(lecture) New Testament History and Literature(2009) - Dale B. Martin

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(lecture) New Testament History and Literature(2009) -  Dale B. Martin

1. Introduction: Why Study the New Testament?

2. From Stories to Canon 

3. The Greco-Roman World

4. Judaism in the First Century

5. The New Testament as History ★ 

6. The Gospel of Mark ★

7. The Gospel of Matthew

8. The Gospel of Thomas ★ 

9. The Gospel of Luke

10. The Acts of the Apostles

11. Johannine Christianity: The Gospel

12. Johannine Christianity: The Letters ★

13. The Historical Jesus

14. Paul as Missionary

15. Paul as Pastor

16. Paul as Jewish Theologian ★

18. Arguing with Paul? ★

19. The "Household" Paul: The Pastorals

20. The "Anti-household" Paul: Thecla

21. Interpreting Scripture: Hebrews

22. Interpreting Scripture: Medieval Interpretations ★

23. Apocalyptic and Resistance

24. Apocalyptic and Accommodation

25. Ecclesiastical Institutions: Unity, Martyrs, and Bishops

26. The "Afterlife" of the New Testament and Postmodern Interpretation

This course provides a historical study of the origins of Christianity by analyzing the literature of the earliest Christian movements in historical context, concentrating on the New Testament. Although theological themes will occupy much of our attention, the course does not attempt a theological appropriation of the New Testament as scripture. Rather, the importance of the New Testament and other early Christian documents as ancient literature and as sources for historical study will be emphasized. A central organizing theme of the course will focus on the differences within early Christianity (-ies).

Find this course on: YouTube(link is external)

Opne Yale Courses and Yale University

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1. Introduction: Why Study the New Testament?

https://youtu.be/dtQ2TS1CiDY?list=PL279CFA55C51E75E0 

This course approaches the New Testament not as scripture, or a piece of authoritative holy writing, but as a collection of historical documents. Therefore, students are urged to leave behind their pre-conceived notions of the New Testament and read it as if they had never heard of it before. This involves understanding the historical context of the New Testament and imagining how it might appear to an ancient person.

00:00 - Chapter 1. Why Take This Course?

13:23 - Chapter 2. The Bible As A Historical Text

24:17 - Chapter 3. Imagining An Ancient's Perspective

30:45 - Chapter 4. Q&A

35:08 - Chapter 5. Going over the Syllabus

2. From Stories to Canon 

https://youtu.be/u72myyXDA74?list=PL279CFA55C51E75E0 

The Christian faith is based upon a canon of texts considered to be holy scripture. How did this canon come to be? Different factors, such as competing schools of doctrine, growing consensus, and the invention of the codex, helped shape the canon of the New Testament. Reasons for inclusion in or exclusion from the canon included apostolic authority, general acceptance, and theological appropriateness for "proto-orthodox" Christianity.

00:00 - Chapter 1. Canon vs. Scripture

16:17 - Chapter 2. The Forming of Canons

27:04 - Chapter 3. The Invention of the Codex

32:50 - Chapter 4. A Slowly Developing (and Incomplete) Consensus

42:02 - Chapter 5. The Reasons for Canonical Inclusion and Exclusion

3. The Greco-Roman World

https://youtu.be/Ecpn3bkVvv0?list=PL279CFA55C51E75E0 

Knowledge of historical context is crucial to understanding the New Testament. Alexander the Great, in his conquests, spread Greek culture throughout the Mediterranean world. This would shape the structure of city-states, which would share characteristically Greek institutions, such as the gymnasium and the boule. This would also give rise to religious syncretism, that is, the mixing of different religions. The rise of the Romans would continue this trend of universalization of Greek ideals and religious tolerance, as well as implement the social structure of the Roman household. The Pax Romana, and the vast infrastructures of the Roman Empire, would facilitate the rapid spread of Christianity.

