essay questions about the new testament

69 New Testament Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

🏆 best new testament topic ideas & essay examples, 📌 simple & easy new testament essay titles, 🔎 most interesting new testament topics to write about.

• Ceremonial Washing in the Old and New Testaments Such a gesture blurs the line between a leader and a subordinate in a cultural context and carries deep symbolic knowledge.
• Justice in the Old and New Testament As such, it is prudent to compare the two definitions in detail to understand the overt and underlying differences between the two halves of the Christian canon better. Both the Old and the New Testaments […]
• Divine Mercy and Compassion in the Old and New Testament It is important to estimate similarities and differences in this concept’s meaning in the Old Testament and the New Testament. In the New Testament, God’s mercy and compassion appeared and developed in His Son.
• An Introduction to the New Testament This paper presents a review of the text to paint a detailed picture of the theological and historical perspectives on each of the NT books.
• Gender Issues in the New Testament However, such attempts in the church are met with resistance and even use of the Bible verses to disapprove of women’s role in the leadership. The modern church needs to be progressive and allow women […]
• The Old and New Testaments: Comparative Analysis Consequently, the application of the “compare and contrast” method will allow identifying these differences in the lives of contemporary Christians. In addition, several books of the Old Testament foretell the arrival of the Messiah and […]
• The Jewish Belief of Heaven and Hell in Comparison to New Testament The Old Testament Sheol is both the plan of dead souls in the direct and the state of the fallen soul in the figurative sense.
• New Testament Church and Missional Theology Examining the ways of using the Missional Theory in encouraging compliance with the principles of the New Testament Church, one should focus closer on the values and ideas that the aid New Testament Church invites.
• New Testament: Differences in Accounts by the Apostles Despite describing the same events in the life of Jesus Christ, the Gospels of the New Testament often have visible differences in accounts by the apostles.
• The Model of Church Closest to the Apostolic Church of the New Testament Among the six models of a Christian Church that are described in Dulles’ book, the model of Church as Herald appears to be the most conformable to the model depicted by the apostle Paul and […]
• New Testament Review: Exegesis James 1:22–27 The passage suggests that one is not a true believer if he or she does not acknowledge the fact that religion should be reflected in actions, and the most attention should be devoted to supporting […]
• The New Testament: Philippians 2:1-11 Jesus had the power to defend himself yet because of his great love for mankind he had to be humiliated so that the blood he shed would cover over all sin1984).
• New Testament Theology: Introductions to the Books of the Bible In this verse, Paul urges the believers to emulate the example of Jesus Christ by being of a humble nature and obedient.
• New Testament: “The Jesus I Never Knew” by Philip Yancey The book The Jesus I Never Knew by Philip Yancey discusses the personal attitude and relations of the author with God and his understanding of God.
• Paul’s Christian Teachings in the New Testament To the Galatians; Paul explained the works of faith. The letters of Paul to the Galatians, Thessalonians, and Philippians are relevant today.
• Acts 1:1—11:18 in the New Testament The Holy Spirit will teach us the deep things of God. The Holy Spirit will guide us as we witness to all ends of the earth.
• The Acts of Luke in the New Testament The Acts of Luke represent one of the parts of the New Testament tells about the life and activity of the Saint Apostles after the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
• The Book of Romans in the New Testament The book of Romans is arguably one of the most profound epistles in the New Testament, and perhaps the most important book in the bible.
• Shepherd and His Sheep: New Testament and the Book of Luke One of the parables is in the book of Matthew, in the eighteenth chapter 1, while the other account is in the book of Luke in the fifteenth chapter 2.
• The Development of the New Testament Canon of Scripture While this criterion may explain the inclusion of some books in the NT canon, as revealed by the historical considerations of the NT canon in this paper, this criterion fails to apply in some instances.
• World of the New Testament In regard to comprehension of events that led to rededication of the temple, Carter presented books of Maccabeus and that of Daniel.
• The Resurrection in the New Testament The history of the resurrection is dated back to the beginning and life of Jesus Christ and is marked by a sequence of various events that hinted on the coming of Jesus Christ.
• How Treated the Word of God in the Old and New Testaments Nevertheless, the paper unfolds by describing the meaning of God in the New and Old Testament as the manifestation of the mind and will of God, the sacred writings of the Christian religions and the […]
• The New Testament: James About the Tongue The New Testament is considered to be one of the most important parts of the Bible that depicts the true nature of human duties, demands, and desires, that teaches everyone the truths which have to […]
• A Brief Introduction to the New Testament A closer opinion to this theory suggests that Mark and Luke copied from Matthew and that the Gospel of Matthew was originally in Aramaic before the Greek translation surfaced.
• The New Testament as a Fundamental Text of Human History The New Testament is a collection of the writings of a small religious sub culture in the Roman Empire which was formed as a result of a new interpretation of the Jewish religion.
• New Testament: Differences Between Jewish & Christian Traditions
• Modern Biblical New Testament Canon
• Missionary Differences Between the Old and New Testament Teachings
• The Depiction of Jesus Through the Four Gospels of the New Testament
• Comparing Jesus and Paul on the New Testament
• The Most Important Pieces of the New Testament
• What Does the New Testament Say About Health
• Seven Events That Shaped the New Testament World
• Old and New Testament Views on Social Justice
• Factors Influencing the Collaboration of the New Testament
• Old New Testament Contributions to Biblical Ethics
• Theories, People, Places, and Events Surrounding the New Testament
• Relationship Between Christian Doctrine and the Doctrine of a New Testament
• Reinterpreting the Canon of the New Testament
• The Life of the Apostle John in the New Testament of the Bible
• How Has the New Testament Influenced Western Culture
• The Congruency Between the Koran and the New Testament
• Dramatization Approach and How It Is Reflected in the New Testament
• Contemporary Theology and Orthodoxy of the New Testament
• The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings
• A Comparative Analysis of the Old Testament and New Testament Laws
• The Development Process of the New Testament Canon
• Argument That the New Testament Is the Fulfillment of the Old Testament
• Baptism From the New Testament
• Analysis of the Message of the New Testament
• The Symbolism of Water in the New Testament
• Christian Principles for Giving Based on a Passage From the New Testament
• How the New Testament Portrays Death and Afterlife
• New Testament’s Mercy Theme and Religious Education
• The Transition From the Old Testament to the New Testament
• Does the New Testament Need Some Updating
• Comparing the Old Testament and the New Testament
• Leadership in the Old and New Testaments of the Bible
• Bible Ethics Jesus Fulfilled in the New Testament
• The Sacrifice and Atonement of the Old Testament and the New Testament
• Justice in the Old Testament, New Testament, and the Church Today
• The Major Literary Forms of the New Testament
• The Greco-Roman World of the New Testament Era
• An Examination of the Principles, Explanations, and Violations in the New Testament
• Steps Involved in Interpretation of New Testament Letters
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107 New Testament Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

