New Testament Study Group with Scholarly Focus

[Mormons Talk]

I posted this in the Social Hall, and am mentioning it here with several additions.

Some friends and I are about to embark on a year long study of the New Testament from an academic perspective (using Luke Timothy Johnson's kindle edition "The Writings of the New Testament: An Interpretation," since it is only $4.99 through April).  He's a recognized scholar, also a believing Catholic. His book is around 600 pages long, so about 10-15 pages per week for the next year. He also has several "Great Courses" available on Audible for $15 or so if you're an Audible member. His courses on "Jesus and the Gospels" and "The Apostle Paul" would cover much of the material of his textbook. We've had the first few posts about the Introduction, but it's not too late to jump in by any means.  If you'd like to participate, or join in other conversations about the New Testament scholarship, please check out our facebook group! https://www.facebook.com/groups/152515401862902/  The group is called "Mormons Talk | NT Bible Scholarship (New Testament / LDS / Mormon)"

Fair warning - this will likely be a different experience, and it might stretch you (and all of us!).  I believe the majority of the group are active believing Mormons, but there are definitely former Mormons, inactives, and others.  We don't talk much in the group about the present-day Church, the Book of Mormon, Restoration events, church history, etc - those aren't the subject of the group.  We're really into discussing the New Testament and its ancient world from a scholarly viewpoint, often consisting of observations made by non-LDS scholars across denominational lines (and even agnostic lines, like Bart Ehrman). That said, I am biased towards wanting the group to deepen people's appreciation for Jesus Christ and faith in him, and I've established ground rules for the group that I believe make it very LDS-friendly (read them and agree with them before requesting to join the group).
 

Once again, if you'd like to participate, or join in other conversations about the New Testament scholarship, please check out our facebook group! https://www.facebook.com/groups/152515401862902/  The group is called "Mormons Talk | NT Bible Scholarship (New Testament / LDS / Mormon)"
 

Edited April 26, 2017 by Mormons Talk

[Mormons Talk]

Here's a sample of my first post in the facebook group.

"LTJ. Week 0. April 23, 2017. Ch: Introduction.

In this post, I’m going to give a brief sketch of LTJ’s introduction, then pose LTJ’s study questions, then conclude with comments about why I find the NT period so absolutely riveting, as well as further comments on the chapter.
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After reminding what an impact the NT has had on the world, LTJ confronts us with a series of questions: Why do the NT writings even exist (given that so many religious movements don’t produce writings)? Why do we have the particular writings that we do have – 4 gospels? All these letters? Why are there such similarities between the NT and OT, and yet also so many dissimilarities?

In the next section, he makes quick work of competing approaches to this question that he does not favor. He then discusses “methods” vs. “models” – explaining why he wishes to use anthropological, historical, literary, and religious studies techniques in his model. Perhaps to justify this approach, he then discusses limitations in the “historical model” (but not historical method), followed by a discussion of symbols and myths, and how these shape communities. Ultimately, he will argue that early Christians had to re-shape the symbols available to them – those of the Jewish and Greco-Roman worlds – to make sense of their belief in a new reality: a world with a crucified and resurrected Messiah.

As you read this chapter, keep the following study questions in mind:

1. Why is each dimension of the New Testament (anthropological, historical, literary, religious) crucial to its interpretation? (Quick note from me – Do you agree with his premise that they are indeed crucial? Why or why not? Why does he think they’re crucial?)

2. What is meant by the distinction between historical methods vs. historical models in reading the NT?

3. How is an understanding of the social construction of reality – the making of symbolic worlds – helpful for reading religious literature?

4. What are the basic features of the “experience interpretation” model used in the book?

------------

What fuels your passion for the New Testament? Why does it inspire you? This is an invitation for all of you to rhapsodize in the comments below.

The famous critic, Bart Ehrman, expresses wonderful reasons why he’s continued to devote his life to the New Testament despite no longer believing in it. In his blog post “Why do I devote myself to studying the Bible,” he writes that that you can do so for the same “reasons for being interested in studying Chaucer, or Plato, or Latin classics, or modern German history, or medieval Japan, or most anything else. These are all important topics – historically, culturally, socially, politically, and so on – and are, in themselves, endlessly fascinating.”

