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Examining Belief 3
Examining Belief 3
Examining Belief 3: The New Testament: The Search For the Historical Jesus
Cary Honig Email: caryh@school-one.org
Completely updated for 2024
Examining Belief is a class that takes an objective approach to understanding some aspects of religious experience and history. It focuses on understanding the theories about the importance and meaning of mythology during trimester one, on the Old Testament, particularly Genesis and Exodus, during trimester two, and on the New Testament, particularly the gospels, Ephesians and James, during trimester three. The main skills addressed in this class are learning how to write a research paper and how to present that research to a class (without reading the paper aloud). Students need to be willing to write a research paper and to make an oral presentation of about fifteen minutes in order to take the class. This class can be taken for either English or history credit. The workload is the same whether it is taken as an English or a history class.
Here's the trimester 3 syllabus for your reading pleasure:
Here's the research paper assignment for this trimester:
One aspect of doing academic research that must be mastered is learning how to use research material appropriately and how to cite it properly. We will spend class time learning about this, and students must follow these instructions in order to earn credit. Students who don't follow these directions in college will not remain there long. This is not just a stodgy rule; it's a matter of fairness and honesty. One must give others credit for their ideas and hard work. Students should read the source policy carefully before the first class and be prepared to follow it. Every student will have to sign this policy on the first day of class.
Students will receive copies of The Bible that they must return at the end of the trimester. Students are strongly encouraged to use School One's two digital library subscriptions, JSTOR and Reader's Guide, and they must use at least one of them in research for their papers. JSTOR is widely used at colleges, so this is important preparation, and it's a great source of information not available for free on the web. The following link explains how to make your own account at these digital libraries so that you can use them anywhere you're online. I am also including a link to The Columbia Guide to Online Style to help with citation.
The Columbia Guide to Online Style by Janice R
Digital Library access for this class 24
2023 webinar recording on JSTOR usage/updates
On the other hand, wikipedia is not a legitimate source for this paper. A student can use it to get an overview to begin research and perhaps to find sources, but cuts and pastes or paraphrases from wikipedia or citations to it are not acceptable. This is very easy to catch if anything rouses my suspicions, and it doesn't take much to do that.
In general, homework reading will be due on Mondays and paper-related assignments will be due on Wednesdays. Homework must be done on time. Four late assignments will lead to a substantial extra essay that you would prefer to avoid. Students who are late with eight or more assignments cannot earn credit.
There will be weekly reading assignments for which students will write answers to questions. These are weekly because I expect them to take some time, so students should not leave the whole (or most of the) reading until the night before it's due. Most will not be easy or pleasurable to do in one sitting. These are not big assignments for a week, especially if taken as five to ten pages per night. If I detect any inkling that this homework is based on another student's work (and that's not limited to direct copying), and I am very good at discerning this, there will be a significant extra assignment. A repeat performance would definitely mean no credit for the trimester.
Week One: Overview of how to write a research paper. Review of the research paper assignment and specific sub-deadlines. Particular instruction about note cards. Introduction to Palestine in Jesus's time period. Review of the types of sources we have about Jesus's life including the debate about Josephus's extra-biblical reference to Jesus. Students will have their homework and can add notes to it as we discuss the material. Grammar: commas and non-essential clauses.
Cary's African mythology paper. w notes.doc including annotations showing the parts of a paper.
Broader ancient world timeline 20
Scholarly and Religious view of Jesus20
EB3 Who's Who 1st Century Jews20
EB3 A History of Christianity review'10
Genetic Discoveries About The Dead Sea Scrolls 20
Renaissance Painting Depicts split of Judaism and Christianity
Notes for Jewish Messianic Texts 20
Annette Yoshiko Reed on Jewish and Christian messianism
For a short webinar by Bart Ehrman about Jesus in Josephus's writings, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRniktoLssQ
The first homework reading assignment comprises reading selections from The Historical Figure of Jesus by E.P. Sanders, and it is due at the first class on March 18. The questions are found in the Sanders questions document linked below. This reading provides excellent background to Jesus and his time period, but be aware that we will be reading conflicting visions by top scholars about who Jesus was as there is no scholarly agreement, and you will be able to judge for yourself. We will see Sanders in a video next week. This is a good amount of reading, so don't leave it until the last night: you have a long vacation right before it.