Inside This Article

The New Testament is a rich and complex text that covers a wide range of themes, stories, and teachings. If you'''re tasked with writing an essay on the New Testament, it can be overwhelming to decide on a topic. To help you get started, here are 107 New Testament essay topic ideas and examples:

• The role of women in the New Testament
• Comparing and contrasting the teachings of Jesus and Paul
• The significance of miracles in the New Testament
• The theme of forgiveness in the New Testament
• The portrayal of poverty and wealth in the New Testament
• The concept of love in the New Testament
• The symbolism of water in the New Testament
• The role of angels in the New Testament
• The theme of suffering in the New Testament
• The portrayal of Jesus as a political figure in the New Testament
• The significance of parables in the New Testament
• The role of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament
• The theme of redemption in the New Testament
• The portrayal of Satan in the New Testament
• The idea of salvation in the New Testament
• The imagery of light and darkness in the New Testament
• The portrayal of the afterlife in the New Testament
• The concept of faith in the New Testament
• The idea of resurrection in the New Testament
• The portrayal of leadership in the New Testament
• The theme of obedience in the New Testament
• The symbolism of bread in the New Testament
• The idea of community in the New Testament
• The portrayal of sin and forgiveness in the New Testament
• The significance of the Last Supper in the New Testament
• The portrayal of Mary Magdalene in the New Testament
• The theme of judgment in the New Testament
• The concept of wisdom in the New Testament
• The symbolism of blood in the New Testament
• The idea of humility in the New Testament
• The portrayal of John the Baptist in the New Testament
• The theme of prophecy in the New Testament
• The concept of unity in the New Testament
• The symbolism of the cross in the New Testament
• The idea of sacrifice in the New Testament
• The portrayal of Peter in the New Testament
• The theme of peace in the New Testament
• The concept of freedom in the New Testament
• The symbolism of the vine in the New Testament
• The idea of prayer in the New Testament
• The portrayal of Judas Iscariot in the New Testament
• The theme of power in the New Testament
• The concept of justice in the New Testament
• The symbolism of the temple in the New Testament
• The idea of mercy in the New Testament
• The portrayal of the Pharisees in the New Testament
• The theme of temptation in the New Testament
• The concept of discipleship in the New Testament
• The symbolism of the kingdom of God in the New Testament
• The idea of righteousness in the New Testament
• The portrayal of the disciples in the New Testament
• The theme of worship in the New Testament
• The concept of mission in the New Testament
• The symbolism of the shepherd in the New Testament
• The idea of healing in the New Testament
• The portrayal of Paul in the New Testament
• The theme of hope in the New Testament
• The concept of prophecy in the New Testament
• The symbolism of the olive tree in the New Testament
• The idea of spiritual gifts in the New Testament
• The portrayal of the Samaritans in the New Testament
• The concept of the kingdom of heaven in the New Testament
• The symbolism of the dove in the New Testament
• The idea of temptation in the New Testament
• The portrayal of Mary, the mother of Jesus, in the New Testament
• The theme of the end times in the New Testament
• The concept of grace in the New Testament
• The symbolism of the lamb in the New Testament
• The idea of the second coming in the New Testament
• The portrayal of the apostles in the New Testament
• The theme of persecution in the New Testament
• The concept of the church in the New Testament
• The symbolism of the fig tree in the New Testament
• The portrayal of the Roman Empire in the New Testament
• The theme of reconciliation in the New Testament
• The concept of the Trinity in the New Testament
• The symbolism of the fish in the New Testament
• The idea of doubt in the New Testament
• The portrayal of Pontius Pilate in the New Testament
• The theme of the Sabbath in the New Testament
• The concept of the Beatitudes in the New Testament
• The symbolism of the mustard seed in the New Testament
• The idea of mission in the New Testament
• The portrayal of the early church in the New Testament
• The theme of conversion in the New Testament
• The concept of the new covenant in the New Testament
• The symbolism of the crown of thorns in the New Testament
• The idea of hospitality in the New Testament
• The portrayal of the rich young ruler in the New Testament
• The concept of the Great Commission in the New Testament
• The symbolism of the Good Samaritan in the New Testament
• The idea of the Sermon on the Mount in the New Testament
• The portrayal of the Prodigal Son in the New Testament
• The theme of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament
• The concept of the Resurrection in the New Testament
• The symbolism of the Alpha and Omega in the New Testament
• The idea of the Word of God in the New Testament
• The portrayal of the Crucifixion in the New Testament
• The theme of the Kingdom of God in the New Testament
• The concept of eternal life in the New Testament
• The symbolism of the vine and branches in the New Testament
• The idea of the Great Commandment in the New Testament
• The portrayal of the Transfiguration in the New Testament
• The theme of the New Jerusalem in the New Testament

These are just a few ideas to get you started on your New Testament essay. Remember to choose a topic that interests you and that you feel passionate about exploring further. Good luck!

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Bible (New Testament)

72 pages • 2 hours read

Bible (New Testament): English Standard Version

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

The Gospels

Pauline Epistles, Part 1 (Romans-Galatians)

Pauline Epistles, Part 2 (Ephesians-2 Thessalonians)

Pauline Epistles, Part 3 (1 Timothy-Philemon)

General Epistles, Part 1 (Hebrews-2 Peter)

General Epistles, Part 2 (1 John-Jude)

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Summary and Study Guide

The New Testament is the second of two major sections of the Christian Bible, comprising a collection of 27 books that are attributed to writers from the first century CE, all written in ancient Greek. When combined with the 39 books of the Old Testament, they constitute the 66 books of the standard canon of Christian scripture (not counting deuterocanonical books). The books of the New Testament describe the life of Jesus of Nazareth and the development of the early Christian Church . They were written by a small group of authors who were directly connected to the first generation of Christian leaders, including some of Jesus’s own disciples (sometimes called apostles). For more discussion of the Christian Bible, see the SuperSummary Study Guide Bible: Old Testament: English Standard Version and Plot Summary Holy Bible .

The New Testament books have been passed down through centuries of scribal copies, and the earliest and most complete manuscripts from these text traditions form the basis of modern translations. This study guide uses the English Standard Version (ESV) of 2016 from the publisher Crossway. Readers of this study guide can use any English translation according to their own preference, as all citations are given with the standard biblical reference system (designating book, chapter, and verse), a reference apparatus that is uniform across all English versions.

