word is earlier than the written word, and is a part of us.
vi. The point of liturgy is that it be shared; people should not bury their noses in prayer books and bulletins.

8. Eating at table together.
a. Sharing a meal was considered life's blood in ancient society, both Jewish and Pagan.
b. One never ate with enemies.
c. So, Jesus emphasizes twice that the one who will betray Him is one eating with Him.
d. This is the most heinous of crimes; betraying one with whom you have eaten, especially if you have been his guest.

9. The Widow's Mite
a. There is great irony here.
b. First Jesus castigates the church for screwing folks, especially widows
c. Then he tells a story of the widow giving everything; is this what the church should encourage them to do?
d. Then, when the disciples remark on how wonderful the temple is, Jesus tells them that there will not be a stone left on stone.
e. So, she is actually wasting her mite by giving to a temple about to be destroyed!

10. Mark's ending
a. Mark originally left the women scared and ended it there, at 16.8.
b. The church added the epilogue verses later for a post resurrection story
c. But Mark's ending is very clever, dramatically.

[Monday there will be a presentation on video of the Dead Sea Scrolls, at 10:30 in the library.]

New Testament Foundations I: January 28, 1999

11. Justin Martyr: Use of Scriptures in Early Church
a. Religion vs. philosophy
i. Religion was a matter of cult and religious experience
ii. Philosophy was a way of living
b. Christian attackers accused Christians of incestual love and cannibalism
c. Justin wrote in response, or apology, in about 175
d. He explained how early worship services were conducted
e. In it, he said that the memoirs of the apostles were read "as long as time allows."

12. Pliny's letters.
a. In the 19th letter, he wrote to the aunt of his new wife.
i. He describes his wife as "worthy of her father"
ii. She is highly intelligent and devoted
iii. She has interest in literature, since "she keeps copies of my work."
iv. She loves me "for my aspirations to honor."
(1) This was classic for this period
(2) Self worth was measured by how much honor is paid to one
(3) It is the man's job to earn honor, and the woman's to defend it (or suitably encourage the husband in seeking it.)
b. In another letter, addressed to his wife, though, he wrote differently
i. He writes of missing her, and how much he loves her
ii. Unlike the politically correct language he uses with the matron, his wife, he writes love letters.
iii. So, even in such a patriarchal society, there were real romantic relationships.

13. The literary treatment of women at the time of Mark.

a. According to Elizabeth Schüssler Fiorenza, women were usually not mentioned in writings of the period, unless they present some problem or are integral in the story's telling.
b. So, the absence of women in a writing creates no presumption that they were absent.
c. Women in Mark's gospel usually appear in a favorable light.
i. In the story about Peter's mother, for example, ends with her getting up and serving them
ii. The Greek word used for "service" is daikonia, which is not the verb usually used to describe a mere waiter, but the ritual serving of a prince to his king. It is the word we used to refer to ministry, since it often implies a commission.
iii. Likewise, in Mark 5:25, the woman with the hemorrhage, touches Jesus' garment, and when she is confronted, she confesses. She had done a terrible thing, being ritually impure and touching a holy man, but He calls her "My daughter."
iv. Another example is Jesus' healing of Jairus' daughter. In that society, little girls were considered worthless. But Jesus confers upon her the greatest miracle of all.
v. In 7:25, a foreign, Gentile woman comes up with a demon possessed daughter. He first responds as an orthodox Jew, that the children should be fed before the puppy dogs. She responds with a winning argument, however, which may be the only time Jesus loses an argument, and it is to a foreign woman!
vi. In 15:40, Mark is careful to note the presence of women at Jesus' crucifixion, and makes it clear that they had been following Him all along. He has to mention them at this point, because all the men had fled. Mark had to explain why the women were present. Luke mentions them a little earlier, probably in keeping with good story telling. (This clearly demonstrates Ms. Fiorenza's point.)

14. Mark's description of prayer.
a. Early on, Mark says Jesus arose early to go to a lonely place to pray. Mark1:35
b. In general, the Hellenistic world at large had become cynical about prayer.
i. It was okay to have mystical religious experiences, but
ii. Cynics would say "God is within you," so why pray?
iii. Comedy writers had become to parody praying.
c. Certain prayers characterized the faithful Jew, however.
i. The Shema.
(1) Josephus the historian said twice a day, at its beginning and end, it is proper to remember God and give thanks. This is the Shema.
(2) It is based on lines of scriptures at Deut 6:4, "Hear O Isreal, the Lord is one." It goes on with "You shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, etc."
(3) The Shema is recited to this day by pious Jews. The verses are to be recited by all male Jews from the age of twelve. Women and slaves are not bound to, because "their time is not their own."
(4) Amme ha-aretz: people of the land. This means "redneck"; it is derogatory. This is a term used to describe those who do not recite the Shema.
(5) So, we can take it for granted that Jesus must have recited the Shema daily. So when Mark says He got up early to pray, this is probably what He was doing.
(6) In Mark, when the scribe in 12 asks Jesus what the greatest commandment is, Jesus replies in the words of the Shema "Hear, O Israel . . ."
ii. The Tephilla, also called "ha shimoneh-esre," or "the 18"
(1) These are benedictions that were recited three times a day.
(2) It is mentioned in Daniel 6.
(3) Often Jews would say it at the same time as the Shema, plus one other time.
(4) But there was no fixed time to say it, so women were required to say them, too.
(5) These were actually 18 blessings. "God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob" is a phrase used in this blessing.
(6) In Mark 12:26, a similar phrase is used by Jesus to the Sadducees, but it is straight out of the shimoneh-esre.
(7) In Matthew 11:25, Jesus uses the term "Father, Lord of heaven and earth," which is also a phrase right out of shimoneh-esre.
d. These clues tell us something about what must have been Jesus' prayer life. Like any faithful Jew, He would have recited both the shema and the shimoneh-esre.

15. Scribes and Pharisees.
a. In Mark 2:16, we get a reference to "scribes of the Pharisees."
b. "Pharisees" is a word referring to a particular sect, or, in Greek, hairesis.
i. This refers to any group in ancient Judaism that separated itself to pursue a particular belief
ii. Josephus described them as schools of philosophy.
c. Sadducees.
i. These were wealthy Jews
ii. They did not believe in resurrection, because it was not in scriptures. (it is in Daniel, but they did not recognize that. See below.)
iii. They were conservative.
iv. They recognized only the five books of Moses as scriptures, not the books of the prophets.
v. So, to argue with them, Jesus uses a reference to the Pentateuch.

New Testament Foundations I: February 2, 1999

16. Assignments. There are two short assignments and those two pieces together will count 25%. There is a major paper which will count 50% of the grade, and a quiz that counts the remaining 25%. The method to do well on the quiz is to read and read some more. The translation to use is the NRSV, although Chris is not a fan of it. It is nevertheless the standard academic text, and we need to be familiar with it. Use the Soulin handbook for definitions of the various types of criticisms for the "notes" project. For the short "question answered" paper, Chris discusses it in the last couple of chapters of his book.

17. Sects in New Testament times cont.
a. Sadducees cont.
i. Conventional wisdom about the buildings discovered near Qumran is that these were a monastery. Another theory suggests that these had nothing to do with the sect, but instead were Sudducean, since there was a lot of glass discovered, which would have been a luxury.
ii. The Sadducees are mostly involved with the machinations that lead to Jesus' execution. The Pharisees sort of drop out of the story at the end.
iii. We do not have a single document from the Sadducees; we only have descriptions from their enemies. So, it is hard to be fair to them. No one liked them, perhaps because they were so wrapped up in the Jewish establishment that the annihilation of the temple and the establishment basically wiped them out.
b. Pharisees.
i. The word "Pharisee" may have originally meant "separatist."
ii. The information we have today seems contradictory.
(1) In Matthew 23 there is the invective against them, along with scribes.
(2) On the other hand, at Luke 7:37, there appears to be an amicable situation, and in Luke 13.31 there is the warning by the Pharisees for Him to "get away" to escape Herod
(3) In John 3, there is also a mixed picture. Nicodemus, for example, appears to have a good relationship with Jesus, and so is presented favorably. In John, Nicodemus brings the spices and helps take the Body to bury it.
(4) In Acts 5.38 , the Pharisees seem protective of the young Christian church. Gameliel warns the Sadducees to leave them alone.
(5) In other literature, they are likewise presented as both heroes and villains.
(a) Josephus presents them as another philosophical school, and that they believed in the resurrection.
(b) Both Josephus and the New Testament agree that Pharisees were very interested purity.
(i) There is one surviving tractate on purity that was probably from the Pharisees
(ii) Even lay people are admonished to live as pure a life in the household as priests in the temple, so the whole community would become pure.
(iii) It is very concerned with ritual purity.
iii. The great problem with the Pharisees is understanding their attitude about things like war.
(1) The reports are contradictory.
(2) Most scholars agree that the Pharisees were not a monolith - they were not univocal.
(3) Some Pharisees were irenic in tradition, and thought God would take care things and so they should seek peace. Another group was Xenophobic, and wanted the foreigners out of Israel.
(4) Some scholars would go one step further, and identify these two groups as being part of two famous houses.
(a) The House of Hillel, (irenic and conciliatory) and
(b) The House of Shammai (xenophobic and isolationist.)
(c) The story is that a person came to Rabbi Shammai and asked him to teach what he needed to know to become a proselyte, while standing on one leg. Shammai drove him out. He went and asked the same question of Rabbi Hillel, who basically recited the "golden rule," which he said was the basic law - all else is commentary.
(d) Johanan ben Zacchai regarded the rebellion against Rome as sinful and wrong. He was of Hillel. When Jerusalem lost the war, Shammai lost favor, and Hillel gained favor. The emperor gave ben Zacchai permission to set up a school for studying the law in northern Palestine, by which Judaism survived.
(5) The Zealots were a group in existence at the time of the war with Rome, who agreed with the Pharisees, and may have been Pharisees, but who would tolerate no ruler but God.
(a) They are connected with a story from the Old Testament of Phinehas. In Numbers 25.7 Phinehas takes a spear and killed an Israelite man and is foreign wife. See also Psalm 106.28-30.
(b) Paul is also characterized as zealous in Galatians 1.14, which implies violence.
iv. In Mark 7.10, Jesus has a dispute with some Pharisees about Corban. There is a record in Rabbinic Judaism regarding a dispute about this very question, and the rabbis came to the same conclusion as our Lord.
(1) Thus, it is a mistake to assume that Jesus' disputations with Pharisees would be disputations with modern Jews.
(2) Many modern Jews would also dispute some of the teachings of some of these Pharisees.

New Testament Foundations I: February 4, 1999

18. Essenes
a. IF the library at Qumran is an Essene library, then we know a lot about them, but before this discovery, they were a subject of mystery.
b. They had monasteries near the Dead Sea, and, according to Philo, in Egypt.
c. The Damascus Rule, or the Covenant of Damascus, and the Manuel of Discipline are documents from Qumran that describe the life of the community.
i. The importance of the Dead Sea Scrolls is that they were written before 70 C.E., when everything in Jerusalem got smashed up.
ii. Things written after 70 bear suspicion that things were re-written to please the victors.
d. They separated themselves from the rest of Jerusalem, and considered the temple there polluted, and would have nothing to do with it.
e. They stressed ritual purity even more than the Pharisees.
f. What is the connection between the Essenes and Christianity?
i. Some have theorized a total connection; that is, Jesus was the teacher of discipline.
ii. Others have said there is no connection at all.
iii. One theory is that John the Baptist was an Essene, since he was in the wilderness until he appeared at the river baptizing. But his activity is totally different than the Essenes.
iv. Some scholars suggested that the Epistle to the Hebrews was written to former Essenes. It is concerned with temple practice, but not the physical temple before 70 C.E.
v. Essene scripture teaching involved Pesher, a practice where a verse is quoted, then applied to themselves. This is somewhat how Christians used scripture as well.
vi. Chris thinks the Essenes are just one group of many in Judea, about whom we have some information. We cannot generalize about Judaism from their writings, since most Jews did not belong to any particular group. So, their connection to Christianity is tenuous:
(1) The Essenes were ascetics, yet Christ was portrayed as a wine bibber and an associate of sinners.
(2) Essenes were separatist; Jesus' teaching was open.
(3) Essenes had nothing to do with the temple; early Christians regularly attended temple.

