NT156 Understanding Easter: The Significance of the Resurrection
NT202 A Survey of Jewish History and Literature from the Second Temple Period
NT211 Introducing the Gospels and Acts: Their Background, Nature, and Purpose
NT221 The Wisdom of John: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary on Johannine Literature
NT222 Introducing the Epistles and Revelation: Their Setting and Message
NT301 The Gospels as Ancient Biography: A Theological and Historical Perspective
NT314 Book Study: The Gospel of Matthew in Its Jewish Context
NT332 A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary on Paul’s Letter to the Romans
NT340 Book Study: Paul’s Letter to the Galatians: The Gospel for Jew and Gentile
NT348 Book Study: Paul’s Letters to the Colossians and Philemon
NT364 Book Study: James
NT390 Jesus as Rabbi: The Jewish Context of the Life of Jesus
NT395 Perspectives on Paul: Reformation and the New Perspective
In this course, Dr. Michael Heiser explains the story of how we got the New Testament—he guides you from the process of inspiration to the discovery and transmission of manuscripts. Dr. Heiser describes the role of scribes throughout time and discusses significant Greek New Testament manuscripts upon which modern translations are based. Because most students of the Bible read it in their own language, he also examines translation philosophies and controversies.
Identify basic facts about the scope and structure of the NT
Discuss the concepts of inspiration, inerrancy, and canon with respect to the NT
Explain the compositional process of the NT
Trace the transmission of the NT from its beginning to modern times
Identify the various textual witnesses to the NT
Describe the nature of textual variants and the process of textual criticism
Discuss how to evaluate English translations
Introducing the Speaker and the Course
What Is the New Testament?
The Term “New Testament”
Exploring “Covenant” Using the Topic Guide
The Scope of the New Testament
Number of New Testament Books
Order and Structure of New Testament Books
Titles of New Testament Books
The Authority of the Testaments
Creating a Custom Guide to Study 2 Timothy 3:16
Road Map for this Course
Two Sides to Inspiration
Flawed Conception of Inspiration
Coherent Conception: Major Verses
Coherent Conception: Textual Phenomena
Preview
Researching Important Dates with the Timeline Tool
The Language of the New Testament
Defining “Autograph”
Producing Documents in a Graeco-Roman World
Understanding Technical Terms
Amanuenses
Use of External Source Material
Exploring Ancient Texts Relevant to the Text of the New Testament
Literary Intent and Occasion
Concept of Canon
Early Development
The Impact of Canon on Copying and Transmission
The Copying Enterprise
The Innovation of the Codex
Manuscript Types and Discoveries
Papyri
Uncials and Sinaiticus
Using Textual Apparatuses in Logos
Uncials: Alexandrinus
Viewing Codex Sinaiticus in Logos
Uncials: Vaticanus
Uncials: Codex Bezae
Minuscules
Lectionaries
Quotations from the Fathers
Searching for New Testament Citations in the Early Church Fathers
Early Versions of the New Testament
Archaeological Factors in Dating Manuscripts
Dating and the Forms of Manuscripts
Dating and Paleography
Carbon-14 Dating
Manuscript Families
Alexandrian Family
Byzantine Family
The Early Centuries (1st–4th)
The Byzantine Era (400–1516)
The “Received Text” (1516–1633)
Erasmus’ First Edition (1516)
Erasmus’ First and Third Editions
Later Editions of Erasmus’ Text
The Period of Critical Research (1633–1881)
Important Scholarly Work
Westcott and Hort
Positive Reaction to Westcott and Hort
Negative Reaction to Westcott and Hort
H. von Soden’s Text (1913)
Eberhard Nestle (1898–1963)
UBS First Edition
UBS Third Edition and Nestle-Aland Edition
Modern Majority Text Editions
SBL Greek New Testament
Comparing Major Editions of the Greek New Testament
Pre-20th Century
Evaluating Modern Translations
The American Standard Version
The Revised Standard Version
The New American Standard Bible
The New International Version
The New King James Version
The New Revised Standard Version
The New English Translation
The English Standard Version
Preview of the Process
Determining Variants
Gathering Evidence: The Specialist
Gathering Evidence: The Nonspecialist
Using Digital Tools for Conducting Text-Critical Research
Evaluating Evidence: Types of Variants
Unintentional Variants: Word Division
Unintentional Variants: Letter Confusion
Unintentional Variants: Eye Skipping
Unintentional Variants: Haplography
Unintentional Variants: Dittography
Unintentional Variants: Transposition
Unintentional Variants: Faulty Hearing
Intentional Variants: Clarifying the Text
Intentional Variants: Conflation
Intentional Variants: Harmonization and Smoothing
Evaluating Variants
Evaluating Variants: Internal Considerations
Evaluating Variants: External Considerations
Evaluating Variants: Logical Considerations
Investigating the “Johannine Comma” with Various Tools
Textual Criticism, Inspiration, and Inerrancy
Preview of the Issue
The Merit Argument
The Providence Argument
The Satanic Argument
The Heresy Argument
A Personal Note
Course Summary
Title: NT281 How We Got the New Testament
Instructor: Dr. Michael S. Heiser
Publisher: Lexham Press
Publication Date: 2014
Product Type: Logos Mobile Education
Resource Type: Courseware, including transcripts, audio, and video resources
Courses: 1
Video Hours: 4
Dr. Michael S. Heiser was a former Scholar-in-Residence for Faithlife Corporation, the makers of Logos Bible Software. He served as Executive Director of the Awakening School of Theology and Ministry at Celebration Church in Jacksonville, Florida. His varied academic background enabled him to operate in the realm of critical scholarship and the wider Christian community. His experience in teaching at the undergraduate level and writing for the layperson have both directly contributed to Logos’ goal of adapting scholarly tools for nonspecialists.
Dr. Heiser earned his PhD in Hebrew Bible and Semitic languages and held an MA in ancient history and Hebrew studies. He was the coeditor of Old Testament Greek Pseudepigrapha with Morphology and Semitic Inscriptions: Analyzed Texts and English Translations, and can do translation work in roughly a dozen ancient languages, including Biblical Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic, Egyptian hieroglyphs, and Ugaritic cuneiform. He also specialized in Israelite religion (especially Israel’s divine council), contextualizing biblical theology with Israelite and ancient Near Eastern religion, Jewish binitarianism, biblical languages, ancient Semitic languages, textual criticism, comparative philology, and Second Temple period Jewish literature. In addition, he was named the 2007 Pacific Northwest Regional Scholar by the Society of Biblical Literature.