This study guide follows the New Testament pattern and traditional Christian usage by using male pronouns for God, but it is important to note that the Christian tradition regards God as Spirit (and so ungendered). As such, the pronouns for God in this guide ought not to be read as expressions of human sex but rather as indicating the relational analogies through which the biblical books portray God’s interactions with humanity.

Scripture quotations are from the ESV ®  Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version ® ), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2016. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated into any other language.

The New Testament is made up of three broad sections: first, the biographical and historical books, which give an account of Christianity’s roots in Jesus’s ministry and the rise of the early church; second, a collection of epistles (letters) written from apostolic leaders (disciples—though not necessarily from the group of 12 disciples—tasked with carrying Jesus’s message to others) to early Christian communities; and third, the Book of Revelation, an apocalyptic text that stands alone both in style and substance.

The New Testament opens with four gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—each telling the story of Jesus’s life and ministry, ending with his death and resurrection . Jesus of Nazareth lived in the early decades of the first century (the precise dates are a subject of some debate), and the gospels give most of their attention to the three-year period of his public ministry around the year 30 CE. The four gospels differ from each other in matters of style and theological focus, but the broad outline of Jesus’s actions and identity are recognizably the same throughout. Jesus is presented as both the Messiah and the Son of God, with his identity demonstrated in his teaching, his miraculous deeds, and especially in his sacrificial death on the cross and resurrection from the dead. The gospels are followed by the Book of Acts, which recounts the early growth of the Christian movement as it spreads from Jerusalem to sites across the Roman Empire. Acts gives particular attention to Peter , the leader of Jesus’s 12 disciples, and to Paul , an apostolic missionary.

The epistles constitute the majority of the New Testament—21 of its 27 books—and they offer a robust picture of the social and theological issues being addressed by early Christian communities. Most of the epistles are attributed to Paul, who was a persecutor of Christians until his conversion following a personal encounter with Jesus. He became a missionary, establishing churches across Asia Minor (modern Turkey) and Greece, and he wrote letters to the churches and ministry leaders with whom he was in contact. Since a large part of Paul’s ministry was the communication of the Christian gospel (gospel in this sense meaning “good news”) to a new audience of Gentiles (i.e., non-Jews), his epistles are invaluable in providing a clear and concise articulation of the core of the Christian message in one of its earliest forms. The remaining epistles in the New Testament were written by other leaders within the first generation of Christians, including Peter (one of Jesus’s 12 disciples), James (a member of Jesus’s family), and John (another of the disciples). Among other matters, these epistles offer practical counsel on how to live as a Christian within the social context of the first-century Roman Empire.

The New Testament ends with the Book of Revelation, which consists of a series of visions received by the apostle John near the end of his life. These visions include messages for nearby churches, a description of the heavenly worship around the throne of God, and a series of symbolic events depicting the condition of the world leading up to the ultimate victory of Jesus and the day of judgment. Since Revelation is the final book in the biblical canon, it provides a bookend that corresponds to Genesis at the beginning of the Old Testament, together telling a story of God’s relationship with humanity from the beginning of history to the end.

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A List Of Controversial Essay Topics On The New Testament

Like every other scriptural compilation out there, the New Testament has its own fair share of controversies. These controversies are not new as they have lingered around for centuries. In the sections below, we will take a look at some of the most controversial essay topics on the New Testament:

Resurrection of Jesus Christ

Although this is one of the most central points of Christianity, it has generated immense controversy over the years. This is for several reasons, one of which is the conflicting accounts of the very act of resurrection itself. The controversy is so intense that it has led to some scientists dismissing the entire story of the resurrection of Jesus Christ as nothing but a fabulous myth.

The persecution of Christians

Although the New Testament is full of stories that depict a widespread and sustained persecution of Christians, there are some disputes about the matter that still exist till date. The most prominent of these is that the precise purpose of the persecution is debated. While some records hint that the Christians were persecuted solely for their religious beliefs, some other narrations point to a more political reason for the crackdown.

Accuracy of the Acts of the Apostles

There is so much argument over the historical narrations concerning the depiction of the apostles that it is not clear if a solution will ever be found. There is a particularly thorny issue relating to the historical records of Apostle Paul. There are various parts of Acts that have been subjected to intense academic debates and intellectual discourses over time. The conflicting narrations have been the sources of vehement disagreements. Like other parts, some scholars have also been forced to conclude that the whole narration is a compilation of myths and fables.

The Immaculate Conception

The conception by the Holy Virgin Mary of Jesus Christ is also another area of fierce contention among various scholars. The controversial nature of the concept is expressed in the sharp doctrinal differences between the various sects of Christianity, with the Catholics taking the concept to the very heights of dogmatism. For some other sects of Christianity, this concept is not really that too important but for some other Christians; this concept is so important that the worship of the Virgin Mary herself is of extreme importance. For some Christians, this borders on the very line of heresy. The controversy over the concept stems from the complex narrations of events of the event in the New Testament.

These are some of the most pronounced controversies found in the New Testament. A further search will reveal even more astounding and disturbing revelations.

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Fourteen questions about the reliability of the New Testament answered.

Editor’s Note:  This is a series of 14 questions, so I disperse my answers after the questions.  Most of these criticisms are already refuted elsewhere at the web site, but since this poor unfortunate believer has been assaulted with so many false claims, I am including answers to all of them below.  My responses are in italics.

I am currently reading your book “Reasons for Belief”. I’m not that far into yet but I wanted to point out that the passage that you use from Josephus to support the miracles of Jesus is considered to be a Christian interpolation and therefore not reliable. From what I understand, several passages from Josephus are suspect and I’m not sure if they can be used to prove the existence of Jesus.

You are correct that there is very good reason to believe that part of the famous little section in Josephus is an interpolation. I mention this in a footnote in the book.  Below is a little set of notes I used in a class I taught about this issue recently. I will complete my comments below this section.

2. Flavius Josephus (AD 38-100) Writing about AD 94 under Domitian. Concerning events he had indirect knowledge of. Josephus was a Pharisee. Jewish historian who was a turncoat, switching from the Jewish rebel side to Rome to serve under Nero and Vespasian. Josephus is a relatively reliable historian.

The “Testimonium Flavium” (Antiquities 18:3.3)

About this time there lived Jesus, a wise man, [if indeed one ought to call him a man]. For he was one who wrought surprising feats and was a teacher of such people as accept the truth gladly. He won over many Jews and many of the Greeks. [He was the Messiah.] When Pilate, upon hearing him accused by men of the highest standing amongst us, had condemned him to be crucified, those who had in the first place come to love him did not give up their affection for him. [On the third day he appeared to them restored to life], for the prophets of God had prophesied these and countless other marvelous things about him. And the tribe of Christians, so called after him, has still to this day not disappeared.