19. Early Christians
a. At this time, Christians would have been considered a renewal group within Judaism.
b. They had enormous zeal and enthusiasm.
c. They would not go away by themselves, and that constantly got them in trouble, first with the other Jews, and later with the Romans.
d. Finally, perhaps reluctantly, they accepted Gentiles without circumcision.

20. Sinners.
a. In Mark 2:16, Jesus is accused of eating with sinners and tax collectors
b. In other places, His followers are accused of unclean practices, like eating without washing, or plucking heads of grain on the Sabbath.
c. When Jesus is being accused of eating with sinners, however, this is different than being accused of purity violations.
i. Violating purity laws is improper behavior, because it is like "the people of the land," which is amme-ha-aretz. This is a sign of ignorance, rather than evil. (It's like failing to follow rubrics.)
ii. But the terms like "sinners," or "tax collectors," or "prostitutes," were far more serious. These are people whose entire manner of living is in deliberate rebellion against God's laws.
d. Jesus did relate to, and respond to, such people, and they related to and responded to Him.
e. He thought their ability to respond to Him was a sign of the kingdom of God.
f. So, when the Pharisees use the term "sinners," they mean the perpetrators of major sins, as opposed to minor sins.

21. The Temple
a. The first thing Jesus did when arriving in Jerusalem was to go to the temple
b. The temple was a major symbol of God.
c. On the other hand, even in the first century, Jews had already survived once without a temple, by meeting in synagogues.
d. A synagogue, which is a Greek word after all, was the place where men met together to study Torah. The closest Hebrew term was beit ha-midrash, the house of interpretation.
e. "Rabbi" was a Hebrew word that meant "my master" or "my teacher." It was not the same thing as "priest." One was either in the priestly family or not; one was not "called" to be a priest.
i. The whole of Israel was divided in twelve areas. People of each area throughout the year would take turns sending priests to handle sacrifices.
ii. Since there was one temple and many, many priests, not many actually got to participate in ritual sacrifice. They chose the participants by lot.
f. The title of rabbi was obviously being given informally in the first century. In the centuries following, ordination to the rabbinate became the norm, but not at this time.

22. Mark 8:27 - Caesarea Philippi
a. This was a town in the far north of Palestine. This was in Philip's tetrarch.
b. This was a completely Greek city. When Jesus spoke to the people there, He was probably surrounded by statues of Greek gods and heroes.
c. Jesus in a sense makes His first concession about who He really is in this Gentile place. Prior to this, He always said "shut up" when someone brought up the issue. Here, He says "shut up," but He goes on to offer an explanation.
d. At this time, from about 333 B.C.E. until the fall of the Roman empire, about 700 years later, the whole world was dominated by a single culture, the Hellenistic. This is a phenomenon not repeated until the twentieth century with western culture.
e. Hellenism was considered the civilization of the "paideia." This is a word referring to education and discipline. When Hellenistic civilization operated at its best, it did not value people for their race, their religious beliefs, their gender, or even their wealth; it valued people because of their mental and physical development.
i. This is not general education.
ii. This was the highest possible achievements at "being human."
iii. Language and literature of Hellenism were marks of these achievements.
iv. There was a virtual canon of literature which a human being was supposed to know, including Homer, the philosophers, and Greek poets, for example.
v. A barbarian was a person who was not familiar with the canon.
f. Of course, very few people could live up to the ideal of Hellenistic culture.
g. Martin Hengle argues that, at this time, no Judaism could escape the influence of Hellenistic culture.

New Testament Foundations I: February 9, 1999

23. Hellenism cont.
a. The influence of the ideal of paideia spread throughout the known world. And thus schools appeared everywhere, since schools were the significant mark of Hellenism.
b. In areas that were "really Greek," all children of the household, except slaves, would go to schools. This included girls.
c. The schools wherein Torah was studied probably developed as a reaction to the Hellenist schools; the pattern was precisely the same.
d. In Proverbs 3.11-12, for example, it says "do not despise the Lord's discipline ..." the Hebrew verbs both imply punishment of some sort. In the Greek translation, it says "Do not despise the Lord's paideia."
i. Perhaps Greek schools were rather painful places; maybe children had their knuckles rapped for missing lessons.
ii. But most translations miss the point when they talk in terms of negative discipline only.
e. "Didaskalos" is the Greek word that refers to an elementary school teacher. Such a teacher would teach letters and reading aloud.
f. Secondary education was under a "grammatikos." This teacher taught language and literature. Homer and the other great poets and dramatists of the canon.
i. First the student learned the "stories."
ii. Then later they would go directly to the texts.
(1) First, they would go through it together to make sure the copies were all consistent, since they were handwritten.
(2) Second, they would memorize and recite them in unison.
(3) Third, they would exegete the text. In other words, they would study for comprehension.
(4) Finally, they would do "krisis," which asked the students what they could discern from the text about human excellence.
iii. At this level, students would be expected to learn to tell stories about the heroes they studied. The art of summarizing was called "chreia." (The gospels are composed of these little summarizations.)
g. The higher education level would be either rhetoric or philosophy. "Rhetoric" at this time was well respected.
i. Isocrates argued that speech distinguished human kind from beasts.
ii. There can be no law, and no thus justice, without speech; it is the cornerstone of civilization.

24. Mark 10:35
a. In this pericope, James and John ask to sit at the right and left hand of Jesus.
b. This is part of the man's job of attracting honor to himself, and he would have the concomitant responsibility to fight and die for his lord.

25. Roman power.
a. Rome was the political fact of the world; it was the power.
b. In the period of Mark, this is the beginning of the Roman empire.
i. Prior to this, Rome had been a republic.
ii. It was too big to operate as a republic
iii. So, in 27 BCE, Augustus became a de facto emperor, even though he did not take that official title.
iv. He brought peace, the pax Romana, which although violent at times, was a great benefit to the world in many people's eyes.
c. During this period, one could travel great distances without dealing with a border guard, and stay the whole time on decent highways.
d. Latin was the official language of the empire, but most people spoke Greek.
i. Greek was the lingua franca in most of the territories
ii. Even around Rome, educated people prided themselves in their knowledge of the Greek language.
iii. In Judea, while people may have spoken Aramaic, they would also have spoken Greek, just as Welsh people today also speak English.
e. The seas were swept free of pirates.
f. The Hellenistic city was the mark of the empire.
i. This is different from ancient Greece, since the city was no longer a separate government
ii. Temples were located in cities, and served as the banks for people.
iii. Schools and theaters were in cities.
g. Four factors of society
i. Honor and shame, already discussed
ii. Patronage
(1) Rich and powerful persons considered it their obligation to be generous to poorer or weaker people. This was honor.
(2) The weaker people would then become "clients" of the patrons.
(3) The "Letters of Pliny" are filled with references to his responsibilities as a patron for young men.
(4) The obligation of the clients, then, was to honor and support their patrons.
(5) It has been said that patronage was the economic glue that held the empire together.
(6) In the New Testament, in Luke 8, for example, it refers to women who acted as Jesus' patrons, and in Romans, Paul commends Phoebe, who has been a patron to him and others.
iii. Slavery
(1) Nobody liked slavery, but people regarded it as an inevitable fact of life.
(2) At least their slavery was not racist; it was equal opportunity employment.
(3) Most slaves began as citizens of a conquered land.
(4) Chris thinks Paul's household started as slaves, which accounts for his Roman citizenship. Paulus was an unusual name. Perhaps Paul's father or grandfather was carried off to Rome as a slave, ended up serving the Paulus family, and was granted freedom.
(5) A freed slave would carry the name of his former owners as a badge of honor. Maybe that's why Paul went to the palace of Sergius Paulus in Acts 13.6; he had the family name and knew he would get admittance.

New Testament Foundations I: February 11, 1999

26. The Shape of the Gospel
a. Kerygma. (Know these words, but never use them preaching.) It means proclamation.
i. Jesus is Lord; Christ died for us; Christ rose again.
ii. A book by C. H. Dodd, in 1936, called Apostolic Preaching said that the first Christians proclaimed Jesus Christ crucified and risen, not just the "brotherhood of man and the fathership of God."
(1) He based his argument first on the letters Paul. Paul reminded his readers how he had preached the "foundation" to them. Jesus was the fulfillment of God's promises to Israel.
(a) Romans 15.20
(b) 1 Corinthians 15.
(i) Here he writes about the "problem" of the resurrection. This church started mostly with Pagans, not Jews. They had speaking in tongues, and things like that.
(ii) They misunderstood the concept of the resurrection.
(iii) Paul takes pains to remind them of the good news he had "handed over" to them. It did not originate with him. But it is basic to their salvation. Christ died, was buried, was raised, and appeared to the apostles. This is basic to the whole church.
(c) Romans 4.24-25. - Paul says that "He died for our sins and has been raised" is basic to our belief.
(i) Greek Lesson: aorist generally means a final, completed act.
(ii) Perfect tense, however, means a completed past action which has implications for the present.
(iii) So, the Greek used the perfect tense, "has been raised."
(d) 1 Thessalonians 8 - 10 adds to the basic proclamation that we are "waiting" for Jesus, who rescues us from the "wrath that is coming."
(i) The issue Paul is writing to this time is the impatience of those who thought Jesus should have come back already.
(2) Dodd argued also from the Book of Acts. The references are in the syllabus. These passages provide independent testimony that it was not just Paul who preached these things; it was the whole early church.
(3) Dodd did make some mistakes, which have come to light with modern research

(a) Most people have now come to the opinion that one cannot rely on the speeches in Acts are accurately quoted from actual sources. Luke may have editorialized. Nevertheless, Luke's writing still represents how some in the early church, at least, understood the first Christian preaching.
(b) There were things other than Paul's preaching that Dodd ignored.
(c) Dodd's description of a "crisis" about Christ's failure to appear in the second coming is not backed up by any evidence.
(4) Even with the mistakes, Dodd makes his point that there was a very ancient proclamation of the earliest church regarding the death and resurrection of Jesus.
iii. Notice that these proclamations are almost followed by the appellation "according to the scriptures." What does this mean?
(1) The Old Testament was a story; that's how the Jews heard it.
(2) The story involves the fall of humankind, and how God acts to redeem God's creation and God's people.
(3) The Old Testament story is unfinished.
(4) So, the early proclamation is that Jesus is the beginning of the end of the story. This is how God will complete the redemption.
b. The development of the New Testament story.
i. Kerygma which is the outline of a life plus the death and resurrection existed.
ii. The Lord's recorded words and deeds existed.
(1) Some of these were handed down orally, but
(2) This was a culture that had writing and valued it.
(3) People loved taking notes, so they wrote down a lot to be handed on.
(a) They actually had "notebooks" or codices of papyrus sheets sewn together.
(b) Real important stuff was put on scrolls instead of notebooks.
(c) Apparently the Christians were the first to decide that a book could be published like a notebook rather than on a scroll, and it would be more convenient.
iii. Around 65 CE, probably Mark (who might have been a mere boy when Jesus was alive as a human) decided to write a "life" of Jesus similar to the literature he had studied in school.
iv. Mark's writing of the passion, however, was not a part of the little episodes of krea, but is one continuous unit. This indicates that this particular part of the story was told often in church gatherings as a single unit.
c. This development represents the shape of the Gospel.
d. Paul seemed to be up against false teachers over and over
i. In 2 Corinthians 11, for example, there are teachers who apparently taught a gospel of "Jesus the miracle worker." These Paul calls "super apostles."
ii. There was another group who taught about "Jesus the Seer."
e. Mark was completely Pauline.
i. He repeats all the basics of the proclamation.
ii. Nevertheless, he works in Jesus the teacher, and Jesus the miracle worker and healer, and these other attributes, but in the context of the story.
iii. In so doing, however, he continues to point to the cross.


