Discussion on Miracles

There was an interesting article on miracles posted on the PleaseConvinceMe Blog.  Check out the comments for my thoughts.

Historiography as Scientific Inquiry

Aside from the part about Jesus perhaps not being a real person, I really enjoyed these comments by Robert Price.

Yale Open Course: New Testament 12 & 13

The twelfth lecture is on the letters of John.

• In Gospel of John, Jesus talks in riddles, and responds to questions with non-sequiturs
• Mark includes atonement as a reason for Jesus' death, Luke doesn't
• 1 John says that everyone is a sinner, yet contradicts by saying no believers sin
• 1 John commands believers to love brothers, not the outsiders

The thirteenth lecture is on the Historical Jesus.

• Prof says no reputable historian believes we know anything about the birth or trial of Jesus
• Peasants, like the disciples, would not have been let into a Roman trial court
• All reputable scholars believe there was a Jesus of Nazareth
• Historians agree that the sign nailed to the cross and the baptism by John the Baptist of Jesus are historical
• Important criterion for historicity is multiple attestation (found in more than one source), e.g. Jesus' teaching against divorce
• Another important criterion is dissimilarity (something that "swims against the current" of early Christianity), e.g. Jesus' disciples being armed in the garden during the last Passover.  Another example is when Jesus says "nobody is good but God."
• Prof says Jesus was an apocalyptic prophet
• Says Jesus picked 12 disciples because of the idea that the 12 tribes would be reconstituted at the restoration
• Says Jesus was executed because the Romans believed he was claiming to be King of the Jews

Yale Open Course: New Testament 11

The eleventh lecture is on the Gospel of John.

• Synoptics say Jesus' ministry is 1 year long, and occurred after John the Baptist's ministry was over
• John says Jesus' ministry is 3 years long, and overlaps John the Baptist's ministry
• The prof says he goes to a church w/ priests (Catholic? Episcopalian?) 
• Jesus in synoptics is almost silent during his trial, in John he has philosophical discussions
• anachronisms- calling certain people "the Jews" (all were jews), excommunication for belief in Jesus as messiah (this was not an issue early on because many were claiming to be messiah)
• Jesus claimed to be the "I AM" in the book of Exodus

Yale Open Course: New Testament 9 & 10

The 9th and 10th lectures are about the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles, respectively.

• Luke and Acts were written by the same anonymous person
• Unlike Mark, Luke doesn't mention the "abomination of desolation" in context with the destruction of the temple
• Author is not an eye-witness to events in the Gospels
• Prof says this Gospel was written after 70 CE because the it says things that happened to Jerusalem that Mark does not say, e.g. "surrounded by armies," "will fall by the sword," "will be led captive into all nations," and "will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles."
• The theme of Jesus' death is that "prophets are killed by their own people," instead of it being an atonement.
• Prof says that unlike Luke, Mark has Jesus change the Law, e.g. in Mark 7:19 about Jesus declaring all foods clean.  (I emailed the prof about this phrase not being in the Greek)

Yale Open Course: New Testament 6

In the sixth lecture, the prof talks about the Gospel of Mark.  He emphasizes that he will only be using the historical critical method to analyze the text.  Thus, he will not try to harmonize this gospel with other NT texts.

• The "Messianic Secret" is a big problem if this gospel, as is the problem of misunderstanding, which is that of Jesus' teachings by his very own disciples.  
• Scholars have said this gospel is a passion narrative with an extended introduction.
• Author of the gospel is unknown
• Probably written just before, or right around, 70 CE because it doesn't mention the destruction of the Temple (I didn't understand this point, because it actually does mention it in the form of a prophecy)
• There's controversy over whether or not Mark ends at v. 8 of chapter 16, however most scholars believe it does. Therefore, this gospel includes only rumors of the resurrection

Yale Open Course: New Testament 5

In the fifth lecture, the prof talks about the NT as reliable history.  He basically says it is not.

The lecture is focused on the differences in the stories of Paul in both Acts and Galatians.  In Acts, it says that Paul was introduced by Barnabas to the other disciples a short time after Paul's experience in Damascus.  The prof counts 5 times that Paul was in Jerusalem before the Jerusalem Council of Acts 15.  In Galatians, it says that Paul visited Jerusalem perhaps once or twice before the Jerusalem Council, and then only to see Peter and James.  The prof says that these stories are probably contradictory, even though some devout believers have tried to harmonize them.

The prof thinks the account in Galatians is probably more accurate because Paul was being so forceful about something that the readers of his letter could have verified.  However, he admits that his main point is just that the texts must be sifted in order to arrive at historical truth, rather than taken at face-value.

Yale Open Course: New Testament 4

In the fourth lecture, the prof talks about 1st century Judaism.

The prof gives an intriguing explanation of why modern scholars consider the date of the authorship of the book of Daniel to be about 165 BCE.  The explanation is that the author of Daniel accurately predicts the events of history up until 164 BCE, at which point he starts to get things wrong.  Therefore, scholars conclude that Daniel was written after the date of the accurate history and before the date of the inaccurate history.

• Most notable places in the Eastern Mediterranean were Hellenized.
• A great quote, "The Jews had an ideology of empire and world domination embedded in their scripture.  And yet their social and political situation was just the opposite.  And it's in that maelstrom of Jewish ideology not fitting reality that Jesus was born."