It is vital that homework be done on time so that we can discuss it in class.
Link for Sanders text pdf.: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1t8ga37_kAF4TViNX-xM8flTItYzfdoS1/view?usp=sharing
The first paper assignment is a one page summary of the student's chosen topic, the reasons why it was chosen and how s/he will approach the research. Students are encouraged to consult with me about it (in person or by email) if they aren't sure. The summary of the paper topic is due on Wednesday, March 20. (See paper assignment above.)
Week Two:
This week we will discuss some general parameters in the search for the historical Jesus. We will be referring to the Paula Fredriksen reading. We will take a time-out on Wednesday to watch a video about the search for the historical Jesus.
Grammar: Commas and initial words and comma review
Jesus sources of information20
Greek sources for Christianity
Jesus comparison among sources20
For a 90 minute conversation with Bart Erhman, professor of the New Testament at the University of North Carolina (and a former Evangelical Christian who is now an atheist), discussing briefly near the beginning what we can know about the historical Jesus and whether Jesus said he was God (and this is Erhman's educated opinion, not fact), go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2STiabRV8TE
This week's reading assignment is an excerpt from Paula Fredriksen's Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews and focuses on Fredriksen's view (which she had changed over the previous fifteen years) about what we can know for sure about the historical Jesus. This reading is crucial background for the rest of the trimester, and is it is due by class time on Monday, March 25.
Students' first 20 notecards plus at least 2 bibliography cards are due on Wednesday, March 27. They will be returned the next day. See the research paper assignment sheet and research handout for details.
Week Three:
This week, we are going learn about the theoretical sayings source Q. You will read an article about it in preparation, and we will read selections from one reconstruction of what this source might have been. Grammar: quotations and punctuation
This week's reading assignment consists of an article explaining what Q was (may have been). There are two sheets of questions for this reading, and they're both due now. The questions are due at class time on Monday, April 1.
The Apocalypse and Corona Virus 20
Students' first 40 notecards plus at least 4 bibliography cards are due on Wednesday, April 3. They will be returned the next day. See research paper assignment sheet and research handout for details. If I asked for changes on the first 20 note cards, those changes (things like adding page numbers or being sure the source is clear) should be made by this deadline.
Week Four:
When we are done with Q, we will begin our trip through the gospels by reading them in a parallel text so that we can compare them and learn how to use redaction criticism to figure out what was a stake for each of the gospel writers. As was the case last trimester with the Old Testament, we are dealing with four different writers' versions of similar material, but this time they are separate rather than combined (as there was no R working on the New Testament). We will notice how different the beginnings of the gospels are, learn a good bit about John the Baptist this week and figure out what's going on with the four women mentioned in Matthew's lineage of Jesus.
Grammar:
Key things to watch for in the Canonical Gospels20
This week's reading assignment will be our first of three from Geza Vermes's The Changing Faces of Jesus with specific attention to the titles by which Jesus is called in the gospels and what they meant at the time. The question sheets are due on Monday, April 8 by class time.
Here's a link that should work: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uDmJHtJB43Uvo2O8YukuOxEou456pESu/view?usp=sharing
Students' 60 notecards plus at least 6 bibliography cards are due on Wednesday, April 10 by class time. They will be returned the next day. See research paper assignment sheet and research handout for details.
Week Five: We will continue to read through the parallel gospels as Jesus begins his mission and calls his disciples. With any luck, we will reach the Sermon on the Mount this week. I'll be away on Wednesday, and you'll watch a lecture by Bart Ehrman about Jesus's moral teaching: It's the 3rd lecture in the Jesus and Paul series that you can access through the digital library document above. There are questions linked below. Grammar: Commas with however and though
EB3 Parallel Gospel beginning notes20
Frank Kermode reviews Geza Vermes on the nativity
Link to Bart Erhman lecture about Jesus's moral teaching: https://ehrman.thrivecart.com/l/paul-and-jesus-the-great-divide/lesson-three-jesus-the-moral-teacher/ (Use my email and SchoolOne if you need to log in.)
