1. The New TESTAMENT --IN SITU
(WCH) REL226:
The New Testament

2. Learning Objectives
Think about the premises upon which the New Testament can be studied in a WCH course
Introduce the Historical-Critical Method
Consider what archaeology can & can’t tell us about the New Testament

3. A LOOK AT THE KNOWN & UNKNOWN
Discovery
A LOOK AT THE KNOWN & UNKNOWN

5. TEACHING-LEARNING
Working Through New Ideas

6. Archaeology & The New Testament
GOOD FOR…
LESS GOOD FOR…
Learning about the World(views) of the Earliest Christians
Understanding Their Descriptions & Prescriptions
Defending their Moral Judgments & Faith Statements
Historical Instant Replay of Biblical Events

7. THE NEW TESTAMENT: Between TEXT & ARTIFACT
IN SITU
Latin: on site, on the premises

8. New Testament TimeLine
300 BCE
Hellenistic Period
New Testament TimeLine
Ptolemies & Seleucids
200 BCE
Maccabean Revolt
100 BCE
Hasmonean Expansion
(adapt. Reed, 6)
Roman Period
Herod the Great
Jesus’s Life Paul’s Ministry James’s Death First Jewish War
100 CE
200 CE
300 CE
The New Testament Canon
Byzantine Period

9. ARTIFACT WORLD TEXT Pottery Inscriptions Remains Dates Places Concerns
Arguments
Desires
Drama
TEXT
Reading IN SITU
THE HISTORICAL-CRITICAL METHOD

10. Heliodorus Inscription
3rd-1st c. BCE
HELLENISTIC PERIOD
Heliodorus Inscription
(c. 178 BCE), Tel Maresha?
Greek
Increase in Seleucid Administration of Judea
Tensions
Koine Greek v. Aramaic
Coele-Syria v. Judea
Gentile (Seleucid) v. Jewish (Local) Influence
Mark 7:24-30
Jesus Reluctantly Heals a Gentile Woman’s Daughter
She’s called a Syro-Phoenecian
She’s compared to a dog.
Image:

11. RES GESTAE DIVI AUGUSTUS
1st – 3rd c. CE
ROMAN PERIOD
RES GESTAE DIVI AUGUSTUS
1st c. CE, Pisidian Antioch
Latin
Lists The Good Things Done By Augustus the Divine
Tensions
All Rule is Divine Rule
Local and Imperial Laws at play
Render unto Caesar
(esp. v )
John 19
Jesus is executed for blasphemy
Pontius Pilate and Jewish authorities disturbed by Jesus’s ambitions
Title posted in Greek, Latin, and Aramaic
Image:

12. JOHN 2 Tensions CANA 4th – 7th c. CE BYZANTINE PERIOD
Khirbet Cana--Byz Church, ER Settlement, no stone jars
Kafr Cana, signs of Jewish Settlement, including stone jars.
CANA
Where’s Biblical Cana?
Christian Tradition v. Archaeological Evidence
What does it matter?
Tensions
Jesus makes wine from water
Uses six, stone, gallon jars—usually used for Jewish purification rites
JOHN 2

13. REFLECTION
WHAT CAN ARCHAEOLOGY TELL US?
WHAT CAN’T ARCHAEOLOGY TELL US?