Agapius, an Arab Christian in 9th century quotes what was probably the original, leaving out the parts in parenthesis. Note the passage reads grammatically well without the parts in parenthesis.

Note: Josephus also reports the martyrdom of “James, the brother of Jesus who was called the Christ” (Antiquities 20:20)

Now for my comments. Serious scholars of this section of the Antiquities of Josephus generally agree that Josephus mentioned Jesus in this section of his history, but that, unfortunately and unwisely, a Christian believer with a sincere motives interpolated extra phrases to amp up the passage, making it even more convincing. We look at this and cringe, of course. This interpolation had the effect of making the passage less, not more powerful because it made the entire passage by Josephus about Jesus to be suspect. Fortunately, a translation of Josephus into Arabic by a man named Agapius really helps us here. This translation was from several centuries later, showing that the Christian interpolater probably did his unfortunate deed several centuries after Josephus wrote. It contains the section by Josephus, but without the parts in brackets. If you look at the shortened version it makes complete sense and is gramatically superior than the one with the interpolated section. The most likely correct view is that Josephus wrote this section on Jesus but a zealous but unwise Christian added the parts in brackets, hoping to make it even more convincing. I have read many on this subject and for those without a strong agenda one way or another, this seems to be the consensus.

You say that “several passages from Josephus are suspect.” I believe that this is an exaggeration. What are these “several passages?” I believe you have read from someone who is biased against the reliability of Josephus. The fact is that you cannot trust the biased Christian interpreters or the biased anti-Christian interpreters about Josephus. The person saying that there are several suspect passages ought to supply his “several passages” but as far as I know, this is an exaggeration, intended to undercut the reliability of the bona fide mention by Josephus of Jesus.

It is also worth noting that, as far as I know, there is no evidence of tampering with the Antiquities passage about the death of “James, the brother of Jesus who was called the Christ.”

I hope this helps.

2. The historians were simply writing what Christians believed about Jesus which is why they can’t be used as evidence that Jesus existed since they were only recording what Christians believed..

This claim is in direct contradiction with the previous claim.  If claim #2 is true, then claim #3 is false.  You cannot have it both ways.  In fact, it is quite ridiculous to say that neither Suetonius, not Tacitus, not Josephus, nor the other non-Christians writers who mentioned Jesus did not exist.  Honestly, this is an absolutely ridiculous and irresponsible claim.

4. The apostles and disciples in the New Testament never existed and there were no eyewitness accounts.

As for eyewitness accounts, we have plenty of those, including John and Mark.  There is a significant doubt about whether the apostle we know of as Matthew wrote the Gospel of Matthew, although I personally believe the testimony of the early church, but the case for Matthew is a bit weaker.  However, to say that none of the gospel writers were eye-witnesses is extremely unlikely.  What we can say for absolute certain is that there were many thousands of eye-witnesses to the life, sayings and deeds of Jesus, and none of these eye-witnesses ever objected to the accuracy of the gospel accounts, and they would know.  I cannot absolutely prove that eye-witnesses wrote John and Mark, but the evidence very strongly supports that they were the authors.

5. The New Testament writers are unknown and the gospels are anonymous with the names of “Matthew,” “Mark,” “Luke,” and “John” later attributed to the writings because we have many quotes by them by earlier church fathers prior to the mid second century and none of them have any names attributed to them..

This statement shows that the one stating this is not looking carefully at the actual evidence.  For example, Papias, in about AD 130 mentions the authors of all four gospels. Irenaus, in AD 160 also mentions all four authors. So does Justin around AD 150.  Polycarp and Ignatius also mention more than one of the gospel authors in about AD 120.  Also, we have a first century author, namely Peter, who tells us that Paul wrote several letters which are now part of the New Testament.  Peter calls Paul’s writings “scripture.”  Apparently whoever said this is parroting what they have heard from someone else and are probably even exaggerating what they heard.  

6. Paul never existed.

Again, anyone saying this is only proving their own ignorance of history.  Like I said, ALL reputable scholars of all stripes will repudiate this ridiculous statement.

7. Paul never saw Jesus and he was the only one to write about Jesus in the first century and every other author wrote about him in the second century.

This statement is in direct conflict with the previous statement. If he wrote about Jesus, then he obviously existed! We need to decide which rather poor and unfounded criticism of the New Testament we want to address.  Let’s pretend that claim #6 was never made, for the sake of argument.  OK.  I will agree with the critic to this extent.  The only witness we have for Paul’s having had a vision of Jesus on the road to Damascus is Paul himself.  If a skeptic wants to reject Paul’s claim, I suppose I cannot blame them for choosing to believe Paul is a liar, although I would submit that Paul does not show evidence in his later life of being a liar.  That he was the only person to write about Jesus in the first century flies in the face of ALL scholarship.  End of story.  Clement of Rome quotes from Matthew and John in roughly AD 95.  The Didache, written about AD 100-110 clearly mentions Jesus!!!  No one believes that any of the four gospels was written in the second century. No one!!!  No one believes that James was written in the second century.  The first part of this criticism is a fair proposal, but the rest is 100% proof positive that the person does not know what he or she is talking about.

8. The “wouldn’t die for a lie” argument is premised on apostolic martyrdoms that were legends that emerged centuries after Jesus lived and died and contradict one another by attributing different horrific martyrdoms to the same apostle.

Now, it is true that the majority of the apostolic martyrdoms recorded in Eusebius (published AD 325) are not well-founded.  The honest truth is that our information on the deaths of apostles such as Bartholemew and Thomas are questionable at best.  However, there is virtually no doubt whatsoever that Paul and Peter were martyred.  Also, the martyrdom of James, the brother of Jesus is reported by Josephus.  That Christians were martyred in the first century is a fact of history.  That all the eye-witnesses of the resurrection of Jesus were under pressure, and even in danger of arrest and martyrdom is established by history..  Is it true that some of the accounts of the martyrdoms of some of the apostles is in doubt?  Yes.  Absolutely.  But the “wouldn’t die for a lie” argument remains a very strong one.

9. No one mentions Josephus until 325 AD or Tacitus until 116 AD.

Is the claim that they were not real historians who did not write the works attributed to them?  No it is not! This is a red herring argument.  Besides, since Tacitus wrote around AD 110, the second fact is not very surprising.  As far as I know, literally no one doubts that Josephus was a real person who really wrote the accounts attributed to him, so the statements above are red herrings and do nothing to minimize what these real people really wrote.  By the way, I VERY seriously doubt the claim about Josephus, but, to be honest, I do not have the time right now to disprove this claim, so I will let it stand.