New Testament Foundations I: February 16, 1999

27. Mark. We must read Chris' book, because we will skip in the lecture anything that is already covered in the book, and we are responsible for reading it. The literary form is the main concern of the book.
a. Concentric vs. Linear. Oral discourse involves talking in a concentric way. One ends up where one started, but in a slightly different way because of what one goes through to get there.
i. Any effective oral presentation starts at one point, and then after it leaves the point, it comes back to it and links what went in between.
ii. JoAnna Dewey is "hot" on this concentric theory in Mark.
iii. For example, in Mark's prologue, we begin in the wilderness, and in the epilogue, we end up at the tomb. Both are places of death. Out of the place of death comes a message of life, through a messenger who proclaims Jesus.
iv. Another example (which is not as clear to Chris) is 2.2 - 3.6. There is a series of episodes that involve escalating conflict with authorities. It starts with the healing of the paralytic and ends with the healing of the man with the withered hand. The conflict goes from a little murmuring about the healing of sins to the conspiring with Herodians to destroy Jesus. On Jesus' side, He goes from a simple demonstration to full confrontal anger. [Side note- it was not really against the law to pray for healing on the Sabbath; only to lay hands on someone. In Chapter 3, Jesus says "Stretch out your hand." He never actually lays a hand on him.]
(1) The reason Chris is not sure about this example is that it may not come through so clearly when heard orally.
(2) It does work when we read it, however.
(3) Whether Mark intended it or not may not be relevant; we all bring something to the text when we read it that may be beyond what the author intended.
b. Manuscript society. While our theory is that Mark composed the gospel to be recited aloud, this was a manuscript society. With the new medium, people probably did what they had always done with old medium, but gradually began to realize the potential of the new medium. So, it might be that Mark really did recognize that he could use references back that would not work orally.
c. Construction. Chris believes that the construction of Mark's gospel is very tight. It holds together very well. People tended to write episodically at the time, and to divide it into a prologue, three acts with different scenes, and an epilogue, shows a lot of cleverness on his part; it is a remarkable piece for its time.
d. Greco-Roman Lives were always about real people, about whom we could draw real lessons. The form itself claims that the person and the events actually existed. In choosing this form, then, Mark implies that he is writing about actual events.
e. Resurrection. This is the one point where Mark does not fit the genre. Prior to Mark's gospel, no Greco-Roman life ended with anything like a resurrection. (There were some afterward. There are examples of Christianity influencing other authors, such as Lucian.) Why would Mark "break open" the genre? Obviously the author wants to say something new and different, and the true facts were known. The facts force the breaking away from the genre. There was no way to omit such a significant fact.
f. Other evidence of Mark's influence on future writings. One feature of strictly oral poetry is the use of flashbacks. The teller discovers that a part of the story is coming up that will not make sense without fleshing out the background, and so the teller uses a flashback. Mark's gospel is the first to use a flashback in written manuscript. After it was published, it became fairly common.

28. Things about Mark that are not in Chris' book.
a. Mark's Spirituality. This is one of Mark's unifying organizing factor. There is the contrast between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of humanity. (Mitzi Minor talks about this.)
i. In Chapter 7.8, the dialogue about Corban, for example, He says you abandon God's tradition to hold to human tradition.
ii. Or, in the watershed event at Caesarea Philippi, He tells Peter that he is not of God but of men.
iii. Again, when the scribes and pharisees in Chapter 11 challenge Jesus about cleansing the temple, He responds about authority, but asks them whether the authority is from God or of human origin.
iv. In Chapter 12.14, when they try to trap Him, there is the contrast again.

New Testament Foundations I: February 18, 1999

29. Mark; things outside the book cont.
a. Parables in chapter 4 present another concentric teaching.
i. In the book, Chris treated the parable of the sower as the "great reassurance." Although the Word of God seems very small and insignificant when sown, yet its effects can be enormous.
ii. Yet, Mitzi Minor suggests another inclusio situation.
(1) It begins and ends with a discussion about parables in general. (Call these A and A1.)
(2) Within these brackets, the actual parables are related, and the first and last ones are both about seeds. (B and B1.)
(3) Within these secondary brackets of the seed parables, vs. 10 - 12, the disciples ask about parables, and Jesus discusses the "mystery" of the kingdom (baselea) of God. (C)
(a) "Mystery" (mysterion) is almost a term of art.
(b) It is what God hides from the world but reveals to the inside initiates.
(c) So Jesus implied that these disciples were "on the inside."
(4) In vs. 21 - 24, there is another little section about what is secret and what is revealed, but this time with a little addition of the admonition to listen. (C1)
(5) Within the "C" brackets, then, is the essential teaching (D), which is the explanation of the "soils" metaphor in the parables. The essential question, then, is "What sort of soil are we?"
b. This structure helps us identify what is paramount.

30. Unit 5. "Tools for the Task"
a. Biblical criticism generally.
i. Criticism should not imply negativity.
ii. It also means the science which deals with the text, character, composition, and origin of literary documents.
iii. This is not a new invention. Certain forms are new, but not the idea.
iv. Prior to the 18th century, scholars tended to think of biblical characters as people very much like themselves.
v. Then, about the 18th century, people began to question just what the conditions of life were like at the time the texts were written.
vi. These questions led to a new way of looking at texts, not always beneficially.
(1) When people identified better with the biblical characters, they could be more deeply affected by their stories.
(2) Still, historical criticism leads to new understanding.
b. Major Critical approaches of the 19th and 20th centuries.
i. Textual Criticism. What is the "best" text? This is also referred to as "lower" criticism, since it is the basic start. This was done even in the first century to make sure they were learning from the same manuscripts.
(1) Jerome was clearly aware of this problem, as were the translators who published the KJV.
(2) The KJV translators simply added up the number that said one way as opposed to another way, and the majority won out.
(3) Later, the science of textual criticism developed, and scholars decided that the problem is more complicated.
(a) As copies are made of copies, errors get perpetuated.
(b) But copies were made of copies rather than of the originals, so the copies would outnumber the originals.
(c) So, a simple election would favor the erroneous copies.
(4) Certain rules developed.
(a) Older copies are generally more reliable than later ones.
(b) More difficult readings are generally more reliable, since it is more logical that an editor would make it easier to understand rather than more difficult.
(i) For example, some translations have Mark saying in 1.2 "as it is written in the prophet Isaiah," while others (such as KJV) have "as it is written in the prophets."
(ii) The problem with the former is that Isaiah did not write what Mark said he did.
(iii) So, we believe that a later editor "corrected" Mark's error, and left out the mistaken reference to Isaiah specifically.
(iv) Another famous example is Romans 5.1, which is hotly disputed. Does it say "we have peace" or "let us have peace"? It could be either. Only one Greek letter separates the two translations. The best treatment of this is to count both as true, depending upon your situation. Sometimes it is better to believe we already have peace, and sometimes we need to remind ourselves to let us have that peace.
(v) One more example is in Luke 8.43 and Mark 5.25. The early manuscripts omit the reference in Luke to the inability of physicians to heal the woman, and simply says "no-one could heal her." A later editor, familiar with Mark, perhaps, put it back in Luke, so it shows up in KJV.
ii. Source Criticism. Where did the manuscripts come from?
(1) This is the first of four major types of criticism.
(2) The similarities among Mark, Matthew, and Luke led source critics to ask why.
(3) The source critics first determined that Mark came first. This is called the "Marcan Primacy" theory.
(a) Not only do they believe Mark came first, but
(b) They believe that the authors of Matthew and Luke each used Mark independently to produce their texts.
(i) An example of this is Mark 1.32, that says "in the evening, at sundown ..." which is redundant.
(ii) Luke and Matthew each removed the redundancy, but differently. One omitted "evening" and the other omitted "sundown."
(4) Another theory is the "Q" hypothesis.
(a) This theory assumes the primacy of Mark, but adds that
(b) Another source, now lost to us, was used by Luke and Matthew, because they have a lot of stuff in common that does not appear in Mark. This mysterious source has been dubbed "Q" because this is the first letter in the German word for "source."
(c) Some even say Matthew was himself "Q" since he would have had shorthand skills, and the Roman church had put this one first, after all, and it was very slow to admit it made a mistake.
(d) The Q material is almost all "sayings" except one story which they have in common. Mark has a very brief account of the temptations, but Luke and Matthew both list all three temptations (though in a different order.)
(e) The discovery of the so-called Gospel of Thomas reinforces the idea of a Q source.
(5) Four source hypothesis
(a) Even the existence of the Q source does not explain a lot of stuff that it is in Matthew, so Matthew must have had several sources, which scholars call M.
(b) Luke also had independent sources, which they call L.
(c) So, this makes four sources: Mark, Q, M, and L.
(6) Chris believes these theories appear in a descending order according to probability.
(a) Markan primacy is probably 99% sure.
(b) Q is probably 70% probable.
(c) The M and L theories don't have a lot of evidentiary support, since Matthew could have taken notes, and Luke could have talked to a number of witnesses, so that instead of M and L there could be a plethora of oral and written sources.
(7) There is also the proto-Luke theory, which states that Luke formulated a gospel from Q and L, then discovered Mark and rewrote his original to include some Mark stuff. Very few scholars buy this.

New Testament Foundations I: February 23, 1999

31. Criticism continued. Form Criticism
a. Bultmann and Dibelius raised the question, "Can we get behind the sources?"
i. They discovered that the Gospels are made up of "units of traditions."
(1) These units are called "pericopes," which is from a Greek word meaning "something cut round."
(2) They were influenced by studies in orality.
(3) They concluded that these units were imparted to meet the needs of the church.
ii. They were not interested in the gospels as whole books, but only in the individual units.
iii. These units of tradition, they thought, were handed on like pebbles in a stream; that is, as they were handed on, they got smoothed and better rounded.
iv. They analyzed the forms into various types
(1) Pronouncements.
(2) Sayings.
(a) These are units that lead up to something Jesus said.
(b) Example Mark 2.23-28. The hearers would not really be interested in where the disciples were going; they would only be interested in what He said.
(3) Miracle Stories.
(4) Stories about Jesus. Bultmann called them "Legends."
v. According to their theory, the evangelists gathered up the units and put them together. Their editing was not important, because it was just a rough gathering together. The only exception is the Passion Narrative, which hangs together seamlessly.
vi. Bultmann and Dibelius were highly skeptical of the historical material, especially Bultmann. He felt all we learned from the stories was the mind of the early church. Dibelius attributed the stories to the preachers.
b. Other form critics were not so skeptical.
i. Vincent Taylor, a Methodist and a very fine scholar, believed that the pericopes had high historical value.
ii. Vincent Taylor's book, Formation of the Gospel Tradition is a very fine book on form criticism.
c. Recently, form criticism has come under heavy fire.
i. As a method, it has some serious flaws.
ii. First, what it says about how units of tradition are carried on orally does not seem to be true.
(1) New Testament scholars recently have done more research concentrating on the phenomenon of oral tradition.
(2) This research demonstrates that oral tradition hung on to details tenaciously than earlier scholars believed.
(3) Instead of losing details, the pericopes may have added details, but none would have been taken away.
(4) Also, oral tradition is not created or handed on by communities.
(a) Communities provide a corrective influence on the story telling, but
(b) The story tellers or bards were responsible for handing them on. This contradicts Bultmann, and tends to support Dibelius to some extent.
iii. Other scholars, like C. H. Dodd, pointed out that form criticism was not very scientific.
(1) "Miracle stories" and "Legends" are dictated by content, not by form.
(2) So the classifications were not so objective, and they tended to overlap.
iv. Chris thinks we have gone beyond the value of form criticism. The one thing they were correct about was spotting that the gospels are collections of units of traditions, but knowing the various forms is not so important.