00:00 - Chapter 1. Alexander the Great and Hellenization

08:29 - Chapter 2. The Greek City-State

18:46 - Chapter 3. Religious Syncretism

22:28 - Chapter 4. The Roman Household and Social Structure

34:45 - Chapter 5. The Rise of Julius Caesar and Octavian

40:07 - Chapter 6. The Pax Romana

4. Judaism in the First Century

https://youtu.be/7QIBB7gXHKc?list=PL279CFA55C51E75E0 

Of the four kingdoms that arose after Alexander's death, those of the Seleucids and the Ptolemies are most pertinent to an understanding of the New Testament. Especially important is the rule of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who forced the issue of Hellenism in Jerusalem by profaning the temple. Jews were not alike in their reaction to Hellenization, but a revolt arose under the leadership of the Mattathias and his sons, who would rule in the Hasmonean Dynasty. After the spread of Roman rule, the Judea was under client kings and procurators until the Jewish War and the destruction of the temple in 70 CE. Revolt was only one Jewish response to foreign rule; another was apocalypticism, as we see in Daniel and also in the Jesus' teaching and the early Christian movement.

00:00 - Chapter 1. After Alexander: The Seleucids and the Ptolemies

07:02 - Chapter 2. The Jews, Hellenization, and the Maccabean Revolt

21:46 - Chapter 3. The "Prophecy" of Daniel

36:40 - Chapter 4. The Jewish War and the Destruction of the Temple

5. The New Testament as History

https://youtu.be/BQaOlxhg8xg?list=PL279CFA55C51E75E0 

The accounts of Paul's travels in The Acts of the Apostles and Galatians seem to contradict each other at many points. Their descriptions of a meeting in Jerusalem--a major council in Acts versus a small, informal gathering in Galatians--also differ quite a bit. How do we understand these differences? A historical critical reading of these accounts does not force these texts into a harmonious unity or accept them at face value. Instead, a historical critical reading carefully sifts through the details of the texts and asks which of these is more likely to be historically accurate.

00:00 - Chapter 1. Paul's Travels in the Acts of the Apostles

17:49 - Chapter 2. Paul's Travels in Galatians

28:25 - Chapter 3. Which Account Is More Historically Accurate?

6. The Gospel of Mark

https://youtu.be/yd5sXfFboxA?list=PL279CFA55C51E75E0 

The Gospels of the New Testament are not biographies, and, in this class, they are read through a historical critical lens. This means that the events they narrate are not taken at face value as historical. The Gospel of Mark illustrates how the gospel writer skillfully crafts a narrative in order to deliver a message. It is a message that emphasizes a suffering messiah, and the necessity of suffering before glory. The gospel's apocalyptic passages predict troubles for the Jewish temple and incorporate this prediction with its understanding of the future coming of the Son of Man.

00:00 - Chapter 1. The Gospels Not As Biographies

13:44 - Chapter 2. A Historical Critical Reading of Mark

22:18 - Chapter 3. Mark's Messiah

30:26 - Chapter 4. The Apocalyptic in Mark

7. The Gospel of Matthew

https://youtu.be/ezG4in_i9z4?list=PL279CFA55C51E75E0 

The Gospel of Matthew contains some of the most famous passages that both Christians and non-Christians are familiar with. However, Matthew also presents itself paradoxically as preaching a Torah observant Christianity and a Christian mission that seeks to reach gentiles. The figure of Jesus in Matthew is that of a teacher, the founder of the Church, and the model for the apostles and Matthew's own community. Matthew seems to be writing for a church community that needs encouragement to have faith in a time of trouble.

00:00 - Chapter 1. Matthew: The Most Famous Gospel

12:29 - Chapter 2. Jesus and the Torah in Matthew

22:08 - Chapter 3. The Foundations of the Church in Matthew

27:51 - Chapter 4. Jesus as a Model for the Disciples

35:44 - Chapter 5. The Stilling of the Storm in Matthew

8. The Gospel of Thomas

https://youtu.be/Oxi5-6LdSpE?list=PL279CFA55C51E75E0 

We have known of the existence of the Gospel of Thomas from ancient writers, but it was only after the discovery of the Nag Hammadi Codices that the actual text became available. The Gospel of Thomas is basically a collection of sayings, or logia, that sometimes seem similar, perhaps more primitive than sayings found in the canonical Gospels. Sometimes, however, the sayings seem better explained as reflecting a "Gnostic" understanding of the world. This involves a rejection of the material world and a desire for gnosis, a secret knowledge, in order to escape the world and return to the divine being

00:00 - Chapter 1. The Nag Hammadi Codices and Thomasine Literature

10:35 - Chapter 2. The Sayings of the Gospel of Thomas

28:15 - Chapter 3. Proto-orthodoxy and "Gnosticism"