10. There is no proof in the Roman Senate records that Jesus Christ even existed.

Neither is there any proof in the Romans Senate records for 99.999% of all people who lived in the Roman Empire.  This statement, though true, tells us nothing about whether Jesus was a real person. It does nothing  whatsoever to undermine the reliability of the gospel accounts.

11. The Historic Jesus for the most part is studied in the same places by the same people that the Jesus of Faith is studied: seminary schools, Bible colleges, Christian universities and their critical evaluation which they claim isn’t very critical is only allowed to go so far and that the historical sources are mainly theologically-motivated texts and how theologians are not historians and that they may have an interest in ancient history, but that the primary motivation is to protect and preserve Christian theology and that the facts that historicists use to prop up the Historical Jesus are discredited by the very historicist scholars who mock the mythicist position.

This is plainly and simply a lie.  It is not true.  It may be true that the majority of those who study the early history of Christianity are believers, but there are many atheists, skeptics and anti-Christians who also study the early church, and none of them will agree with the conclusion that he did not exist or that he was not killed by crucifixion by the Romans.  (More accurately, only a tiny minority of the non-Christian historians deny this, but the reputation of this tiny minority speaks for itself). Honestly, this statement does a disservice to the hundreds of non-believing scholars who have studied the life of Jesus and the New Testament.

12. Josephus’ passage in Antiquities 18.3.3 is a forgery and nobody and not a single church father who quoted extensively from Josephus in their apologetics ever mentioned the passage and that it was first mentioned in the 4th century by Eusebius who is claimed to be a noted forgerer and likely responsible for the passage and we also have a UV image showing the passage was tampered with a second time.

I have already dealt with this question above.  What does this person mean that they do not mention the 12 disciples being there?  Whoever says this has obviously not read Matthew, Mark or Luke.  Obviously the three Synoptic gospels have significantly different details.  Otherwise, why have three separate but non-contradictory gospels, which is what we have?   That Luke was a careful historian has been well established.  That Mark and John were written by those who knew Jesus is not questioned by any reasonable critic. That the author of Matthew may possibly not have been Matthew himself is a possibility, but, given that it was written around AD 60-70 by an early Christian is well established. We do not have to be absolutely certain of the authors to be certain about the reliability of what they wrote.

The writer of the Gospel of John mentions several individuals being there, including “the disciple whom Jesus loved,” (presumably the apostle John himself) but as biblical  archaeology.com  states: “…‘Who wrote the Gospel of John?’ is a question that remains unanswered…We may never know for certain who wrote the Gospel of John, any more than we can know who wrote the books of Matthew, Mark and Luke…” Gospel of John Commentary: Who Wrote the Gospel of John and How Historical Is It? – Biblical Archaeology Society

This is a gross over-statement by a group which is extremely careful to not offend the atheists and other skeptics. People other than John himself have been proposed, but the majority opinion, even of skeptics, is that the author is more likely the apostle John. However, although we cannot absolutely prove who wrote these gospels, what we can say for sure is that the four attributed authors are likely the actual ones, and that, in any case, Mark was written in the late 50s or early 60’s, Luke was written around AD 65.  Matthew was written before AD 70 and John by around AD 85.  All three were written by people who were well acquainted with the accounts of eye-witnesses, and, on top of that, although Archaeology Today is an extremely careful and skeptical source, it does not deny any of what I am saying here. It is simply stating that we are not absolutely certain, which is true.

Further, while the list of who’s there in the Gospel of John does overlap somewhat with the other three gospels, it doesn’t agree with them.

Right.  The four gospels are separate but reliable accounts of what Jesus said and did.  They record different facts.  Of course they do.  What is the point here?

That means that the first account we have of the crucifixion and who might have been there was probably written about 40 years after the event by people who weren’t there. Further, the accounts were written by partisans, not recorded in any unbiased, official document like a Roman record.

The answer is that the thousands of still-living eye witnesses to the life and deeds of Jesus would have known if the gospels were a fake.  The knew!  Is there any actual evidence that the gospels contain fabrications?  If so, would someone like to give some evidence of fabrications?  There is none.

Source: https://www.quora.com/Who-witnessed-the-supposed-crucifixion-of-Jesus-We-dont-even-know-who-wrote-the-gospels-yet-magically-there-are-witnesses-to-crucifixion-Not-even-the-family-of-Jesus-in-their-writings-mentions-crucifixion

You also have YouTubers like Godless Engineer making video replies and reacting to every apologist and debunking, destroying, and discrediting them and saying that they failed to prove this or that and that their arguments are bad and weak and the worst ones and logical fallacies and don’t and won’t prove anything and that they were caught lying and he even questions the brotherhood of Jesus and James:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oK5MxHm6sTs&ab_channel=GodlessEngineer

I can only respond to specific questions.  If you have a specific question about a specific claim, go ahead and write to me about that, but I cannot respond to an entire website.  Please provide specifics.

This is his YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@godlessengineer

You May Also Like:

• How do we know that Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were actually the authors of those gospels? How does this relate to their reliability?
• Is Bart Ehrman right that we have almost no evidence about Jesus?
• Are critics reasonable to criticize the reliability of the gospels because they were written so long after Jesus died?
• Many of my Muslim friends tell me that Jesus did not die on the cross and that this came, not from Muhammad but from the second century. Your response?

Comments are closed.

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Volume 39 - Issue 1

The Text of the New Testament in Contemporary Research: Essays on the Status Quaestionis

2nd ed. New Testament Tools, Studies and Documents 42. Leiden: Brill, 2013. xii + 884 pp. £190.00/$314.00 (hardcover); £49.00/$76.00 (paperback).

The Text of the New Testament in Contemporary Research includes a collection of 28 essays on a number of subjects relating to the early text and transmission of the NT. The first edition of the volume was published in 1995 as a Festschrift in honor of the late American textual scholar Bruce Metzger and has proven to be a helpful resource for those interested in textual criticism of the NT. While the original edition is still less than 20 years old, there have been several notable developments in the field of NT textual criticism in recent years, impressing upon the editors of the second edition the need for an updated volume. Over the last few decades, our knowledge of ancient literary practices and the processes in which writings were produced and distributed in the ancient world has increased while a number of ancient papyri have been discovered, providing scholars with additional evidence with which to discern the state of the NT text in early Christianity. In addition, the perceived task of textual criticism has been debated, as several notable scholars have challenged the discipline’s traditional objective to establish the original text of the NT. In response to these recent developments, the editors have included in the second edition several new essays. Most of these essays are related to the perceived task of textual criticism or methodological issues, though new essays have been added on some of the often overlooked witnesses to the early text of the NT. In addition to these new essays, the volume also includes a number of revised essays which appeared in the first edition. In some cases these essays have been revised by the original authors, while in other cases new contributors provided a fresh study. The result is a valuable up-to-date and significantly expanded volume that provides a helpful assessment of the current state of NT textual criticism.