32. Redaction Criticism.
a. This type of criticism gives some credit to the evangelists as editors.
b. J. B. Lightfoot was a pioneer in this method, though he never termed it so.
c. They still did not take the literary forms of the gospels as a whole, they still built on form criticism and source criticism.
d. An example of redaction criticism is the story of John the Baptizer.
i. In Mark 1, there is a description of John the Baptizer, then his pronouncement, then Jesus coming to him.
ii. In Luke 3, starts with the dating of the pericope and the careful setting of the pericope in the entire Roman empire. None of this is in Mark. Luke quotes from Isaiah (and unlike Mark, gets it right) and adds some lines from Isaiah that says "all flesh shall see the salvation of God." This fits Luke's "agenda" of preaching to the Gentiles, an agenda which Mark apparently did not have. Luke then has a conversation between John and the crowd about which Mark is silent. Then he has an aside about Herod, and then he finally gets to the baptism of Jesus. Here's other ways how Luke has changed it.
(1) There is a passage of time that is not in Mark
(2) In Luke, Jesus is praying when the Spirit descends.
(3) John the Baptist seems to be missing from the baptism!
(a) It is not clear here whether anyone baptized Jesus.
(b) Luke is trying to avoid the question of the lesser person baptizing the greater, which may have been a problem in the early church.
iii. Matthew makes other changes. Matt 3.
(1) Matthew is very orderly, but omits all of Luke's details.
(2) He keeps the Isaiah quotation to the verses Mark; he just corrects the reference.
(3) Then he had a description of John like the other accounts, which is important because there is a parallel to Elijah.
(a) There was a tradition apparently that Elijah would precede the Messiah.
(b) There was clearly a tradition that Elijah would precede the last day, but it not so clear that the last day would involve the messiah. Malachi 4.5, (in the Hebrew it is 3.23) which is the final word of the Old Testament, says Elijah would precede the last and terrible day.
(c) Luke had John's daddy being reminded of this by the angel.
(4) Then, like Luke, there is the preaching to the crowds, but Matthew does not include the bit from the soldiers. (Perhaps it is because Matthew is so Jewish.)
(5) Then, to handle detail of the lesser baptizing the greater, Matthew inserts a dialogue between Jesus and John on this very point in vss. 14 - 15.
iv. John has a totally different account, but Chris thinks that John did not have access to the other three gospels, or their materials, and so is often different. There is no baptism of Jesus at all. Vss. 1.29 and 3.23 both have the settings, but the actual baptism is never mentioned.
v. In Acts 19, Paul comes across some disciples who say they have never heard of the Holy Spirit; they said they only knew of the baptism of John. So Paul baptized them in Jesus, and the Spirit came upon them.
(1) This was at Ephesus
(2) There is a tradition that ties the Gospel of John to Ephesus.

33. Next. How do we come to know the meaning of a Holy Text?

New Testament Foundations I: February 25, 1999

34. Structural Criticism
a. This was a briefly lived method based on French sociology, which looked at the structures of communities.
b. It is largely a dying method, now, because most people could not understand it.

35. Literary Criticism
a. This method is the one used by Chris in his book
b. It looks at the form of the writing as a whole to see what conclusions can be drawn from that style. What does the style and genre tell us about the writer's intentions.

36. Synthesis of criticisms.
a. Historical criticism is still very important, but
b. No discovery of a purely historical Jesus will give us a Jesus sufficient enough to be an object of faith.
c. There has to be some theology in the critical methods.
d. Obviously, the type of criticism employed depends upon what questions one is trying to answer.

37. Why texts?
a. Every culture keeps texts of that which it considers important.
b. Helenism went further, and treated its texts as "canon."
c. The Hebrews went further still.
i. Probably it started before the exile, but
ii. Certainly after the exile, Israel used texts to try to reconstitute itself.
(1) Ezra, Nehemiah, and the other late prophets felt that "this time we must get it right."
(2) The written texts, for the first time, take on a whole new significance, close to the attitude we have toward scriptures today.
iii. By the time of our Lord, we have the beginning of the canon.
(1) Scriptures included the Petatuch, and
(2) Most of the prophets, and
(3) Most of the psalms, and
(4) Then some other texts about which there was less agreement.

38. Interpreting texts.
a. How do we decide what the texts tell us? The Jews used several techniques to answer this question.
i. First, if one thing is said, more is implied.
(1) Jesus said "you have been told to love your neighbor and hate your enemies."
(2) Does scripture actually say that? No. This was an implication from the law "love your neighbor."
(3) Jesus then suggests that this law should provide a totally different implication, "love your enemy as well as your neighbor."
ii. David Kugle has written a big fat book on other methods of early biblical criticism (and Chris decided we did not have enough time to pursue it in class.)
b. The methods that developed of understanding texts are as follows:
i. Pre-critical. We listen, we hear, and we obey.
(1) This method recognizes the sacredness of the text, which is good.
(2) This rule assumes that the reader sees God speaking directly through the Bible.
(3) There are problems with this method
(a) What if we have different opinions about what God is saying?
(b) In the English civil war, both the Puritans and the Royalists claimed to be supported by the parable of the vineyard. So, the disagreements lead to violent confrontation.
(c) The pre-critical approach has no grounds to test the understanding against anything objective, which led to:
ii. Scientific approach.
(1) What is the context, what is the historical setting, how did the church use it?
(2) There are problems with these methods as well.
(a) What are we looking for? The mind of the author? The mind of the subject? The mind of the church?
(b) How can we be really sure what we know at all?
(c) The evolution of source criticism to form criticism to redaction criticism recognizes a "falling back" from the scientific investigation.
(i) Can we really get to the source? They are not historical records, so lets look at the form.
(ii) Can we really figure out the original form? There are editorial changes, so lets look at the editors.
(iii) Can we really know what the editors intended?
(3) These questions led scholars to recognize that the method depended upon what the reader was trying to discover. So, it led to:
iii. Reader response or deconstruction. We all bring something to the text, and that affects what we get out of it. (We should recognize that we have really come full circle; this is not much different than the pre-critical method. That is, what do we hear God saying in the text?!)
iv. Obviously, once again, deconstructionists must depend upon some other methods of criticism, so we have some sort of synthesis.
v. There are two other major responses:
(1) Positivism.
(a) There are some things about which we can have clear and certain knowledge, through scientific observation and recording.
(b) The method depends upon two assumptions
(i) The autonomous self: "I think therefore I am."
(ii) The possibility of scientific truth.
(c) Some things, of course, are beyond scientific measurement and observation.
(i) Positivism has been exploded in academia.
(ii) Modern philosophers are now rejecting this method as a way of getting to real truth.
(iii) But in our congregations, positivism will probably dominate.
(d) Some positivists recognize that there are other truths that cannot be measured, and some believe that anything that cannot be objectively measured cannot be true.
(2) Phenomenalism.
(a) These believe that there is no way to separate the truth from the perception of it.
(b) This was the movement from modernism to post modernism.
(c) Phenomenalists believe that texts are merely a mirror for the readers to know themselves.
(d) We will also run into these folks in our congregations, and they may attack our faith as merely a construct.
(e) Problems.
(i) People who claim to espouse this view do not in fact live that way. If they hear that the price of tomatoes has dropped at Kroger, they go buy tomatoes; they do not assume that the news tells them only something of themselves!
(ii) It leads people to collapse the entire world into themselves. (Sounds like Monti's criticism of Kant.)
vi. Critical Realism.
(1) So, how can we know what is true? N. T. Wright's book suggests yet another approach. (It is also in Ben Meyer's book.)
(2) Critical Realism first assumes, like the positivists, that there are some truths that can be known through examination, criticism and analysis.
(3) On the other hand, it recognizes that individuals have to do the examining, criticizing, and analysis, so all knowledge of those truths is provisional.
(4) So, while the truths are real, the knowledge of them is provisional.
(5) The truths in texts, then, come with stories, which act as baggage distorting our perception of the truths.
(a) Our own biographies and experiences affect our perception.
(b) We filter truths as we receive them.
(c) So, we need to acknowledge the distinction between objective and subjective knowledge is useless to us, especially concerning certain types of knowledge.
(6) As critical realists, we will therefore demand that our knowledge be tested by every means available, but we will admit in the final analysis that our understanding depends in part upon who we are and what we have experienced.
(a) There is no such thing as knowledge without someone to know it.
(b) So, the proper answer for the question, "What is Jesus really like?" is "For whom?"
c. So, critical analysis is still important, and even Jesus discouraged conclusions about Himself based upon insufficient data.

New Testament Foundations I: March 2, 1999

39. Scripture, Reason and Tradition
a. We do not interpret Scriptures in a vacuum, nor do we do it alone
b. We interpret Scriptures in the community of the faithful.
c. That is the difference between theologians and students of religion. Theologians have to do all the things that students of religion have to do, plus be faithful.
d. The decision of the canon is a decision of the church. Those who say they would want to get back to a New Testament church would have to do away with the New Testament!
e. This approach protects us from the aberrations of our own intellect.

40. The Major Themes of Mark.
a. The identity of the Son of God.
i. Mark proclaims Him Son of God, or at least Messiah, from the beginning.
ii. It is clearly a theological proclamation.
iii. It may not be the same understanding of "Son of God" that we later came to, but it is a very exalted position, "as it is written."
b. The passion of Jesus Christ.
i. Mark underlines Jesus' refusal to let people conjecture what it means to be the Son of God without a full understanding of the cross.
ii. Without the cross, there cannot be a Christ of Glory.
iii. So, He will not let anyone speak of Him until "Act 2," the road to Jerusalem. At that point, He tells them the Son of Man must die, over and over, but they don't get it.
iv. Finally, at the end, a pagan Roman centurion proclaims Jesus "the Son of God," and he does not get told to shut up.
c. Mark hints at the eventual Gentile issue.
i. This had probably become an issue at the time he wrote the gospel.
ii. Act 1 thus includes pericopes showing that the mission is bigger than just one place.
iii. This accounts for the conversation in the boat about "one loaf." The disciples grumble about having only one loaf, and Jesus reminded them that there was a bounty both when He fed the Jews and when He fed the Gentiles. The hearers would have gotten this point, even though it is subtle.
d. Son of Man.
i. What did Jesus mean? This has been a hotly debated issue.
(1) Son of God did not mean Divine; people who were considered particularly righteous were often called "Son of God."
(a) Joseph's wife, Asenath, was called "Daughter of God."
(b) The title later may have implied Divinity, but not in Jesus' day.
(2) So, Son of Man probably does not merely refer to Jesus' humanity as opposed to his Divinity, either.
ii. Jesus calls himself "Son of Man," but no-one else does, except Stephen in his martyrdom in the Book of Acts.
(1) This pericope mirrors the death of Jesus, so
(2) The author, Luke, used the same words Jesus would have.
iii. One Rabbinic author asserted that this was a phrase people used to describe themselves.
iv. There is other evidence that suggests it referred to some significant person, as we would say "The Man."
v. Mark uses the phrase has having something to do with authority.
vi. Jesus quotes Daniel 7.13, which equates the "Son of Man" with the Messiah, coming on the clouds of heaven.
e. The order of events.
i. Most of the events happen in no particular order; they could be "shuffled about" without upsetting the meaning.
ii. The passion narrative, however, is a continuous whole, and must be told in order to make sense.
f. Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.
i. Mark 3.29
ii. Spirit means life or essence. Spirit can also means a dynamic other than our own, so the Divine Spirit means the dynamic of God within us.
iii. If we reject the work of God within us, by definition, we reject God.
iv. Mark follows the comment with the explanation "for they had said, 'He has an unclean spirit.'" This shows that, although they saw and knew that God was at work, they rejected it and contended Jesus' power was due to another evil spirit.
v. Chris says it is like, "IF you insist on pretending you are stupider than you are, you will wind up as stupid as you pretend to be." So, likewise, if you contend God is not working in your life, you may actually impair God's ability to work in your life."
vi. Does this mean they cannot turn back? No. It means that as long as one is in this position of denial, that one is not in a position to accept mercy and forgiveness. The verb is in the present tense.
vii. So, the sin is not the rejection of the God we cannot understand or do not know about, it is the rejection of the God we know.
viii. The church is clear that blasphemy is a charge that can only be leveled at believers, because one cannot intentionally insult someone he does not know.
g. The Kingdom of God
i. Mark does not explain the phrase.
ii. Chris believes this is because all of Mark's hearers would have known what he meant.
iii. Jewish teaching used this phrase to mean the time when God fulfills God's promises to God's people.
iv. The fundamental meaning of repentance is not just "feel bad," but "think again."
v. If God is fulfilling God's promises, perhaps we had better re-think how we are living our lives, because we often do not live as if God reigns.
(1) The world does not often act as if forgiveness is important.
(2) But if God reigns, it is of primary importance.