Questions for Bart Erhman lecture about Jesus's moral teaching
Social, religious and political context of Luke '23
Link to a webinar from Bart Erhman about Do Fundamentalists Actually Follow Jesus: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v92fSL3E8KA
Recommended articles speculating about the historical Jesus:
Evidence For Jesus Outside the Bible '91
Did Jesus believe "the end" was near? '96
The Jesus of History vs. The Jesus of Tradition 2010
What Did Jesus Really Say? '89
Your reading homework is another selection from Geza Vermes featuring his conclusions about the historical Jesus, which we can compare with those of Sanders and Fredriksen, which we read earlier in the trimester. This reading homework is due on Monday, April 22.
Vermes on real Jesus questions
Students' introductions to their papers (approximately one typed page) are due on Wednesday, April 24 by class time. They will be returned the by the next day. Students are welcome to do more than this if they want to get ahead. See research paper assignment sheet and model paper for details. I am happy to work with students on their papers before school, during lunch or after school if they make appointments.
Week Six : We will be continuing our reading of the gospels as we get into the heart of Jesus's mission featuring both parables and healings.. Grammar: Prepositions
Marina Warner on Mary Magdalene 24
Frank Kermode on Doubting Thomas
Evidence for a Semitic Language original version of the Gospel of Thomas 22
For a collection of articles continuing work by a number of scholars on Elaine Pagels's themes about early Christianity and Gnosticism, go to file:///Users/beethoven/Downloads/EB3%20Beyond_the_Gnostic_Gospels_Studies_Build.pdf
This reading homework is a relatively short excerpt from Elaine Pagels's recent book Beyond Belief, in which she discusses the tensions between the gospel of John and the non-canonical but quite early Gospel of Thomas. This reading homework is due on Monday, April 29.
Jesus - Elaine Pagels questions
This week's paper homework is to revise the introduction to your paper and to write the rest of at least the first five pages. This is due by class time on Wednesday, May 1. Feel free to do more than 5 pages now.
Week Seven:
We should be getting toward the last week of Jesus's life in the parallel gospels this week. As Judas will be a key character at this point, we will take a look at the newly discovered Gospel of Judas and another key discovery that shows Jewish belief in a suffering Messiah who rises in 3 days before Jesus was born.
Grammar: Adverbs
Parallel Gospel section 3 notes
The Many Endings of the Gospel of Mark
Was Matthew Originally in Hebrew?
EB3 THE GOSPEL OF JUDAS NY Times excerpts.doc
Ancient Tablet Ignites Debate on Messiah and Resurrection.doc
Frank Kermode on Geza Vermes's book about the Resurrection
What we know about Pontius Pilate 20
Fredriksen on Jesus's last week and resurrection as of 2018 text
Daniel Boyarin on Jesus's intention to suffer text
This week's reading is short but vital reading from Vermes's final book about the Gospel of John. The questions are due on May 6.
This week's paper homework is to revise the first half of your paper and write the rest of the paper and the bibliography. This is due by class time on Wednesday, May 8. Go to bibme.org for easy bibliography assistance. It would be a good idea to get a start on next weeks' reading to make your life easier.
Week Eight:
This week is focused learning about Paul and James, who competed for Jesus's legacy from the 30s until the 60s B.C. when James and Paul met violent deaths connected to their religious beliefs. We will explore their conflicting beliefs and and try to figure out which are more authentic to Jesus's teachings. We will read Paul's Epistle (letter) to the Galatians and James's Epistle (not certainly written by him but pretty certainly representing his views) in class, bringing to this reading our knowledge of Paul from Geza Vermes's article that students have read for homework. Both of these texts were written before any of the gospels that we have, so they are very early Christian texts.