Biblical scholars as well as students with an interest in NT textual criticism will find this volume to be an excellent resource. However, those with only a limited knowledge of textual criticism may benefit from first reading an introduction to the discipline such as Paul Wegner’s A Student’s Guide to Textual Criticism of the Bible (IVP, 2006), Kurt and Barbara Aland’s The Text of the New Testament (Eerdmans, 1995), Bruce Metzger’s The Text of the New Testament (OUP, 2005), David Black’s New Testament Textual Criticism (Baker, 1994), or David Parker’s An Introduction to the New Testament Manuscripts and their Texts (CUP, 2008). The purpose of The Text of the New Testament in Contemporary Research is not to provide the reader with the type of overview of the discipline one might find in an introductory work, but to address the current state of the discipline while providing readers with helpful resources for further study. While the hardback edition retails for a rather prohibitive $314, the publisher has recently released a paperback version that retails for a more affordable $76. The release of the paperback version will undoubtedly increase the readership and influence of the volume.

Broadly speaking, the first 18 essays are related to the extant witnesses to the early text of the NT or the process of transmission. Topics include the Greek witnesses to the NT (chs. 1–4), the early versions of the NT (chs. 5–12), the relevance of the writings of patristic authors for the task of textual criticism (chs. 13–15), Greek witnesses to the NT outside of the extant manuscripts and testimony of the Greek fathers (ch. 16), and the role of scribes in the transmission of the NT (chs. 17–18). Each essay overviews the state of research of its given topic and concludes with an up-to-date bibliography of relevant sources for further study. Those wishing to become more familiar with the wide range of witnesses to the early state of the NT will find these chapters to be especially helpful.

The remaining essays of the volume (chapters 19–28) are concerned in one way or another with methodological issues or the objectives of the discipline of NT textual criticism. These essays also include helpful bibliographies and enable the reader to become conversant with the recent trends in the discipline. Perhaps two of the more provocative essays in the volume are those of the editors Michael Holmes and Bart Ehrman, both of whom offer a significant challenge to the once widely accepted persuasion that the task of textual criticism is to reconstruct the original text of the NT writings. Holmes writes that while he once understood the purpose of textual criticism to be the reconstruction of the original text of a document, he no longer holds to this persuasion. He explains that there are at least two major reasons for this. First, “the study of the history of the transmission of the text is no longer viewed only or primarily as a means to the recovery of the original, but rather as a legitimate goal in its own right” (p. 367). Rather than treating many of the textual variants of the NT as “detritus littering the path to the original text” (p. 637), Holmes suggests that scholars should recognize the value of textual variants for what they reveal about the world of the early church. The existence of textual variants, Holmes notes, provide “possible sources of insight into the history and cultural context of the individuals and communities that transmitted (and, occasionally, created) them” (p. 367–68). But why dismiss the task of reconstructing the original text? Might it be possible to work towards a reconstruction of the text of the original writings of the NT while also recognizing that textual variants may occasionally reveal further insight into the various theological controversies which took place in early Christianity?

Second, Holmes suggests that the task of reconstructing the text of the original autographs of the NT writings is fraught with difficulties. As he argues, the original autographs would have contained “not merely the text as a sequence of words, but also the precise layout, spelling, and form of the words” that “generally are not recoverable from the surviving manuscripts copies of the New Testament writings” (pp. 668–69). However, even if these relatively minor characteristics of the autographs are not the primary focus, Holmes insists that discerning an “original” text remains problematic because of the ambiguity of the term. Because the NT writings were often composed with the assistance of a secretary (see the example of Tertius in Rom 16:22), the term “original text” is often used in reference to different stages in the compositional process. For most scholars, however, the term “original text” is used to describe the text that was dispatched to a writer’s original audience. Rather than seeking to reconstruct the “original” text—in whatever form one envisions—Holmes argues that textual critics should seek to uncover, so much as the extant witnesses allow, what he has described as the initial text, that is, “the form(s) of text in which an early Christian writing first began to circulate and be copied” (p. 638). In other words, rather than seeking to reconstruct the text of the original autographs in the state in which they were originally dispatched, Holmes argues that textual critics must instead seek to establish “the textual form(s) (archetypes) from which the extant evidence derives” (p. 680).

Ehrman’s essay also discusses some of his objections to a primary focus on the reestablishment of the original text. He argues that while textual critics have “enjoyed reasonable success at establishing, to the best of their abilities, the original text of the New Testament” (p. 825), this narrow focus overlooks the significant insights that the various textual witnesses reveal about the social world in which the NT was written and transmitted. “An exclusive concentration on the autographs is myopic,” Ehrman concludes, because “it overlooks the value of variant forms of the text for historians interested in matters other than exegesis” (p. 803). Other notable textual critics have argued similarly in recent years, perhaps most notably Eldon Epp and David Parker.

Many textual critics, however, remain committed to the traditional understanding of textual criticism, namely, the reestablishment of the original text or what is sometimes referred to as the authorial text. Daniel Wallace, for example, has emphasized that the task of determining the original reading of the NT autographs is not simply a modern preoccupation, but one that has been a commitment of Christians throughout the centuries (“Challenges in New Testament Textual Criticism for the Twenty-first Century,” JETS 52 [2009]: 79–100). While scholars have at times failed to clarify what is meant by the term “original text,” it is for good reason that the task of reconstructing the text of the NT has remained an important objective of the church for two millennia. Because the Scriptures have long been recognized as useful for “teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Tim 3:16 ESV), it is both natural and justifiable to recognize the work of discerning the original text of the NT as a profitable and necessary pursuit. The discovery of several biblical manuscripts and other early witnesses to the text of the NT over the last century has given scholars reason to be optimistic about our ability to reconstruct the original text. While the original reading of several passages remains uncertain, the NT is by far the best-attested writing of antiquity. Because of the impressive number of ancient witnesses to the NT that have survived, there is reason to be fairly confident in our ability to discern the most probable original text of the majority of the NT. Even when the available evidence is insufficient to determine the original reading of a particular passage, it should be recalled that no central doctrine of the Christian faith is dependent upon a single passage of Scripture in which there is dispute regarding its original reading. In other words, the merits of Christianity are not reliant upon our ability to accurately discern the original reading of the entirety of the NT.

Those wishing to expand their knowledge of the various ancient witnesses to the NT or to become more conversant with recent trends and developments in textual criticism will find this volume to be a helpful resource. While many readers will undoubtedly disagree with some of the conclusions made by the various contributors, the editors are to be commended for assembling such a fine collection of essays which students and scholars alike will find to be of great value.