9. The Gospel of Luke

https://youtu.be/lPhiVT53JP0?list=PL279CFA55C51E75E0 

Luke and Acts, a two-volume work, are structured very carefully by the author to outline the ministry of Jesus and the spread of the Gospel to the gentiles. The Gospel of Luke emphasizes the themes of Jesus' Jewish piety, his role as a rejected prophet, and the reversal of earthly status. The Gospel ends in Jerusalem, and the Acts of the Apostles begins there and then follows the spread of the Gospel, both conceptually and geographically, to Samaria and the gentiles. By closely analyzing the Gospel and Acts, we see that the author was not concerned with historicity or chronological order. Rather, he writes his "orderly account" to illustrate the rejection of the Gospel by the Jews and its consequent spread to the gentiles.

00:00 - Chapter 1. The Structure of Luke and Acts

17:35 - Chapter 2. The Themes of Luke

34:03 - Chapter 3. The Geography of Acts

10. The Acts of the Apostles

https://youtu.be/IvgCQG_BqEM?list=PL279CFA55C51E75E0 

The speech that Stephen gives before his accusers in Acts shows how the author of Luke-Acts used and edited his sources. So, also, does the description of the destruction of Jerusalem in Luke, as compared to that in Mark. The major themes of Luke-Acts are 1) the Gospel going first to the Jews and then to gentiles and 2) that of the prophet-martyr, with Jesus as the prophet-martyr par excellence.

00:00 - Chapter 1. Stephen's Speech in the Acts of the Apostles

19:18 - Chapter 2. The Destruction of Jerusalem in Luke

24:18 - Chapter 3. Luke's Gospel to the Jews First

38:19 - Chapter 4. The Prophet-Martyr in Luke and Acts

11. Johannine Christianity: The Gospel

https://youtu.be/71fOqLomzIk?list=PL279CFA55C51E75E0 

The Gospel of John is a gospel dramatically different from the Synoptic Gospels. It is full of long dialogues, it speaks of "signs" rather than exorcisms or miracles, and its narrative differs at many points from the Synoptics. Themes in the Gospel are also repeated throughout--themes such as ascending and descending, light and darkness, seeing and knowing. Johannine literature also presents a high Christology that equates Jesus with God. The Gospel also reflects the sectarian nature of the community to which the author belonged.

00:00 - Chapter 1. Narratival Differences between the Gospel of John and the Synoptic Gospels

23:54 - Chapter 2. Major Themes of the Gospel of John

32:25 - Chapter 3. Johannine Sectarianism

42:47 - Chapter 4. Johannine Christology

12. Johannine Christianity: The Letters

https://youtu.be/F82JssUTYzg?list=PL279CFA55C51E75E0 

The Jesus of the Gospel of John often speaks in riddles so that his dialogues with characters such as Nicodemus appear confusing, rather than clarifying. The focus, however, of the Gospel of John is on Christology. In the Gospel, Jesus is divine. So it is also in 1 John, where many of the themes of the Gospel are echoed. 1, 2, and 3 John possibly present us with correspondences of the Johannine community, a sectarian group insisting on the divinity and humanity of Jesus, against the Docetists and other differing forms of early Christianity.

00:00 - Chapter 1. Riddles and Division in the Gospel of John

13:24 - Chapter 2. Differing Christologies in Early Christianity

24:23 - Chapter 3. Themes in 1 John

36:38 - Chapter 4. Sectarianism and 1 John

41:50 - Chapter 5. The Changing Community of 2 and 3 John

13. The Historical Jesus

https://youtu.be/d_dOhg-Fpu0?list=PL279CFA55C51E75E0 

It is obvious that certain narratives in the New Testament contradict each other and cannot be woven into a historically coherent whole. How, then, do scholars construct who the "historical Jesus" was? There are several principles that historical Jesus researchers follow, which include considering data that 1) has multiple attestations and 2) is dissimilar to a text's theological tendencies as more likely to be historical. Using the modern methods of historical research, it becomes possible to construct a "historical Jesus."

00:00 - Chapter 1. Contradictory Accounts in the New Testament

13:25 - Chapter 2. Finding History in the New Testament

26:27 - Chapter 3. Methods of Historical Jesus Research

47:53 - Chapter 4. Who Was the Historical Jesus?