New Testament Foundations I: March 4, 1999

41. Matthew: the type of book
a. Listeners would have recognized this book, too, as a Greco-roman "life," which is true for all four gospels.
i. Matthew includes a genealogy, which is more consistent with the genre even than Mark.
ii. Yet, it probably could not be read in a single sitting, which became more typical of the genre. (See Philo's Life of Moses.)
b. It is organized as a great teaching book, which may have been intentional
i. Krister Stendahl asserted that one of the reasons Matthew changed Mark was to make it a more suitable handbook for teaching.
ii. It is a very orderly gospel.
iii. Matthew is not "tight" like the dramatic Mark, but it does have its own structure.

42. The structure of Matthew
a. It follows the kerygma.
b. Within the structure of the kerygma, however, Matthew has inserted five great discourses, of which we really need to take notice:
i. The "sermon on the mount" in Chapters 5 - 7.
(1) This is the life of discipleship.
(2) A good example of this is Bohnhoffer's Cost of Discipleship, which is based on the sermon on the mount, and "if you haven't read it, consider it a great defect in your theological education."
ii. Chapter 10, the "mission charge."
iii. Chapter 13, teaching by parables and the Kingdom of Heaven
iv. Chapter 18, life in the church, and the "life of compassion" and forgiveness.
v. Chapter 23 - 25, "warnings to leaders" and description of last things.
(1) This should remind us immediately of Mark 13, which is Jesus' farewell discourse.
(2) Such a discourse is typical of sages. They give lasting instructions to be followed after they are gone.
(3) Matthew incorporates Mark's farewell discourse and adds a lot of other stuff as well.
c. Each discourse ends in a roughly similar formula, which suggests that Matthew's structure was intentional.
d. A theory put forth by an American scholar named Bacon about fifty years ago suggested that Matthew tried to mirror the Pentateuch. Chris does not agree. The fact that the Pentateuch had five books may have influenced him, but that is the extent of it.

43. The Style.
a. It was obviously written with the needs of the church in mind.
i. Only in Matthew is the word for "church" used. Ecclesia.
ii. The others suggest the idea of the church, but do not use the word.
b. As such, it is similar to the Manual of Discipline of the Qumran community.
c. It was very clearly written for Jewish followers.
i. Matthew is often accused of anti-Semitism
ii. Matthew did not care for Pharisees, but it is overstating it to say he did not care for Jews. He was one, for example.
iii. He was obviously aware of the Gentile mission; he includes the "Great Commission." Yet, Chris suspects that this was originally heard as an apology for the Gentile mission that had already begun after the events in Acts 15. Jewish followers were probably uncomfortable with all these Gentiles who were not circumcised yet were in the community.
(1) The early church under the leadership of Peter and Paul decided early on that Gentiles did not need to conform to all the Jewish regulations.
(2) Circumcism was very offensive to the Greeks; it was a real culture clash.
(3) There was some Old Testament precedent in Zechariah concerning the Festival of Booths. This scripture contemplated the Goyim coming to Jerusalem to participate without becoming Jews.
(4) Of course, even Gentiles had to keep some laws. The "Noachim commandments" were how the rabbis came to understand the commandments given to Noah. Noah could not have been a Jew, since Jews had not yet been invented. But there were still some laws Noah and other Gentiles had to follow.
(a) Prohibition of idolatry.
(b) Prohibition of blasphemy.
(c) Prohibition of murder.
(d) Prohibition of stealing.
(e) Prohibition of sexual sins.
(f) Prohibition of eating flesh of live animals.
(g) Requirement of courts of justice.
iv. Notice that nowhere in the New Testament is it suggested that Jews who choose to follow Christ should give up Jewish halakhah practices to adopt Gentile culture. Quite the contrary is true. In the early church, the Jewish followers continued to worship in the temple and keep Jewish feast days.
v. Words we need to know:
(1) Torah is often translated "law" but it really means "teaching." So, some sneer at the Greek work "nomos" as being a good translation. (Chris thinks it is a good translation, however.)
(2) The word "Halakhah" means "way of living your life"; it's how one keeps the "Mitzphah" or commandments.
(3) "Hagadah" is anything a Jew decided to do with a biblical teaching that is not Halakhah. It is an explanation of how things must have happened, for example, like interpretive legends.
(4) "Targum" is an Aramaic word that means "translation," but it also includes interpretive bits that were added to the biblical texts for Aramaic listeners.
vi. Notice 10.5 where Jesus charges his disciples to go out, but "nowhere among the Gentiles." Clearly, Matthew saw the primary mission as among the Jewish people.
vii. Early in the sermon on the mount, 5.17, Jesus says "do not think I have come to loose the law and the prophets. . . ." This is a clear warning that Jews should not abandon their halakhah
d. Matthew clearly stresses that Jesus' mission was consistent with Scriptures.
i. God is at work in fulfilling God's promises.
ii. Why, in 1.17, does Matthew claim that the genealogy can be gathered into three groups of fourteen?
(1) (Although one group only has thirteen, and he had to leave out some folks to make it work. Some people said Matthew had to give up being a tax collector could not count.)
(2) Three groups of fourteen makes six groups of seven, so the next group will be the "seventh seven." This is a very holy number - seven is the number of God's activity.
(3) So, Matthew is trying to imply that the life of Jesus begins the "seventh seven" of God's people, which is the fulfillment of God's purposes.
iii. Matthew, more than others, uses phrases like "all this was done in fulfillment of the Scriptures" like in 1.22.
(1) These are "formula quotations"
(2) There is a list of these in the syllabus.
(3) In general, when New Testament writers quote from the "Scriptures" they quote from the Septuagint. Matthew's formula quotations, however, seem to be independent of the Septuagint.
(a) Maybe Matthew's community, being Jewish, studied Aramaic scriptures instead of Greek.
(b) This would be a further indication that Matthew wrote for a Jewish church.
(c) Matthew's method is a little like the formulae used at Qumran for commentary. This again focuses our attention on Matthew's location in the holy land.
(4) Some argue that Matthew invented some narratives about Jesus to fit the prophesies.
(a) Chris thinks the truth is exactly the opposite.
(b) Chris thinks Matthew uses scriptural quotations to fit parts of the narrative to help explain why God did things in this particular way.
(c) The story of the Virgin birth is one example. The passage from Isaiah, as Becky told us, does not really deal with a virgin birth at all; it refers to a young woman or girl. So Matthew stretched the Isaiah passage to fit what happened.
Note: we got to page 30 in the syllabus when time expired.

New Testament Foundations I: March 9, 1999

44. Matthew: The Birth Narrative.
a. The inclusion of a birth narrative is also a characteristic of a Greco-Roman life.
b. At the time Matthew wrote the gospel, the title "Christos" in 1.1 implied the Messiah. It was not at all a common thing to say as it is now.
i. Interestingly, Matthew both begins and ends with a reference to David and Abraham.
ii. At the end is the phrase "All power in heaven and on earth . . ." which should remind us of Daniel 7.14. The Greek is very close there to Matt. 28.18.
iii. The "Son of Man" from Daniel was a Davidic descendant, so this end of the gospel is an allusion to the Davidic Messiah mentioned in Daniel 7.
iv. Then, in 28.19, He says to go make disciples of "all the nations" which was part of the covenant with Abraham, "you shall be a blessing to all nations."
c. Back to the genealogy.
i. There is a reference to a lot of women, many of whom are foreigners, and some who did not have proper marital relations.
ii. He even says that David beget Solomon by "her of Uriah," underscoring David's sin.
iii. Why?
(1) It shows the inclusiveness of Jesus, even to slaves, women, and other not so admirable people.
(2) It showed that any question about Jesus' birth by Mary "out of wedlock" was certainly not unusual.
(3) It may have been a way to prepare hearers for the parts of the narrative wherein Jesus deals with women.
(4) In Old Testament times, "Jewishness" was traced through a person's father, but in the 1st century, it changed, and "Jewishness" was traced through the mother. We are not sure why, but compassion for Jewish girls who had been raped by outsiders may have played a part in it.
(5) So, even if Joseph was not Jesus' biological father, it is an irrelevant point.
d. Matthew gives a meaning of the name Jesus. "You will call Him Jesus because He will save His nation from their sins." (2.21)
e. The Magi.
i. The first thing to notice is that they were Gentiles.
ii. The second thing to notice is that it is similar to the birth of Moses. Josephus' account of Moses' birth says the reason Pharoah ordered all the male children killed is because his wise men had foretold a great ruler would arise from the Hebrews. Also, where Moses was born was filled with light. Here , the star comes to rest over the place where Jesus lay.
iii. So, Matthew is saying that Jesus is a new and greater Moses.
iv. In 2.23, there is a little bit that says they went to Nazareth to fulfill the prophecy that he was supposed to be called a Nazarene. But it is hard now to find any such prophecy. It just shows us that the canon was not settled.

45. Matthew: John the Baptist.
a. Notice that John and Jesus proclaim the same thing: the Kingdom of God is at hand. (Or "Kingdom of Heaven," which means the same thing. Matthew is just avoiding using the name of God.)
b. What does repentance mean?
i. In Hebrew, it means "turn back."
ii. In Greek, it means "think again."
iii. Both concepts are important to us.
c. What does the Kingdom of God (or Heaven) mean?
i. Everybody knew what he was referring to.
ii. God is fulfilling God's promises and vindicating God's people.
d. In Matt 11, John expresses some puzzlement about whether Jesus was indeed the Messiah, since the Kingdom of God Jesus is bringing is not what the ordinary Jew would have expected.
e. At verse 7, Matthew departs from the Markan material, and adds something attributed to "Q" since it is also in Luke. Luke has just a general tirade against people; Matthew goes after the Pharisees in particular. Matt does not like Pharisees, and shows it over and over. Matt is the really anti-Pharisaic gospel.
i. Matt wrote for primarily a Jewish group, which might have found itself more seriously threatened by the Pharisees.
ii. Also, Matt enshrines the memory of the Pharisees as the ones who brought about the destruction of the temple and Jerusalem. See Matt 23 where the Pharisees are most strongly indicted, which ends with a reference to the destruction of the temple, veiled as "the blood of the righteous on the altar."
iii. All Jews of this period, even those who followed Jesus, would have assumed that Torah still applied to them and had to be interpreted, but they may have disagreed strongly with the Pharisees interpreted it.
f. John is portrayed as saying he is not worthy to untie the thong of Jesus' sandal. (3.11) A Rabbi had the right to expect any sort of reasonable service from his students. Some rabbis thought, however, that asking one to take off your sandal would be hazing. So John is saying that even a service that is too menial for a rabbinical student is greater than he is worthy of when it comes to the coming one.
g. Jesus is baptized by John just like in Mark, but obviously the question had arisen by the time of Matt's gospel as to why Jesus would be baptized by John. So, Matt includes the little conversation at 3.14-15. Jesus says it is to fulfill all "righteousness."
i.  is the Greek word used for "righteousness" here. It is also from time to time used for "justice."
ii. The word really means behavior that accords with the covenant.
iii. Chris prefers the word "just" because you cannot be "just" by yourself; the word implies a relationship.
iv.  also implies a relationship, since there cannot be a covenant without a relationship.
v. So Jesus is saying that it is right for me to do all that God's people should do, since Jesus chooses to be a part of God's people, even though He is not guilty of the sins for which the baptism is mandated.
vi. That's why Jesus hangs on a tree; He did it for our sakes and to identify with us as sinners.
vii. It is an issue of identification.
viii. Before John, there was no religious connotation attached to the word "baptism." It meant "washing." So, we could have called him "John the washer." There was some ritual washing ceremonies, but John's is the first instance of the type baptism he was performing of which we have a record. Maybe it was unique.
ix. Another point is that Jesus underscores that ministry is done with and not to people.
h. Then the Spirit descends like a dove, and the voice of God proclaims Jesus "My Son."
i. This was written for Greek speaking people.
ii. The story of the binding of Isaac in Greek has God saying to Abraham to take your son, "the beloved." It is the same words exactly that are attributed to God here about Jesus. Chris thinks this is a purposeful echo to remind the hearers of Isaac.
iii. The story of Isaac had become in Jewish midrash a very important story. We can find it in the Targam. The sacrifice is seen as an act so righteous, especially Isaac's willingness, that God would never forget it. So, no matter how badly Israel messed up, God would spare God's people remembering the righteousness of Isaac.
iv. Clearly, Matthew ties that righteousness to Jesus here. Jesus is "God's Isaac" who will be bound and sacrificed on the cross, and the people are instructed not to forget it.


