The Christian Bible Part I: Supplementary

The Bipartite Structure of the Bible 1) the Old Testament: (the Hebrew sacred scriptures) (the Hebrew sacred scriptures) 2) the New Testament 2) the New Testament (the Canonical Christian scripture) (the Canonical Christian scripture)

The New Testament: Contents The Gospels The Acts of the Apostles The Epistles Revelation

The New Testament Over all significance: --the Christian understanding of how Jesus Christ was related to Jewish Jesus Christ was related to Jewish history and fulfillment history and fulfillment

The four languages spoken in Judea 1. Classical Hebrew: priestly caste 2. Aramaic: general population 3. Greek: upper & educated classes all over the Middle East all over the Middle East 4. Latin: Roman government

The languages Aramaic : Jesus’s preaching Greek: the four Gospels * Jesus: “Go into all the world and preach * Jesus: “Go into all the world and preach the good news to the creation” the good news to the creation”

The Four Gospels Written time: years after Jesus’ Written time: years after Jesus’ death death Contents: based on the oral teachings of Contents: based on the oral teachings of the original disciples the original disciples Titles: Mathew, Mark, Luke, John

The different implied readerships Mathew : --readership: Jewish public --readership: Jewish public --major themes: a) Jesus was the legitimate heir to the a) Jesus was the legitimate heir to the throne of the royal house of David throne of the royal house of David b) Jesus was the king, the Messiah, b) Jesus was the king, the Messiah, announced by the Hebrew prophet announced by the Hebrew prophet

The different implied readerships Mark: --readership: a gentile audience; especially the needs of the especially the needs of the Roman reader Roman reader

The different implied readerships Luke: --readership: probably to cultured Greek readers; readers; --feature: --feature: a) making very few references to a) making very few references to the Hebrew prophecies the Hebrew prophecies b) is in fact dedicated to a Greek called b) is in fact dedicated to a Greek called Theophilos Theophilos

The different implied readerships John: --feature: with greater theological density --distinction with the other 3 Gospels: --distinction with the other 3 Gospels: ** the other three: based on a central core ** the other three: based on a central core of material--the Q document (now lost) of material--the Q document (now lost) ** John: drawing on different sources ** John: drawing on different sources

The Canonization of the Christian Sacred Scriptures 1. the existence of many other documents and accounts about Jesus Christ and accounts about Jesus Christ 2. the current collection was judged by the church authorities as most reliable and church authorities as most reliable and was declared as canonical in the third was declared as canonical in the third century. century.

The Vulgate Meaning: the common or popular version Language: Latin Time: 382 Translator: Jerome (a scholar) Commissioner: Pope Damascus in 382 Other Latin translations existed before it as well.

The Christian Bible Part II: the Norton Textbook

The Christian Bible: Gospels Ca. first century C.E.

The Four Gospels MatthewMarkLukeJohn

As a work of literature Matthew, Mark and Luke: Greco-Roman biography Greco-Roman biography John: metaphorical language The resonant, messianic tone & powerful turns of phrase

Jesus as a historical figure His actual existence confirmed in Roman administrative records A disruptive rabble-rouser who attracted the attention of local authorities Ultimately executed

The Jesus of the gospel accountes Something far more complex, more a phenomenon than a man The events of his life led to the establishment of a number of communities organized around the symbolic significance that could be assigned to the man, his words, and his deeds.

The significance of Jesus as a symbolic figure Within Jewish community: the long- awaited Messiah The non-Jewish (“Gentile”) communities around the Mediterranean Sea: the divine lord whose authority surmounted that of any earthly kingdom or empire  A.D. (Anno Domini: In the year of the Lord) (Today: C.E. (Common Era))

The Four Gospels The core of the collection of 27 books that Christians call The New Testament: The Gospel of Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John

The Meaning of the New Testament The Christian perspective of the relationship of Jesus’ mission to the history of the Jewish people (in the Hebrew Bible) The old Testament establish by God to Noah and later to Abraham would be fulfilled by the advent of Jesus and the rise of Christianity.

The Period of the Writing of Gospels Decades after his death The partly overlapped accounts of the life of Jesus: telling the same story but from rather distinctive perspective

Episodes in Common The Sermon on the Mount The Last Supper The crucifixition and the resurrection

The Individual feature of each Gospel: Luke The childhood and parentage of Jesus

The Individual feature of each Gospel: Mark The tightest and the most focused account Emphasis on the death of Jesus and recounting his biography in simpler, more primitive language Addressing a Gentile audience

The Individual feature of each Gospel: Mathew Directed at an audience that is quite familiar with the Hebrew Bible Giving a very detailed account of Jesus’ preaching mission and his role as the long-awaited Messiah

The Individual feature of each Gospel: Mathew Exhibiting a special interest in the ways in which Jewish history is fulfilled in the coming of Jesus Christ, and in the ways in which the old covenant established between God and man is renewed in and superseded by the new covenant established with the sacrifice of Jesus in the crucifixion

The Individual character of each Gospel: Mathew Displaying a central concern with the ways in which Jesus preached, especially his use of parables: little stories that reveal profound spiritual meanings truths through metaphorical, even allegorical language Having most profound literary influence on writers throughout the Middle Ages

The Individual character of each Gospel: John The figurative, philosophical language With a wide range of poetic evocations of the divine nature of Jesus Presenting a being who is at once both God and man, is both the temporal and the eternal

The Evolution of the Versions of New Testament Original language: Greek Latin translations of the Gospels The Vulgate: the full, authorized Latin translation Pope Damasus asked Jerome to prepare in 382 The new versions produced at the dawn of the Reformation Most recently: new forms such as the graphic novel