14. Paul as Missionary

https://youtu.be/3V8NeoY2qB4?list=PL279CFA55C51E75E0

The New Testament and other texts provide us with many accounts of the Apostle Paul, some that contradict each other. Throughout the history of Christianity, Paul has assumed many different roles for different people. For the early Christians he was primarily a martyr. For St. Augustine, and later Martin Luther, he was a man interpreting the Gospel through his psychological struggle with guilt. The historical Paul seems to have been a man preaching an apocalyptic message to the gentiles.

00:00 - Chapter 1. Paul, the Protean Apostle

13:16 - Chapter 2. Who Is the Historical Paul?

30:07 - Chapter 3. Paul the Apocalyptic Apostle to the Gentiles

15. Paul as Pastor

https://youtu.be/pMVatCd_1xM?list=PL279CFA55C51E75E0 

1 Corinthian and 2 Corinthians give us several snapshots of the development of the Corinthian church and Paul's relationship to it. In 1 Corinthians Paul is concerned with controversies that have been dividing the church, most probably along social status lines. The issues causing controversy include whether one should eat food sacrificed to idols, how one ought to conduct oneself sexually, the practice of speaking in tongues, and how Christians will be resurrected from the dead. 2 Corinthians shows that these issues seem to have been resolved. However, 2 Corinthians 10-13 (probably a separate letter) presents Paul in a defensive posture, struggling to justify his position over and against the new "super apostles" that have infiltrated the Corinthian church.

00:00 - Chapter 1. Paul to the Corinthians about the Resurrection of the Dead

12:54 - Chapter 2. The Historical and Social Context of the Church in Corinth

22:05 - Chapter 3. Issues of Controversy in the Corinthian Church

32:01 - Chapter 4. The Root of These Controversies

16. Paul as Jewish Theologian

https://youtu.be/1qCUgkr2ohY?list=PL279CFA55C51E75E0 

The Apostle Paul's description of the Jewish Law in his letter to the Galatians demotes from being an expression‎ of Jewish faith to an object of idolatry and one that imprisons those who follow it. Paul is careful to nuance this position, however, in his letter to the Romans. In Romans, it seems that Paul is defending himself against charges of being antinomian. Perhaps Paul treads carefully in order to ensure that his deliverance of a donation to the Jerusalem church from the gentile churches is received in a spirit of church unity.

00:00 - Chapter 1. Paul's Demotion of the Jewish Law in Galatians

23:42 - Chapter 2. Paul Nuances His Position in Romans

32:00 - Chapter 3. The Social Context of the Letter to the Romans

17. Paul's Disciples

https://youtu.be/GaRXCg9PxxA?list=PL279CFA55C51E75E0 

In ancient times, documents that were falsely attributed to an author, called pseudepigrapha, were a common phenomenon. Both the Letters to the Colossians and Ephesians are most likely pseudonymous works attributed to the Apostle Paul. The writer of Colossians assures his readers that they already possess all the benefits of salvation and do not need to observe rules concerning feast days, Sabbaths, and worship of the angels. Ephesians seems somewhat based on Colossians, although it reads more like an ethical or moral treatise. Both letters differ from Pauline Christology in their realized eschatology and high Christology.

00:00 - Chapter 1. Ancient Pseudepigraphy

10:42 - Chapter 2. The Pseudepigraphic Letters to the Colossians and Ephesians

22:21 - Chapter 3. The Occasion of the Writing of Colossians

37:15 - Chapter 4. The Letter to the Ephesians as Treatise

42:26 - Chapter 5. Major Differences between Colossians and Ephesians and Pauline Christianity

18. Arguing with Paul?

https://youtu.be/BRWj6j2Dswc?list=PL279CFA55C51E75E0 

Early Christianity presents us with a wide diversity in attitudes towards the law. There were also many different Christologies circulating in different communities. The book of James presents one unique perspective. It seems to be written in the tradition of Jewish wisdom literature in its presentation of sayings and its concern for the poor. James also presents a view of works and faith that seems to oppose Pauline teaching. However, the terms "faith" and "works" function differently in Paul's writings and in the book of James

00:00 - Chapter 1. Diversity in Early Christianity: Attitudes towards the Jewish Law

