Pop Quiz MasterClass

Progressive Baptist Church

March 1, 2020

1. HowmanyGospelsaretherein

thecanonicalNT?

1. HowmanyGospelsaretherein

thecanonicalNT?

Answer: 4

2. ListthecanonicalGospelsinthe

orderinwhichtheyappearinthe

NewTestament.

2. ListthecanonicalGospelsinthe

orderinwhichtheyappearinthe

NewTestament.

Answer: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John

3. True or False:

MostlikelytheGospelofMark

waswrittenfirst;Lukeandthen

MatthewusedMark’sGospelas

thebasisoftheirownGospels.

3. Answer: True

MostlikelytheGospelofMark

waswrittenfirst;Lukeandthen

MatthewusedMark’sGospelas

thebasisoftheirownGospels.

4. InwhichGospeldoestheParable

oftheGoodSamaritanappear?

4. InwhichGospeldoestheParable

oftheGoodSamaritanappear?

  Answer:

Luke (10:25–37)

5. WhichGospelscontainnarratives

aboutthebirthofJesusChrist?

5. WhichGospelscontainnarratives

aboutthebirthofJesusChrist?

Answer: Matthew (1–2) and Luke (1–2)

6. True or False:

Jesusneverclaimedtobedivinein

anyoftheGospels.

6. Answer: False JesusneverclaimedtobedivineinanyoftheGospels.

John10:30–“IandtheFatherareone”

-ThecontextshowsthatlistenersunderstoodthisclaimandsoughttostoneJesus.

7. True or False:

Verylittlecanbeknownaboutthe

historicalJesus.Mostofwhatwe

haveintheNTwascreatedbythe

earlychurchafterJesus’

resurrection.

7. Answer: False VerylittlecanbeknownaboutthehistoricalJesus.MostofwhatwehaveintheNTwascreatedbytheearlychurchafterJesus’resurrection.

-HewasbornandcrucifiedaccordingtoTacitus,Annals.-Josephusnotesthathisfollowershadnotdisappearedbytimeofhiswriting(c.A.D.70).

-TheBabylonianTalmudalsoattestslifeofJesus.

8. True or False:

ThereareminorhistoricalerrorsintheGospelsandActs,butthesedonotdetractfromtheoverallreliabilityoftheseaccountsaboutthehistoricalJesusandtheearlychurch.

8. Answer: False ThereareminorhistoricalerrorsintheGospelsandActs,butthesedonotdetractfromtheoverallreliabilityoftheseaccountsaboutthehistoricalJesusandtheearlychurch.

-  TheBibleistrueandnotfalseinallthatitclaims,andhowitmakestruthclaims.

-TheBibleusesordinaryconventions;e.g.,around8,000mayactuallybe7,950.

-Thereisextensiveuseoffiguresofspeech;thesignificanceofgenremustalsobestressed.

-ArchaeologydoesnotproveordisprovetheBible.

9. True or False: TheGospelofThomaswasprobablywrittenbeforethe

canonicalGospelsandwasusedby

thecanonicalgospelwritersin

theirownGospels.

9. Answer: FalseTheGospelofThomaswasprobablywrittenbeforethecanonicalGospelsandwasusedbythecanonicalgospelwritersintheirownGospels.

-TheGospelofThomasreflectsaGnosticworldviewthatismostplausiblydatedtoafterthecompositionofthecanonicalGospels.

10.True or False: Thecanonwasdecidedbychurchcouncilsinthe4thcentury.ManywritingsthatwereconsideredsacredbytheearlychurchwereexcludedfromthefinallistofauthorizeditemstobeincludedintheNT.

10. Answer: FalseThecanonwasdecidedbychurchcouncilsinthe4thcentury.ManywritingsthatwereconsideredsacredbytheearlychurchwereexcludedfromthefinallistofauthorizeditemstobeincludedintheNT.

-Theearliest“list”ofthecanon(theMuratorianCanon)indicatesthatthe4Gospels,andonlythe4Gospels,weresetapartbythechurchasearlyasc.AD190.

-ThereisearlierevidenceoftheGospelsandPaul’sletterscirculatingasunits.

Week 1: Reliability and Canon

MasterClass

Progressive Baptist Church

March 1, 2020

Making papyrus

→

→

→ p 46 P 52

a (01) – Sinaiticus

B (03) - Vaticanus

Types of Errors A. Accidental (majority) - poor eyesight, fatigue, interruptions,

misheard

Sight Errors Faulty word division - HEISNOWHERE - 1 Tim 3:16: ὁµολογοῦµεν ὡς µ�γα OR ὁµουλογουµ�νως µ�γα (�we confess how great� OR

�confessedly great�) - confusion of letters (e.g., Α / Δ / Λ and ζ / ξ )

•  Hearing Errors

Types of Errors B. Intentional – toward clarity/orthodoxy

Grammatical improvements

Liturgical changes (ending of Lord�s Prayer, Matt 6:13)