Benjamin Laird

Benjamin Laird Liberty University Lynchburg, Virginia, USA

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Joshua Typology in the New Testament

The Language of the New Testament: Context, History, and Development

A Theology of Matthew: Jesus Revealed as Deliverer, King, and Incarnate Creator

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Big Questions for Studying the New Testament Gospels

In my previous posts I summarized the eight lectures that can be found on my new eight-lecture online course, “The Unknown Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.”  As I’ve indicated before, this course is not connected directly with the blog: it is a separate endeavor run off my personal website for the Bart Ehrman Professional Services.  You can see it here.  https://www.bartehrman.com/courses/ .

Included in the course packet are questions for reflection, meant to help listeners think through the issues I’ve discussed and reflect on them from their own perspective.  I deal with each of these issues in some depth in the course of the lectures.  If you are interested in these issues, and have trouble answering the questions as fully as you like, or would like additional information about them to go on – take a look at the course and see if it’s your cup of tea!

The Unknown Gospels

Questions for reflection, lecture one.

• To what extent do you think we can understand the Gospels without knowing what scholars say about their authors, dates, sources of information, and reliability? Largely?  Moderately?  Not at all?
• What do you see as the most significant problems with the Gospels and how might these affect how we understand them?

Lecture Two

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• Do you think that Rationalists like Hermann Samuel Reimarus and Heinrich Paulus went too far in eliminating all the miraculous elements from the Gospels? What is gained by their approach, and what is lost?

Lecture Three

• How would you describe David Friedrich Strauss’s understanding of the Gospels as “myth”? What (if anything) about this view strikes you as insightful and what (if anything) seems problematic?
• Everyone recognizes that the Gospels are different from each other. In your opinion, do the differences matter significantly?  If so, in what way?  And if not, why not?

Lecture Four

• Do you think the Gospels were written by eyewitnesses, or at least were based on eyewitness testimony? If they were, in your view, would this suggest we can trust their historical accuracy?  If they were not, in your view, does that mean they are necessarily untrustworthy?
• What is your view about the historical reliability of traditions that circulated by word of mouth for years in fundamentally oral cultures? How would traditions change (if at all), and would they necessarily move away from historical reliability?

Lecture Five

• What strikes you as the most important reasons for knowing about the written sources of the Gospels (especially if one or more of them used one or more of the others as sources for their own accounts)? That is, how would it help us to understand them better?
• How do you differentiate between a textual difference and a contradiction? Do you think the differentiation matters for studying the Gospels?  If so, give a couple of examples where you think it might affect your understanding.

Lecture Six

• Many people think that critical scholarship on the Gospels that focuses on their problems – for example, issues of historical reliability and literary discrepancy – is entirely negative and unhelpful for understanding their message. Others think it is helpful for understanding them.  Explain your view.
• Explicate one instance in which Gospel differences may help us understand the meaning and/or emphasis of a passage.

Lecture Seven

• In your view, just how significant is the fact that we do not have the original copies of the Gospels but only copies made many years after the originals, and that they all differ in many ways (usually minor, but sometimes major)? Explain just why it matters, or does not.  In your view do we have a completely solid idea of what the authors actually wrote, a really good idea, a pretty good idea, or no idea at all?  What makes you think so?
• Choose one passage of the Gospels that is worded in different ways in our manuscripts, explain what the difference is, and show how it affects the meaning of the passage. How significant is the difference, in your view?

Lecture Eight

• What do you see as the major reasons early Christian leaders wanted to have a collection of authoritative accounts of Jesus life? Why was the collection needed?  What was it meant to achieve?  And in what ways did it achieve it?
• How did church leaders decide which Gospels should be included in the canon, and which left out? Do you think the process was fairly cut and dried?  How much was it driven by historical contingencies and uncertainties?

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21 comments.

I believe you understand the Beatitudes mainly as forecasts of how the world will be turned upside down when God’s kingdom arrives—with which I agree. But I know that they are often presented as ethical principles people should follow in order to be happy or blessed. Do you think the latter also has a significant amount of validity? I’m thinking especially of things like being peacemakers and merciful and pure of heart.

Perhaps there’s a difference depending on whether Matthew’s or Luke’s version is being considered? Or maybe there’s some degree of difference between what they meant and what the historical Jesus probably meant?

I too think they are ethical principles to be practiced now. Absolutely. The ehtics of the kindom are to be implemented by peole NOW.

My understanding is that there are three main schools of contemporary secular ethics: deontological, consequentialist/utilitarian, and a relatively recent revival of virtue ethics. The last, as I understand it, focuses on people’s character rather than on the moral rules they follow. Forming habits of things like courage, kindness, self-control, honesty, etc are emphasized.

I know of some theologians who have explored interpreting the ethics of Jesus as an example of virtue ethics. Could that give us insight into Jesus’s character, what he was like as a person? My understanding is that such insight is not possible for the historical Jesus. But could each of the evangelists have “constructed” a character for Jesus out of their understanding of his ethics? What might that character be?

I’d say that Jesus was not interested in teh classical virtues, which were normally pursued to improve personal character. He had an entirely different understanding of what it meant to be human, and it was completely in relation to the God of Israel and his commands for obedeince, in particular in caring for others rather than focusing on ones self (whether for wealth or virtue).

I learned about Reimarus from the Unknown Gospels lectures, of which I am now on my way to hear for the third time (I usually go over everything ” only” twice).

I grew up learning that the hero and pioneer of Biblical High Criticism was Spinoza. He lived some 50 years earlier than Reimarus and paid a high price ( excommunication, a severe penalty in those days) for his convictions and writing.

After learning about Reimarus, I was curious to see if Spinoza had written anything about the NT. I was astonished to find that with regards to the NT, he sounded pretty much like a Christian in his Tractatus,which to me seems a huge contradiction or paradox regarding his critical ideas, rejection of miracles, and mostly, his personal understanding of God and his quasi pantheistic viewpoint.

I found this article from a blog about Spinoza’s Christ, and don’t know what to think, how to reconcile these seemingly opposite views.

I am sure, knowing Spinoza’s character, that he did not write so devoutly about Christ to protect himself, as a Jew, from Christian displeasure.

It is a comprehensive article:

http://branemrys.blogspot.com/2008/03/spinozas-christ.html

What do you make of this? Is Spinoza even mentioned when the Gospels are discussed?

It’s a great question. But no, when dealing with the history of NT research, Spinoza is not usually dealt with as a major player; at his time peole like Richard Simon (French) and Hugo Grotius are prominent figures. I”m not sure how they all relate to each other though.