New Testament Foundations I: March 11, 1999

46. Matthew cont.
a. Chapter 4. Jesus was led into the wilderness. This is clearly following Mark at this point.
i. In a Greco-Roman life, a hero is appointed, then the hero is tested, and then he goes on to do great things.
ii. Here is the same pattern. Jesus was commissioned in Baptism, then is tested.
iii. Unlike Mark, however, Matthew (as does Luke) puts in details about the tests.
(1) The "tempting one" in the Greek is better translated "testing one"; there is a positive aspect to the word.
(a) But there is a sinister aspect about testing God.
(b) That's why Matthew always describes the Pharisees as "testing" Jesus.
(2) First is the temptation to make stones into bread because Jesus is hungry.
(a) The real issue is the fact that the tester starts the test with "If you are the Son of God . . . ."
(b) There are two levels going on. Israel was God's Son; Israel was the chosen of God.
(c) But chosen for what? To claim special privileges? NO. The election is for service, not personal privilege.
(d) So the proper response to the test is to reject any temptation to use personal privilege. Jesus answers out of His humanity, not divinity: "A human being does not live by bread alone . . . ."
(e) The other level is, of course, God's recent pronouncement that "this is my beloved Son," with all the implications from Isaac, the one willing to be bound.
(f) Interestingly, when Jesus says that humans shall live by every "word" from God, the word used can also be translated as thing, because a thing becomes real when it can be named.
(3) Next, the tester takes Jesus to the "pinnacle" of the temple, whatever that means.
(a) Again the tester starts with "If you are the Son," only now the devil uses Scripture. (Mark uses Satan; Matthew uses devil.) (And yes, the devil can quote Scripture.)
(b) Now the devil is testing the extent of Jesus' belief.
(c) Jesus again responds from Deuteronomy 6 - 8, which is the testing of Israel in the wilderness. This is another way that Matthew is saying Jesus is Israel getting it right this time.
(d) Jesus quotes 6:16, "You shall not test the Lord your God." Why?
(e) There is always a temptation to test love, but by testing it, one demonstrates a lack of faith in it. One who is quite certain of the love has no reason to test it. So, putting God to the test is not an act of belief, but unbelief.
(f) Besides, the text about angels bearing Him up will be fulfilled in the resurrection, after the passion, not before.
(4) Finally, the tester wants Jesus to transfer allegiance.
(a) Jesus now dismisses the devil. He dismisses only one other person; He dismissed Peter when Peter tried to talk Him out of the crucifixion.
(b) This temptation was seen as becoming the Davidic, military Messiah that others want Him to be.
(c) Matthew wrote in about 85, when the memory of the rebellion against Rome was fresh in the minds of his hearers.
(d) There is another level again, however, that has to do with Israel's calling.
(e) To be restored to the place which was originally intended for Adam, the world is His by right; He does not need the devil to give it to Him.
(i) Adam and Eve lost their vice-regency in the first place because they succumbed to the tempter's suggestion that they needed to put God to the test.
(ii) So here the devil comes again, with another attempt.
(f) The devil then leaves.
iv. Matthew then returns to the Markan narrative, except he leaves out the stuff about the animals. Then angels come and render "royal service," diakonon.
b. 4.12, Jesus hears John had been "handed over," which is the act that is done to Jesus later, and Judas will be described as the "hander over."
c. So He left Nazareth, and dwelt in Capernaum, and makes reference to Zebulun-Naphtali. Again, this reference is made to bring in some other Old Testament reference. The Isaiah reference talks about the land of Zebulun, the land of Naphtali and "the Galilee of the nations." That's how Matthew used Old Testament allusions; he goes along with the narrative, and finds Old Testament passages that fit it.
i. The Greek here implies that Jesus lived in a house.
ii. Also in Mark, there are several references to Jesus giving instructions to His disciples "in the house." The implication is that it occurred in Jesus' own house.
iii. Jesus saying He had no place to lay His head was therefore figurative.
d. From this time on, Jesus proclaimed, which we translate as "preach." This is okay as long as we do not treat the word "preach" as moralizing. Preaching is proclaiming good tidings.
i. Jesus said, "Think again, the Kingdom of Heaven has drawn near."
ii. Only in Matthew does the proclamation of Jesus match the proclamation of John.
iii. The proclaiming good tidings is the next step for a hero.
iv. The step after that, for a hero, is to call followers, and that is what Matthew has Jesus do.
(1) Come with me, and I will make you "fish for people."
(2) This is curious, because there is a slightly sinister implication.
(3) They left their nets and followed Him immediately.
(4) Then He calls two other, the sons of Zebedee.
e. Matthew then gives a summary of the whole ministry.
i. There is a mention of Syria in 4.24, which may be a hint that this was where Matthew's original audience was.
ii. Jesus heals a bunch of folks, and gets a large following.
47. The sermon on the mount. When He saw the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, like Moses, and Jesus sat, as did Moses, to teach.
a. Then, Jesus proclaims the new Torah, or teaching.
b. The "sermon on the mount" is then put in the form of deliberate rhetoric. There are three kinds of rhetoric:
i. Deliberative - a prediction about the future, about which people are invited to make a decision.
ii. Judicial - something that happened in the past about which people are invited to make a judgement.
iii. Epidektic - People are invited to adopt a particular attitude as opposed to doing something.
c. The sermon follows a classic pattern for deliberative rhetoric. So here, people are invited to make decisions about how they will live their lives.
i. There is a prologue, in 5:3-16, which establishes a great deal about the speaker.
ii. Then there is a proposition from 5:17-20.
iii. Then there a series of headings explaining how the propositions can be applied, which is the bulk of the speech.
iv. Then there is an epilogue, in which people are exhorted to action. There are two bases for action.
(1) Honor
(2) Expediency - this is the method Jesus chooses.
d. The prologue. The beatitudes explain who the kingdom is all about. They use the work "makarios" which we translate as "blessed," but should better be translated as "happy," which is beautiful irony.
i. The poor in spirit can have the kingdom. This goes back to Adam. He had it until he tried to be God.
ii. Those who mourn will be comforted. This is very Jewish. God will not allow creation to go unrestored.
iii. The meek shall inherit the earth, which is almost a direct quote of Psalm 36(?), those who humble themselves before God. It is close to the first beatitude.
iv. Those who hunger and thirst for justice actually want a right relationship with God.
v. The merciful shall receive mercy. This is classic rabbinic teaching of the Jews.

New Testament Foundations I: March 30, 1999

48. Matthew cont.
a. The beatitudes follow, in a lot of ways, the genre of classical rhetoric.
i. There is a surprising "prologue" or proem, in which Matthew says, "Happy are they . . .," not "blessed.
ii. Following the proem is the main message, which is that Torah is being fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
iii. Then, on the basis of that, we go to the heading, which in deliberative rhetoric invites listeners to make decisions.
iv. The first series, the so called antitheses (but not accurately) start at 5.21. These are not really antitheses, because they do not contradict what went on before.
(1) The ones beginning at 38 and at 43 are radical.
(2) At 38 He replaces "eye for an eye" with non-resistance.
(3) Then, at 43, He said "You have heard it said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy." Where does it say that? Obviously this is interpretation. Scriptures never taught specifically to hate enemies.
(4) These have political overtones and set Him apart from the Zealots, who might otherwise have supported Him. He isolated Himself from both the religious establishment and the left wing revolutionaries.
b. Beginning at Chapter 6, Jesus speaks about alms-giving, fasting, and prayer. There is nothing radical here; this is standard rabbinical teaching.
c. The center of this section is the Lord's Prayer. This is one of several forms. They do contain the same elements.
i. The address to God "Abba."
ii. The affirmation that the will of God be done.
iii. The one who prays brings her or his own needs before God.
d. (So, the prayer in the Garden of Gethsemene is another version of the Lord's Prayer, since it contains all the same elements.)
e. What about calling God "Father"?
i. In the whole Hebrew tradition, your father is the one considered "loyal" to you; the one who will never abandon his seed no matter what.
(1) When God is called "father" in the Old Testament it is in the context of the father Israel, not the father of all humanity.
(2) Often, it is in the context of how Israel has caused pain to God, or betrayed God, yet God remained faithful. See Isaiah 1.2 and 63.16. The label of "Father" is never used to describe the judgmental or vengeful God, only the loving God.
ii. So, the label is not "bad news" - a father figure out to get you; it is "good news," the loyal one who will continue to stick to you.
iii. Jesus' use of "father" personally was "Abba," which is a familiar appellation, not the same word used in the Old Testament.
(1) It is an Aramaic word, yet even to the early Greek speaking church the word "Abba" was the word taught to refer to God.
(2) "Abba" was a trusting word, not unlike "Dad," as opposed to "Father." It is what Hebrew children called their male parent "Abba," as well as older male relatives they loved very much.
(3) Chris prefers the old form of the Lord's Prayer, because the introduction says "we are bold to say,". . . This is more like Jesus' teaching, we have the nerve to call God "Daddy." This is bound up in Jesus' use of the word.
(4) One reason the word was retained in Greek is because there was not a Greek equivalent. Matthew changed it to the formal word, but Luke used a vocative, which scholars believe may be his attempt to retain the force of "Abba."
f. We are instructed not only to be so bold as to call God "Daddy," but to affirm God's will. How can mere creatures be so pompous as to affirm the Creator's will be done? Only because we are told to do so.
g. "The time of trial" refers to the ultimate test that might tempt us to apostasy. This is one of the primary, final needs, along with heavenly bread and forgiveness. It is thus eschatological, as well as immediate needs.
h. Then there is a little teaching, "if you cancel the debts of other people, your own false steps will be canceled, but if you do not cancel the debts of others, then your own debts will not be canceled."
i. By using the Greek word for "debt," we are reminded that forgiveness involves an act of the will rather than having a particular emotion.
ii. When we counsel, then, we can sometimes urge someone to act in forgiveness even if the emotion of anger is still there.
i. We should read the passage starting at 6.25 about "worry" every day in seminary.
j. At chapter 7, we are warned about judging. This does not mean we should refrain from making decisions, but setting one's self up as the arbiter of good and evil. This was Adam's original sin, the attempt to become an arbiter of good and evil.
k. Then there is an epilogue to the rhetoric about accepting the words or not at verse 7.24 - 27.