Elimination of apparent discrepancies (e.g., Mark 1:2 �Isaiah the prophet� to �the prophets� because also quotes from Malachi)

Harmonization of parallel passages (e.g., in Gospels; Col

1:14/Eph 1:7)

Conformity of OT quotation (often to LXX)

Summary of the Transmission of Scripture*   First stage: Inspiration Divine author → biblical author → original text of OT/NT Second stage: Transmission Original text (autographs) → copies of original text

(manuscripts) → critical editions of OT/NT Third stage: Translation and interpretation Critical edition → translation committees → modern readers *from J. Scott Duvall and J. Daniel Hays, Grasping God�s Word

How many other �little� mistakes in translation have blurred our understanding of the real story? After all, the Bible has been through an awful lot of translations during the past two thousand years, including, only in fairly recent times, into English and other modern languages. Moses and Jesus never said �thee� and �thou.� In fact, even the name Jesus is a muddled translation of the Hebrew name Joshua. In the words of one politician, �Mistakes were made.� They were compounded over time. What if one of those medieval monks had slipped a bit with his quill when he was illuminating a manuscript? Or perhaps one of King James�s scribes had too much sacramental wine the day he worked on Deuteronomy.

— Kenneth C. Davis, Don�t Know Much about the Bible

Progressive MasterClass

© Dana M. Harris – 2020 1

Grammatical-Historical Interpretation March 1, 2020

I. Engaging with the Text and Its World (Observation)

A. Establish the Text (Textual Criticism; Source Criticism, Form Criticism,

Redaction Criticism)

B. Explore the Text

1. Lexical Understanding

2. Linguistics and Grammar

3. The Structure of the Text (Rhetorical Criticism; Narrative Criticism)

4. The Function of the Text (Speech Act Theory)

II. Understand the Context (Observation, Interpretation)

A. Locate the Passage in Its Scriptural Context (Biblical Theology; Canonical

Criticism)

B. Locate the Passage in Its Literary Context (Genre Criticism; Narrative

Criticism)

C. Locate the Passage in Its Historical Context (Sociological Approaches;

Backgrounds)

III. Journeying with the Spirit (Application)

A. Invite the Holy Spirit’s presence at every stage of the process.

B. Pray for insight and wisdom from the Holy Spirit to understand and apply the text

to your life.

C. Praise God for this privileged journey! (Worship as the true goal of study)

Progressive MasterClass

Week 1: Introduction and Integrity March 1, 2020

Pop Quiz! I. General Introduction II. Why Should We Even Study the Bible, or the Gospels?

A. To avoid uninformed personal opinion B. To appreciate and respond to current assumptions and challenges C. To foster appreciation of a historical-grammatical interpretation of Scripture III. The Integrity of the NT Text A. Understanding Ancient NT Manuscripts

1. No original manuscripts of the Greek NT are extant (existing and known). 2. Extant copies differ (of nearly 6,000 mss., no two agree in all particulars).

B. Necessity and Scope of NT Textual Criticism C. Textual Criticism Not Unique to NT IV. A Brief History of the Transmission of the Greek New Testament A. Early Transmission

1. Need to Preserve Apostolic Witness 2. Oral Transmission and the Dates of NT Writings 3. Copies Invariably Contained Errors

4. Types of Errors

a. Accidental

Progressive MasterClass Week 1

© Dana M. Harris – 2020 2

b. Intentional

1. Grammatical improvements 2. Liturgical changes 3. Elimination of apparent discrepancies (e.g., Mark 1:2) 4. Harmonization of parallel passages (e.g., in Gospels; Col

1:14/Eph 1:7) 5. Conformity of OT quotation (often to LXX)

5. Standardization under Constantine (AD 306-337)

B. Summary of Transmission of the Bible — J. Scott Duvall and J. Daniel Hays, Grasping God’s Word: A Hands-On Approach to Reading, Interpreting, and Applying the Bible (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001), 151.

V. The NT Canon

A. The Concept of Canon

1. OT Precedent for Canon

2. Use of the OT by the NT

B. The Early Church’s Recognition of the Canon 1. Apostolic Authorship of Canonical Writings 2. Orthodox Faith and Rejection of Spurious Writings 3. Universal Acceptance of Canonical Books

The church receives only four gospels; heretics have many, such as the gospel of the Egyptians, the gospel of Thomas, etc. These we read, that we may not seem to be ignorant to those who think they know something extraordinary, if they are acquainted with those things which are recorded in these book.

— Origen of Alexander (c. 185-253), Homily on Luke 1, Fragments on Luke 5–6

4. The (Overlooked) Role of the Holy Spirit and Divine Authorship/Inspiration

First stage: inspiration divine author à biblical author à original text of OT/NT Second stage: transmission original text (autographs) à copies of original text (mss) à critical editions of OT/NT Third stage: translation and interpretation critical edition à translation committees à modern readers