Grammar: parallel structure
Why Jacob is translated James in the New Testament
The Radical Origins of Christianity Carrere 17
This week's homework is to read an excerpt from James Tabor's The Jesus Dynasty, which is the most unconventional of our texts this trimester. It focuses on what happened after Jesus's death and how Christianity arose. While I am giving you a substantial portion of this book to read if you are interested (or as the extra assignment for those of you whose work was late four times or more, the required part is from page 245 until the end as the rest mainly reinforces what you have already read elsewhere but with some new perspective. Your assignment is the final sheet: 245-end. This is due on Monday, May 13 by class time.
Frank Kermode on Geza Vermes's view of the resurrection
Both sides of the resurrection debate with links 24
Crypt Held Bodies of Jesus and Family.doc
Jesus's Tomb Linked to James's Ossuary?
For an almost hour long webinar by Bart Ehrman about "What Happened to Jesus's Body?" including details about crucifixion, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BXmyB6OT30
You have two weeks to get your paper revised including this one, but it would be really smart to get help and get it done before the deadline.
Week Nine: We will do our oral reports in class this week. Grammar: Me/I
Parallel Gospel section 4 notes
This week's reading assignment, which is a selection from Geza Vermes's The Changing Faces of Jesus about Paul, is due by class time on Monday, May 20.
James Tabor on the historical Paul
For a discussion about early Christianity with Paula Fredriksen, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgiK_Jl9swQ
The final draft of the term paper that has been fully revised according to directions is due on Wednesday, May 22. Be sure the notes and bibliography are done correctly. I am available to help with any revision issues, but you must come see me. I won't read your mind. You need to get help before the last minute.
Week Ten: We discuss gender in the New Testament and how views about it changed in early Christianity once we finish the gospels. As there is strong evidence of a vital place for women within Jesus's inner circle near the end of the gospels, especially in the scenes of death and resurrection, this is a prime spot for this discussion that began to a significant degree with Elaine Pagels's book The Gnostic Gospels. We will also discuss the Tabor reading and the idea that two parallel Christianities, one Jewish and one gentile, competed in the first couple of centuries after Jesus.. Grammar: Additional usage issues
The Three Most Important Women in Mark's Gospel - Tabor 20
EB3 Women in Christianity article - Kristoff - Times.doc
Jesus's Wife Papyrus (later disproved)
Was Mary M Jesus's Wife: New evidence
a history of Christian views about sexuality 25
Students who did their work on time (three or fewer late assignments) are done with homework after this final one. Students who had four to seven late assignments have an extra assignment, which is due on Tuesday, May 26. This is to complete the Tabor reading sheets (pages 109 - 245 linked under the homework for week 8) carefully and fully and be prepared to explain his arguments to the class.
HW due May 28 is reading Paul's Epistle ( Letter) to the Galatians and The Epistle of James, which is purportedly by James the Just, Jesus's brother and leader of the movement for over 30 years after Jesus's death until James's execution by the High Priest in 62 A.D. (reported in Josephus and later Jewish-Christian texts) but is likely by one of his followers but representing his ideas. The note sheets are the homework. Neither is very long, but as you have two weeks for this, it would be smart to spread them over the two weeks.
Brief intro to what is known about James 23
Vermes on the parting between Jewish and Gentile Christianity12
For a Bart Ehrman video about why Jesus has to suffer, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4e2Ot46SJM
Week Eleven: We will finish up the story of early Christianity, and if we have time, we will discuss how Christianity survived and spread in its early centuries and the Reformation, which caused the biggest split in Western Christianity. We will finish up with New Testament Jeopardy
Peter Brown on Christianity's First Thousand Years 24
The History Behind Satan's Throne in Revelations
Vermes's last word on the resurrection 10
Plague and the Spread of Christianity 17
Early Evidence for Christianity in Northern Europe 25
Homework this week is to complete any re-revisions of the paper that a student might have. Students who have done their work effectively and on time have no homework this week
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