03:57 - Chapter 2. Diversity in Early Christianity: Christology

21:03 - Chapter 3. James as Jewish Wisdom Literature

27:47 - Chapter 4. Faith and Works in James in Comparison to Paul

19. The "Household" Paul: The Pastorals

https://youtu.be/T_m10CyD-fs?list=PL279CFA55C51E75E0 

In the undisputed Pauline epistles, marriage is seen as a way to extirpate sexual desire - neither as a means for procreation nor as the preferred social status. The Pastoral Epistles, written to instruct in the pastoring of churches and appointing of church offices, presents quite un-Pauline attitudes. In the Pastoral Epistles, the church, rather than an ecclesia, becomes a household, a specifically patriarchal structure in which men hold offices and women are not to have authority over them. They present a pro-family, anti-ascetic message in contrast to the Pauline epistles.

00:00 - Chapter 1. Marriage, Family, Sex, and Women in Paul's Letters

21:01 - Chapter 2. The Pro-Family and Anti-Ascetic Stance in the Pastoral Epistles

26:50 - Chapter 3. The Pastoral Epistles and the Jewish Law

29:53 - Chapter 4. The Church as Household

20. The "Anti-household" Paul: Thecla

https://youtu.be/Htuls07h3CA?list=PL279CFA55C51E75E0 

The Acts of Paul and Thecla has a narrative quite similar to those in ancient Greco-Roman novels: Thecla becomes enamored of Paul and they share a number of adventures. However, the Acts redirects eroticism towards a belief in a gospel of purity and asceticism. The Acts of Paul and Thecla present an ascetic, anti-marriage, anti-family message that would break the cycle of sex, birth, death, and decay that was so obvious in the ancient world. Given that Thecla emerges from the story as the true hero (and not Paul), is it possible to read the story as a feminist one?

00:00 - Chapter 1. The Acts of Paul and Thecla in Its Literary Context

15:10 - Chapter 2. The Gospel of Asceticism in the Acts of Paul and Thecla

26:50 - Chapter 3. The Cultural Phenomenon of Sexual Hierarchy

33:11 - Chapter 4. The Early Christian Answer to the Cycle of Birth and Death: Asceticism

41:25 - Chapter 5. Thecla, the Heroine

21. Interpreting Scripture: Hebrews

https://youtu.be/a_vA1UeSjSo?list=PL279CFA55C51E75E0 

There are many ways of interpreting the text, and ancient methods of interpretation may seem bizarre to our modern sensibilities. The New Testament offers us many examples of how an early Christian might interpret the text of the Hebrew Bible, which was their scripture. The Letter to the Hebrews, which is not really a letter but a speech of encouragement, structures its argument around the thesis that Jesus' liturgy and priesthood is superior to that in the Hebrew Bible. The author of Hebrews proves this through several interesting interpretations of passages from the Hebrew Bible.

00:00 - Chapter 1. What Does A Text Mean? Methods of Interpretation

14:23 - Chapter 2. The Interpretation of the Hebrew Bible in the New Testament

23:42 - Chapter 3. The Letter to the Hebrews: A Speech of Encouragement

29:35 - Chapter 4. The Outline of the Epistle

34:39 - Chapter 5. Hebrews As Synkrisis: A Comparison between the Superior and the Inferior

22. Interpreting Scripture: Medieval Interpretations

https://youtu.be/HC7-MEwQccE?list=PL279CFA55C51E75E0 

The principles of interpreting the New Testament in this course assume a historical critical perspective. The historical critical method of interpreting a text privileges the intended meaning of the ancient author, the interpretation of a text's original audience, the original language the text was written in, and the avoidance of anachronism. However, for most of the last two thousand years, this has not been the method of interpretation of the Bible. Pre-modern interpreters, such as Origen and Augustine, felt free to allegorize and use the text as they saw fit. It was only through the Reformation and other events in modern history that the historical critical method became the predominant method of interpretation.