Hey Dr. Ehrman. I saw a video about the mcgrews argument about undesigned coincidences. Does this prove anything? It’s like they always say atheists use the same arguments. Bb

I’ve never found it convincing. At least when I’ve heard it, it has never been triangulated (e.g., these coincidences *here* vs. what kinds of coincidences we typically find here and there in otehr texts). But maybe they’ve done that.

Do you think it matters if they triangulated the coincidences to prove that Christianity is true?

They can’t prove that Christianity is true by making claims about the Bible. CHristianity rests on the belief in the acts of God, especially by raising jesus from the dead. That is true, or not, independently of whether the Bible has mistakes in it.

In one of your recent posts concerning Christian love and salvation, you said something to the effect that God wants us to “imitate” God’s own goodness to the world. My interest in Deism has led me to a similar summarizing statement about morality made by Thomas Paine.

Such statements strike me as a “fresh” summary of Christian morality. Christians are often exhorted to imitate Jesus. But the material for that seems kind of limited to the gospel accounts of Jesus’s life. Talk about imitating God’s goodness to his creation has a more universal sense to it that goes to the heart of reality—not just to one (God-)man’s life.

I imagine some such statements have been fairly common in Christian history. I wonder why it sounds fresh to me. Maybe because there’s no (direct) mention of obedience to God’s commands? That it urges a more or less natural benevolence that already pervades creation?

Anyway, thanks for reinforcing the value of that phrase to me.

With regard to your first big question, I think that knowing what scholars say is hugely important for understanding the gospels. On the other hand though, many Christians throughout history have not had access to that knowledge. It seems to me that, “existentially,” people have always had to bring their own concerns, desires, fears, questions, prior knowledge and understanding, to the gospels. Perhaps the main question for them has been whether and how the gospels help them make sense of and guide their own lives.

Of course, the knowledge conveyed by NT scholars can be of enormous help with this too. Yet that knowledge-all by itself-seems kind of impersonal, detached, disconnected to their major life concerns. I suppose that statement cries out for a good example. Perhaps the fact that the historical Jesus did not refer to himself as God would be one. But that doesn’t necessarily falsify Christianity in its entirety. If it’s disturbing to people they need to reflect on how their deepest concerns are connected to that belief. Maybe a mythical understanding would work better for them. Or maybe humanism.

Does that make sense? Is there a phrase-other than “existential”-for this kind of understanding?

I”m not sure “existential” is quite the right term, given its connotations in the broader philosophical tradition; you could probably keep the idea simpler in your sentence simply by eliminating the words “that, ‘existentially'”

Re: …the most significant problems with the Gospels and how might these affect how we understand them?

Wouldn’t one “problem” for us be that these authors were thinking and writing out of a fundamentally different conceptual universe than the one in which we inhabit? Sometimes I wonder if a modern Christian can even be said to “believe” in the same way as these ancient peoples. Doesn’t our interpretation of these ancient documents rest mostly on the assumption that there are points of contact with their way of thinking that we can trust?

Yup, for me that’s a HUGE problem, and one of the reasons we need historical scholarship, to explain the ancient views that were simplly assumed to be true at the time. disabledupes{4f5c65ba8047045b0d254a38e5127b15}disabledupes

Hard questions. For the lecture one questions, I’d say too much background information is missing to understand the gospels completely. Why, in Mark 15:33-35, does the author translate “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani” to “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me”? Could it be that it was common knowledge that Jesus did cry out to Elijah for help and Mark is trying to deny that as a kind of damage control? Or was Mark being theological here in quoting from the Psalms? There’s no way to know without having access to the now lost common knowledge of Mark’s time. For lecture four, I’d say the gospel authors weren’t eyewitnesses because, in the arrest of Jesus (for example), the synoptic authors don’t know which disciple cut off the high priest’s servant’s ear. John Mark would know that from Peter, Matthew would know that because he witnessed it, etc.. If Matthew wrote Matthew then, as an eyewitness, he wouldn’t have needed to use Mark and Q as sources; Luke is anti-Pauline in its theology so it couldn’t have been written by Luke (who did accept Paul’s theology). Still wrestling with the rest.

Have you seen the lectures? They provide some of teh information that is useful to answering them.

Not yet, although I assumed the lectures would provide answers based on scholarship and cover much of the material that is in your books and blog posts. Was the purpose of the questions you asked blog readers about meant to generate thinking about these issues prior to taking the course? Or the other way around?

THe other way around. My sense is that most of the questions would be difficult to answer without hearing the lectures that they were based on.

I love questions! Especially big ones.

Is there a reliable glossary that defines terms I can consult? Son of God. Good news. Kingdom of God. Impure spirit. Ransom, as Jesus means it. Without a clear understanding of terms, I don’t have any confidence i understand the case being made.

Mark constantly argues how Jesus was so often misunderstood. I question how much Marks book clears up misunderstandings.

The difficulty is that each of htese terms can mean a range of things, so the key is to knonw how *Mark* is using them. One place to start is by getting a good study Bible with notes; I like both the HarperCollins Study Bible and the Oxford Reference Bible.

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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Tina Smith: Our Solution to the Housing Crisis

By Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Tina Smith

Ms. Ocasio-Cortez is a Democratic U.S. representative from New York and Ms. Smith is a Democratic U.S. senator from Minnesota.

Stop almost anyone on the street today and you’ll hear we’re in a housing crisis. In most American counties, minimum-wage workers can’t afford to rent even a modest one-bedroom apartment. Working families are bidding against the world’s biggest financial firms for homes. On top of it all, people living in public housing complexes across the country are increasingly exposed to inhumane conditions after years of federal neglect and underinvestment.

It’s becoming nearly impossible for working-class people to buy and keep a roof over their heads. Congress must respond with a plan that matches the scale of this crisis.

For generations, the federal government’s approach to housing policy has been primarily focused on encouraging single-family homeownership and private investment in rental housing. The mortgage-interest deduction provides roughly $30 billion in tax write-offs to homeowners annually. In addition to their support of the mortgage market, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac provide up to $150 billion in financial backing to the multifamily rental market every year, but much of it goes to large, corporate landlords. These lucrative loans come with very few tenant protections or labor requirements. And the largest affordable housing incentive our government offers — the low-income housing tax credit — too often ends up in the hands of for-profit developers.

Outsourcing development to the private market leaves affordable housing subject to the boom-and-bust cycle of private investment. What’s more, the federal government relinquishes the oversight needed to protect tenants from abusive landlords and racial discrimination.

The result is a housing market where corporate landlords make record profits while half of America’s 44 million renters struggle to pay rent. For a generation of young people, the idea of home has become loaded with anxiety; too many know they can’t find an affordable, stable place to rent, let alone buy.

Why is this happening? For decades, thanks to restrictive zoning laws and increasing construction costs, we simply haven’t built enough new housing.

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