49. Other discourses in Matthew.
a. Matthew likes to have "two" of everything. There are two demons and there are two blind men Chris does not know why he does this. (NOTE, there are not two angels in the tomb in Matthew as in John and Luke, however.)
b. The Missionary Charge is the second great discourse.
i. In Matthew 10, Jesus gives the twelve He called immediate authority to participate in His ministry.
ii. Then, the twelve are named. Everyone is identified; there are no mere numbers here.
iii. Then there is the charge, in two parts.
(1) The first, 10.5-15, recalls Jesus' initial ministry to His own people first, and not to anyone else. Even the Son of God had a limited ministry, which is a lesson for us.
(2) There is a proclamation in verse 7, which recalls John the Baptist, the kingdom of God is at hand.
(3) People tramping about urging change was a common thing in those times. The Cynics practiced this, and so some scholars likened Jesus to a Cynic sage. But there were some striking differences:
(a) The Cynic sages begged. They carried a purse, which was their most characteristic marks, but Jesus strictly forbids them to carry such a purse.
(b) The Cynic totally rejected all attempts hospitality; Jesus told them to welcome it.
iv. The second part of the charge expands on the first.
(1) This speaks to the future mission of the church.
(2) There are exhortations against being anxious or fearful, even in the face of predicted persecutions.
(3) Verse 34 is the prediction of division. The word of the Gospel does, in fact, cause divisions.
c. The third great Matthean address is the Parables of the Kingdom.
i. There are several such parables beginning at Chapter 13.
ii. There is a repetition of some of the ideas of Chapter 4, but they are expanded.
iii. Part of this is the theology developed by the early church; that God did not cast off Israel, but God is raising up the Gentiles because of Israel's rejection. Matthew shows this in these parables.


New Testament Foundations I: April 1, 1999

50. Aside - we need to do background reading no matter what. Start with the texts, then and only then go to the background reading. The shorter articles are a good starting place for the background, such as the Oxford Companion articles. These at least bring us into the academic conversation. Next, go to the Jerome commentary.

51. Matthew cont.
a. The Mission charge in chapter 10 has "Jesus" as the noun in almost every sentence. It is Jesus who calls, Jesus who instructs, and Jesus who sends out. A calling is not merely what we feel in our heart; there has to be external vocation as well as internal vocation. If one is not called externally, one is not called internally no matter what one might think.
i. The Hebrew word is shaliach. It is translated into Greek as apostolos, which means a "sent person."
ii. A "shaliach" is a person commissioned and sent with full authority as a representative of the sender for which the person is sent.
iii. If the "sent person" is rejected, then the sender is likewise rejected, much like an ambassador.
iv. The representative is always personally appointed.
v. This is why Paul is very careful to describe his experience on the road to illustrate the personal appointment in the last post-resurrection appearance.
vi. After Jesus' apostles died, there were no more; they were replaced by persons sent by the church, and are thus representatives of the church.
vii. The church still remains, however, the personally commissioned community, and it continues. This is what we mean by the apostolic church.
b. Chapter 13 - Parables.
i. These are the most characteristic teaching of our Lord. Even the most skeptical critics, like Bultmann, treat parables as authentic words of Jesus.
ii. A "parable" is something that stands next to another for comparison.
iii. The Hebrew word is mashal, and what one gets from it is nimshal. It can be explanatory, teasing, challenging, or a number of things.
(1) The rabbis told parables, and some of them are similar to Jesus' teaching.
(2) One is the parable of the last things, and to show that the new redemption will be greater than the old, he compared it to a man who first had a daughter, and then had a son.
(3) Another rabbi who lived when Jesus lived who said God's choosing of Israel is like a man who gave one servant a piece of meat, to another a vegetable, and to another an egg. When his son came in, however, he gave him the full meal, saying to the others he only gave a piece of the whole, but to his son he gave everything.
iv. For many years, people interpreted parables fully allegorical. But this interpretation got out of hand, since you can make anything stand for anything else.
v. Adolph Julinger (?) said that allegory goes to far, and parable are told to illustrate only one point.
vi. Chris thinks the truth is in the middle. There are some allegorical truths, but there is another way to read them as well.
vii. Parables are particularly oral.
(1) They invite response.
(2) Jesus often says "who has ears to hear, let that person hear."
(3) This means there may not be a single "correct" interpretation.
viii. Chapter 13 starts with the parable of the sower.
(1) This is essentially a story about the truth that "sometimes it works, and sometimes it does not."
(2) The disciples then ask why Jesus teaches in parables in Matthew.
(3) Jesus' answer in verse 11 is almost a restatement of the same point.
(a) To you is given the mysterion that is given to the initiate.
(b) To those who have, more will be given, to those who have little, even that will be taken away.
(c) Christ thinks this is not a statement of the purpose of the parable, but the effect. The reaction to the parable shows where we are, and what "kind of soil" we are.
(d) Thus, the parable is like grace: it offers and invites, but it does not compel.
(4) This brings us back to the nimsha.
ix. Luke 16 contains an example that there can be more than one nimsha. [This is the parable of the unjustly accused steward.]
x. A comparison of Luke 15, the lost sheep with Matthew's version, gives another example. In Luke 15, the point is recovering that which is already lost. In Matthew 18, it is to keep any from becoming lost. [Chris says never explain our stories; it is like a joke, if we have to explain it, it does not work.]
xi. Jesus' parables are unique. Only one or two rabbinic parables out of a six hundred year tradition are worthy of Jesus. Their parables are about Torah; Jesus talks about the kingdom of God.
(1) Jesus used every day examples.
(2) Nobody produced the volume and quality of parabolic teaching that Jesus did; in this He was unique.

c. The Last Supper, Matthew 26.20
i. Karl Barth points out the disciples are not kidding when they ask "Is it I?" They are all potential betrayers, and they all ultimately take flight. This is a meal for sinners.
ii. The dipping of the bread is not a matter of identification, but of unity. This is one meal in a long chain of communal meals with this group. They continued on even after the resurrection.
(1) There was profound significance in the ancient world to sharing a meal.
(2) This is how reconciliation occurs - it is a sign of unity.
(3) The worst form of betrayal is to betray one with whom you have shared table.
(4) So, when Jesus says "the one who is dipping bread with me" is the betrayer, Jesus is illustrating the heinousness of the crime, not the identity of the betrayer.
iii. Food was more precious in the ancient world than it is to us. So sharing this precious commodity is a profound act.
(1) This is why pious people objected to Jesus' eating with sinners.
(2) By eating with them, Jesus make a covenant with them.
(3) But here, Jesus shares table with those He knows will betray Him. Is this not worse?
iv. The institution of the Last Supper for us. 26.26.
(1) Jesus took, blessed, and broke bread and gave it to them. Surely Jesus did this all the time. The significance is that it shows they are of one family.
(2) On the night before His death it was either Passover or the night before (we honestly do not know) so this was as a Seder meal to celebrate deliverance. This is not deliverance that happened to someone else, but to those participating.

New Testament Foundations I: April 6, 1999

52. Language clues. In the Gospels, although they were written in Greek, there are certain phrases preserved in Aramaic. This lends credibility to the stories. The conversation between Mary and the Risen Lord is one of these. He calls her "Mariam," and she responds "Rabouni" which is "My Teacher." Obviously these syllables were so significant to the early church that the words as they were spoken were preserved.

53. The Last Supper cont.
a. Many of the resurrection experiences are associated with a shared meal. This is how the presence of the Lord was experienced. So the Last Supper fits in this category as well.
b. There are several different versions. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Paul all wrote about it. Matthew, Mark and Paul are similar. Luke is a bit different, and John's is very different.
c. The common emphasis of the three similar accounts is that the twelve were gathered with Jesus. Women must have been present (where else would they have been?) but the emphasis is on the twelve. This symbolizes the presence of the people of God; that's why the number twelve is significant.
d. In this twelve, one is an active traitor, one actively denies Him, and the rest fail to stand by Him, so this was a table for sinners.
e. Jesus, as head of the household, was expected to tell the story of redemption with the elements; that's what happened at a Passover meal. But Jesus tells a different story.
i. Jesus uses the words of ritual sacrifice.
ii. He is speaking of himself as the sacrificial victim.
iii. So, to share in the meal is to find yourself in the fellowship meal with the Messiah, but what it costs the Messiah is his death.
iv. Drinking the cup is like being sprinkled with the blood of the covenant, only now it is a new covenant.
v. Matthew is specific that this blood is for atonement and for our reconciliation to God.(26.28). "For you and for many" is an Aramaic idiom that is meant to be inclusive, not exclusive.
f. In both Matthew and Mark, Jesus mentions abstinence; "I will never again drink of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom."
g. According to Luke and Paul, but not in Matthew and Mark, Jesus says "Do this in remembrance of me." This may have been dropped from the other gospel accounts because one does not recite a rubric; one does a rubric.
i. What is meant by "remembrance"? The Greek word is anamnesis. This is the word used in the instructions to the Hebrews concerning the Passover.
ii. This is not just remembering; it is recalling to present reality.
iii. When God remembers, God acts. In Genesis, God says when God sees the rainbow in the sky, God will remember God's covenant with all living creatures. Later, God is implored to remember Isaac and hear our prayer.
iv. This is the pattern of thought Jesus uses. Bring it to a present reality.

54. Jesus' Death.
a. The New Testament obviously attributes great significance to Jesus' death. Paul says "Christ died for our sins," a theme which is repeated over and over in lots of different ways in the New Testament.
b. Was this just the hindsight opinion of the church, or was it Jesus' opinion as well?
c. First, recall the heavenly voice at Jesus' baptism. This is an obvious connection to Isaac, and brings to mind atonement.
d. The reference of "the Lamb of God" in John is another reference to atonement. So at least we know the idea was alive from the beginning of the Gospel tradition.
e. There are also a number of predictions of Jesus Passion.
i. These predictions all contain the word "must"; the Son of Man "must" suffer.
ii. This "must" means that Jesus knows it, and goes willingly. Jesus is never merely a helpless victim; Jesus is a willing victim. He tells Pilate that he could summon legions of angels. (26.55) He also says "No one takes my life from me, I lay it down." (John 10.17).
iii. Some scholars say these are prophecies put in after the fact.
iv. But Chris suggests that if someone wanted to put them in after the fact, why would they appear in this way? They are remarkably vague. Why would not the Gospel writers have put in more precision? They may have been "touched up" with after-the-fact knowledge, but the kernel of the prophecies was probably already present.
f. Nobody is certain whether the Jews had the legal authority to exercise the death penalty or not. The Romans granted it sometimes and withheld it sometimes. It did not stop the mob from stoning Stephen, but this may have been an illegal execution performed by a mob out of control.
g. Mark 10.55.
i. The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give His life as a "lutron."
ii. This Greek word is used three different ways in the Septuagint.
(1) The head of the household that will come get you out of trouble,
(2) A ransom, or sum of money, to cover a debt, and
(3) A ransom to paid to kidnappers.
iii. So again, like He said at the Last Supper, He saw himself as shedding his blood as coming within God's providence as an act of redemption for all.
h. Pagans as well as Hebrews at the time were very comfortable with the idea of sacrifice for atonement. It is we who find the ideas uncomfortable.
i. Thus, we need to be wary of laying our own psychological proclivities upon Jesus, who would not have had trouble with the atonement concept.