00:00 - Chapter 1. The Principles of the Historical Critical Method of Interpretation

20:11 - Chapter 2. The History of Historical Criticism

30:53 - Chapter 3. Pre-Modern Interpretation and "Literal" and "Allegorical" Meanings of Texts

34:19 - Chapter 4. Pre-Modern Interpreters: Origen

39:06 - Chapter 5. Pre-Modern Interpreters: Augustine

43:32 - Chapter 6. Pre-Modern Interpreters: Bernard of Clairvaux

23. Apocalyptic and Resistance

https://youtu.be/8aBrXam36JE?list=PL279CFA55C51E75E0 

The Apocalypse, or the Revelation of John, shares many of the traits found in apocalyptic literature: it operates in dualisms--earthly events contrasted with heavenly ones, present time with the imminent future, and it calls for cultural and political resistance. Its structure is like a spiral, presenting cycle after cycle of building tension and reprieve, so that the reader who experiences the text also experiences crisis and then catharsis. Politically, Revelation equates Rome with Babylon and the empire as the domain of Satan.

00:00 - Chapter 1. The Revelation of John and the Genre of Apocalyptic

12:49 - Chapter 2. The Structure of Revelation

28:00 - Chapter 3. Crisis, Catharsis, and Politics in Revelation

42:02 - Chapter 4. The Social Context of Revelation

24. Apocalyptic and Accommodation

https://youtu.be/XJ9Gt_R5a-k?list=PL279CFA55C51E75E0 

The Apocalypse of John showed an anti-Roman, politically revolutionary perspective. This is in contrast with Paul's writing in Romans 13, which calls for submission to governmental authorities - although passages in 1 Corinthians may be said to contradict this. 2 Thessalonians, a pseudonymous letter, also preaches a politically conservative and accommodative message, as does 1 Peter. Interestingly, these letters do not discard or ignore apocalypticism but use it quite differently from the author of Revelation to further their message of political conservatism. 2 Peter seems to be a letter dating from the second century, from the post-apostolic age. In 2 Peter, the apocalypse is no longer imminent and is not used to further any admonition. Instead, it has become simply a part of Christian doctrine.

00:00 - Chapter 1. The Politics of Early Christianities

12:22 - Chapter 2. 2 Thessalonians, the Lawless One, and Politics

24:57 - Chapter 3. 1 Peter and Politics

37:00 - Chapter 4. 2 Peter: A Letter from the Post-Apostolic Age

25. Ecclesiastical Institutions: Unity, Martyrs, and Bishops

https://youtu.be/1BTUFjlg4KI?list=PL279CFA55C51E75E0 

The Epistle of Jude can be dated to somewhere during post-apostolic Christianity and before the formation of the Canon. It refers to the apostles as representing a prior generation, yet it quotes from texts later excluded (perhaps, for example, by 2 Peter) from the Canon. The letters of Ignatius of Antioch contain evidence of a move toward the institutionalization of early Christianity. It mentions, for example, three different church offices: bishops, presbyters, and deacons. It also heavily emphasizes the authority held by those with these titles. The Didache contains liturgical and ritual instructions for rites such as baptism, the Lord's Prayer, and the Eucharist. All these documents show the change in early Christianity toward greater church structure and institutionalization.

00:00 - Chapter 1. The Struggle to Maintain Unity in the Early Christian Social Movement

09:34 - Chapter 2. The Letter of Jude: The Move towards Institutionalization

16:07 - Chapter 3. The Letters of Ignatius and Martyrology

24:42 - Chapter 4. The Letters of Ignatius and Church Office

36:15 - Chapter 5. The Didache and the Development of Liturgy

26. The "Afterlife" of the New Testament and Postmodern Interpretation

https://youtu.be/v1Bh_SAEU90?list=PL279CFA55C51E75E0 

How did a small group following an apocalyptic prophet in Palestine become Christianity - what is now called a "world religion"? This small movement saw many changes in the second, third, and fourth centuries, from the development of different sects, philosophical theologies, and martyrology, to the rise of monasticism, and finally to the ascension of Constantine to the throne and the Christian Roman Empire. It was not until the nineteenth century, however, that the term "world religion" came to be used and Christianity was categorized as such.

00:00 - Chapter 1. Christianity in the Second Century: Gnostics, Philosophers, Martyrs, and Apologists

20:26 - Chapter 2. Christianity in the Third Century: Asceticism, Monasticism, and Persecution

26:20 - Chapter 3. Christianity in the Fourth Century: Constantine and the Church Councils

30:36 - Chapter 4. Christianity as a "World Religion"

36:36 - Chapter 5. The Growth of Christianity before Constantine and Q&A