New Testament Foundations I: April 8, 1999

55. Luke 1
a. Introduction. Compare the first several verses of Luke with the first several verses of Acts.
i. It looks as though they were written by the same author, to the same person, about the same person, and the audience of each was already familiar with Christianity.
ii. It looks like the Gospel account is a volume one and Acts is volume two. It is very similar to Josephus' apology.
iii. He purports to set forth an orderly narrative, using eyewitness accounts, and things that have been passed on. It is based upon research.
iv. Ordinarily, this would be called history. Luke follows the form of a Greco-Roman life, but it is bound up in history. Chris says this is what he thought he was writing. A Roman historia.
(1) The word historia is slightly different than our word history.
(2) The basic meaning of the word meant a basic account, like a story, which was written for a purpose. It is not so much a collection of facts as an explanation.
(3) Luke uses eyewitnesses and also claims to have been involved in some events. In chapter 16 of Acts, the narrative shifts to first person. [Notice Luke makes many references to the Spirit.] The first person passages are identical in style to the third person passages.
(4) There were three different kinds of history.
(a) Type one was dramatic history. The purpose of it was similar to the purpose of tragedy. Tragedy served as catharsis of pity and fear.
(b) Type two was serious with a view to action. Its purpose was to provide a useful source of information for those engaged in political and military life. (Pragmatic.)
(c) Type three was rhetorical or Isocratean, from Isocretes, a contemporary of Plato who stressed rhetoric over philosophy. The historian's task in this type was to bestow honor (exhonorato). This was the type that Luke wrote.
b. Richard Perbo recently wrote a book about Acts called Prophet and Delight who argued that it was originally intended to be a romance. The accounts have storms and dramatic rescues as romances did in that period. Chris does not agree with him; after all, there is no real romantic involvement.

56. Luke's theme of universality.
a. The nunc dimmitis at 2.29 is one of the first notable features about Luke. Luke is a universalist. God wills that all people should come to the truth. God calls people from every nation, and not just people from Israel.
b. Luke's use of Isaiah in the baptism is a bit different from Matthew and Mark in that he continues the quotation to say "and all flesh shall see the salvation of God." (See 3.4)
c. Luke's genealogy takes the line all the way back to Adam, not just to Abraham. (3.23)
d. The opening story of Acts, the disciples ask Jesus whether this is the time when the kingdom of Israel will be restored. Jesus tells them that it is not for them to know or to worry about. He then tells them that power will come and make them witnesses to the end of the world, which meant it will spread out all the way to Rome.
e. Notice that the account in Luke is that a great many Jews did accept the Gospel. Not all Jews rejected it; this is a mistaken impression.
f. After Paul has been converted in Acts 9, which is a big event, Ananias is told by Jesus to baptize Paul because he has been chosen to carry the good news to gentiles, to kings, and to princes. (9.15).


New Testament Foundations I: April 13, 1999

57. The outline, beginning on page 37, has several headings for studying Luke. We will get in our small groups and each take a section and prepare a twenty minute presentation. Our group will do "Christianity is Respectable." How has Luke patterned the Gospel to appeal to respectable people?

58. Luke's Birth Narratives
a. There are virtually no parallel in the New Testament with Luke's birth narratives.
b. The opening.
i. The opening is extremely formal.
ii. There is a slight hint that previous efforts at setting out the accounts have not been successful.
iii. There is also the implication that these matters have future import.
iv. There is a stress on eyewitnesses "from the beginning," which becomes the stress for choosing a new apostle in Acts. Eyewitnesses are described as "ministers" of the word, which is why the apostles had to appoint deacons to serve at table.
v. There is a certain amount of "purposeful" ambiguity. Only modern biblical scholars have tried to pinpoint one intended meaning for words; ancient scholars were comfortable having multiple meanings for words.
vi. "It seemed good to me," is a phrase that Luke uses again in chapter 15 in Acts as the excuse for accepting Gentiles into their company.
vii. Lucian wrote a treatise on how to write a history. It provides insight into what Luke was doing in this opening.
viii. Theophilus, which means "friend of God," may or may not have been a financial patron of Luke. Addressing this person as "most excellent" was a typical greeting to a patron.
ix. Why did Theophilus need "security" to have the "truth"?
(1) To calm down Rome.
(2) To reassure the early church that God was faithful.
(3) To give the early church some historical grounding.
c. Luke then does an abrupt change of style. This is very Hellenistic, to adopt a particular style. This is the style of the Septuagint, clearly. He stays in this deliberate biblical style throughout the birth narrative.
d. The story starts with some righteous people, Zechariah and Elizabeth.
i. They are good people, but they are barren.
ii. This is a classical biblical story. Righteous barren women always wind up having a child for the deliverance of Israel.
iii. There is a very accurate account of the way the temple works.
iv. Their prayer, of course, gets answered. This is a repeated theme in Luke-Acts. (Remember Cornelius - even outsiders have their prayers answered.)
v. Zechariah can't quite accept the news, so the angel Gabriel strikes him dumb.
e. Luke then gives a parallel story of the foretelling of the birth of Jesus.
i. The angel appears to Mary and tells similar news.
ii. The differences, however, are striking.
iii. John is to be called "great before the Lord," while Jesus will be called "Son of the Most High"; John in to prepare the way; Jesus is to rule.
iv. The other difference is the concentration on the man in the foretelling of John and the concentration on the woman in the foretelling of Jesus.
(1) When the man expresses disbelief, he is struck dumb; when Mary expresses disbelief, she is reassured.
(2) The man has long credentials, however; the woman is portrayed as a very simple girl.
(3) The other difference is that if Z's wife becomes pregnant, he gets honor; if the unmarried woman gets pregnant, she becomes an outcast. So, she is entitled to consolation.
f. The visit by Mary to Elizabeth ties the two parallel stories together.
i. Here is a remarkable tribute to women.
ii. Elizabeth's greeting is the first human testimony to the coming Messiah.
iii. Then, in response, the Magnificat is a very significant proclamation.
g. Then the birth narratives are again parallel stories.
i. Luke makes it clear again that John's parents are good, faithful Jews.
(1) There is social pressure on the parents to name the child for his father.
(2) It is the mother that insists on the name John. The father agrees, and his "tongue is loosed," which always happens when one is faithful.
(3) Zechariah's hymn of praise is inverted from the Magnificat. It starts with salvation for everyone, and then concentrates on the particular child.
ii. The story of Jesus' birth is sort of parallel, but contains striking contrasts.
(1) There is the contrast between the angelic chorus and the shepherds.
(a) Although shepherds were of low esteem, they come to worship the successor to Moses, who was a shepherd, and who will be called a shepherd.
(b) So, there is fitting symbology.
(2) There is the contrast between the circumstances of John's birth among family and Jesus' birth in a foreign city.
h. Jesus is taken to the temple for purification rites.
i. There is an old fellow named Simeon. He also gets a hymn to sing, the nunc dimittis.
(1) Like Mary, he starts with a personal blessing, then introduces a program for the whole Gospel.
(2) The later problem of being accepting to Gentiles and yet having the question of rejection of Israel is contained here. "He shall be a light ..." and to Mary, "a sword will pierce your heart..." Here Mary is a symbol for Israel.
ii. Both Simeon and old Anna accept Jesus for who he is, but there is a foretelling that not everyone will accept him.
iii. Again, both Simeon and Anna are portrayed as good, orthodox, faithful Jews.
i. The last narrative in the sequence is Jesus' appearance in the temple as a young boy.
i. This is unparalleled in the New Testament elsewhere.
ii. This would be typical in Hellenistic literature.
iii. Like the other stories, it is beautifully told, with a lost child and frantic parents.
iv. It allows Luke again to show the centrality of the holy city and the temple.
(1) Luke accepts the piety and faithfulness of Jesus' parents.
(2) Jesus is "teaching" the learned men in the temple.
(3) The major problem is in 2.49. "I must be in my Father's house."
(4) What He "must" do is teach.
v. There is an issue of dishonoring parents, but he was honoring God, and so he was not disobedient.

New Testament Foundations I: April 15, 1999

59. Luke - Acts cont.
a. Pentecost, Acts 2:1. Apparently, women were present on the Day of Pentecost as well as the men, since they are mentioned at 1.14, and Luke does not change the scene in any way.
b. The Hebrew word for Pentecost is Shabbuoth or "weeks." It is associated with a particular element in Torah, the giving of the law.
c. There was a rush of a "violent wind" and Luke is careful to describe it as both corporate and individual.
i. They spoke in "other tongues."
ii. Different men from different nations were bewildered, because each heard his own language.
iii. They were "beside themselves."
iv. Others were skeptical, claiming they must be drunk on "new wine."
v. This division, that some people accept the word as good news and others as drunken nonsense, is also a pattern that is repeated.
d. Commentators have a hard time making sense out of a unique experience. Luke is saying this is the giving of a new law.
i. One of the patterns is that it is given to Jews first, then to the rest of the world.
ii. Yet Luke hints that a wider dispersion is coming.
iii. The list of places is probably traditional, and meant to represent every place where there is a Jewish diaspora.
iv. The mention of "visitors from Rome" foreshadows Paul's later visit when he finds Christians already present. Nobody knows how that church got started.
e. Next is Peter's Pentecost sermon, which is in three parts.
i. The first part is a recitation of Scriptures.
(1) He addresses the "men."
(2) Notice that women have equality when there is a description of the internal community, but men are more prominent in the public acts of the church.
(3) Peter mentions both men and women, as did Joel, from which he quotes.
(4) He takes a long passage from Joel, and it is striking what Peter sees in it. These are the "last days" according to Luke.
ii. The second part ties Jesus to the Scriptures by "mighty works, wonders, and signs," which is the same terminology found in Joel.
(1) Restating it in the same language is the way one demonstrates that prophecy was fulfilled.
(2) This does not mean that a story is "made up" to fit Scriptures; it means that the story teller recognizes the events in the light of prior Scriptures.
iii. He then quotes a psalm (16:8-11 and part of 110) and compares Jesus to David.
(1) The psalmist could not have been referring to David, because everyone knew David was dead and where he was buried.
(2) Jesus, on the other hand, was raised up by God, and to this fact they are all witnesses.
(3) By using both psalms, the Hebrew teacher would validate one against the other.
(4) Through this "proof," Peter proclaims that Jesus is the "Lord" about which the psalmist was referring.
(5) Kay had a footnote that traditionally it was believed David died on Pentecost.
f. When the people hear the sermon, they ask what they should do, and Peter tells them to repent and be baptized.
i. This is the "proper programmatic response" of the church throughout Luke's writing, and even today by the church.
ii. Again, Luke makes it clear that it is for Jews first, by saying "It is for you" that the promise is made.
iii. There is another reference to Joel, which mentions a "remnant." In the Septuagint, the Joel reference says this remnant shall "receive the Gospel."
iv. As a result of Peter's urging, three thousand persons were baptized.
g. Then there was a description of the community in 2.42 with classic marks of the church: meeting together, continuing in teaching and breaking bread, and praying together.
h. There was then a description of the early church members selling their possessions and meeting together in joy.
i. This is not an allusion to communism, it is an allusion to the ideal Hellenistic community.
ii. Plato would have looked favorably on this picture.
iii. So the teaching of the early church was not so strange, except to its extent. Many pagans as well as Jews would have seen this as a perfect community.

60. The continuation of the church and its life.
a. Acts 3 - Peter's miraculous healing of a beggar.
b. There are some persecutions, but it goes on confidently through chapter 5.

61. In Chapter 6, there is the first division.
a. The Hellenists complained. We cannot know the full extent of this division, but there were many Greek Jews, and they quarreled perhaps with those who spoke Aramaic.
b. Although the word diakonia is used to describe what they are to do, but they are not called diakonoi, or deacons. The only time a label was used, they were termed evangelists.
c. Even some priests, in 6.7, are converted.
d. Midgett noted how interestingly the call of these seven was external by the church; it was not an individualistic internal calling.


New Testament Foundations I: April 27, 1999

62. The "Here and Now" vs. "the Not Yet"
a. The beatitudes from Luke point out that eschatology is not just that things are going to be okay later, but that there is a responsibility to live them out now.
b. In this way, the beatitudes are not comforting. The "here and now" of the message is a protest about the way the world is, and what needs to be changed.
c. The New Testament is full of this sort of tension. God reigns now, but the world is still screwed up.

63. Role of Women in Luke
a. We must be willing to hear the writings in the context in which they were written.
b. How would Luke have sounded in the patriarchal society in which it was written?
c. Luke does want women to be docile. He does not glorify feisty women, at least if they are feisty with Jesus.
d. The Syrophoenician woman (Mark 7.24) is missing in Luke, for example.

64. Gospel According to John.
a. Authorship.
i. The authorship is an insoluble problem. Raym