He continues: “In our world, the Bible is especially important and interesting. When it comes to importance, there’s no other book that can come *close* to the Bible for its influence on Western civilization in virtually all of its aspects. How can someone interested in books not be interested in the Bible? Moreover, far and away the most important and influential institution in the history of the West is the Christian church. Who shouldn’t be interested in how it all started? And no figure in history is more important and influential than Jesus of Nazareth. Who shouldn’t want to know everything possible about him and the religion built on him?”

Indeed.

Edited April 26, 2017 by Mormons Talk
Post was too long

[RevTestament]

I will contribute a few thoughts. 

I like the idea of such a course. I have studied the NT using textual critical analysis, and tbh did not care for it. Textual scholars are so dismissive of everything godly. I am sure LTJ is offering a better perspective, but could I suggest yet another? How about an evidentiary, legal analysis of the NT? Harvard professor, Simon Greenleaf did such an analysis - it is called The Testimony of the Evangelists. It is somewhat dated, but is fairly unique in its approach. Best of all, it is free online: https://archive.org/details/testimonyevange00tiscgoog

I believe he will help the reader understand why there are four gospels - rather than just one. It is quite obvious that John is unique, and gives many spiritual teachings of Jesus not found in the other gospels. Matthew is the legal gospel or book of Jesus' commandments. 

"While we tend to read the Bible (and Book of Mormon) through modern Western eyes, his model seeks to see things through 1st Century Judaism. Everything is built on symbols that help the person understand and interpret his experiences in the world."

I believe it is quite important to understand Hebrew interpretation of scripture in order to understand the NT. Jews have four rules or modes of scriptural interpretation. The first is literal. Then they look for symbolic meaning. Last they look for secret meaning. Jesus Himself alludes to the latter in giving His parables - sometimes He indicates it is not for others to understand. In other words the meaning was secret until they are ready to receive it. So many Christians get caught up in literal interpretations of the scriptures because they do not understand their Hebraic background, etc. 

One last comment is that I believe it is useful to compare the Greek NT to the Syriac NT or Peshitta. I believe this provides some key insights into a few passages - like the eye of the needle passage. I believe the West tends to suffer from a certain amount of scriptural superiority syndrome. Personally, I believe there is evidence that Greek was not the original language of the entire NT.

I would join your class but I have my hands in too many pies right now...  

[Mormons Talk]

6 hours ago, RevTestament said:

I will contribute a few thoughts. 

I like the idea of such a course. I have studied the NT using textual critical analysis, and tbh did not care for it. Textual scholars are so dismissive of everything godly. I am sure LTJ is offering a better perspective, but could I suggest yet another? How about an evidentiary, legal analysis of the NT? Harvard professor, Simon Greenleaf did such an analysis - it is called The Testimony of the Evangelists. It is somewhat dated, but is fairly unique in its approach. Best of all, it is free online: https://archive.org/details/testimonyevange00tiscgoog

I believe he will help the reader understand why there are four gospels - rather than just one. It is quite obvious that John is unique, and gives many spiritual teachings of Jesus not found in the other gospels. Matthew is the legal gospel or book of Jesus' commandments. 

"While we tend to read the Bible (and Book of Mormon) through modern Western eyes, his model seeks to see things through 1st Century Judaism. Everything is built on symbols that help the person understand and interpret his experiences in the world."

I believe it is quite important to understand Hebrew interpretation of scripture in order to understand the NT. Jews have four rules or modes of scriptural interpretation. The first is literal. Then they look for symbolic meaning. Last they look for secret meaning. Jesus Himself alludes to the latter in giving His parables - sometimes He indicates it is not for others to understand. In other words the meaning was secret until they are ready to receive it. So many Christians get caught up in literal interpretations of the scriptures because they do not understand their Hebraic background, etc. 

One last comment is that I believe it is useful to compare the Greek NT to the Syriac NT or Peshitta. I believe this provides some key insights into a few passages - like the eye of the needle passage. I believe the West tends to suffer from a certain amount of scriptural superiority syndrome. Personally, I believe there is evidence that Greek was not the original language of the entire NT.

I would join your class but I have my hands in too many pies right now...  

I wish you either had more hands, or didn't have so many pies!  Your other approach sounds interesting, and would be welcome in the group (really, any type of thoughtful engagement is). There's nothing particularly sacred about LTJ's approach - his book happened to be the one on sale, and his fairly conservative approach to issues would make members feel more comfortable than, let's say, the Jesus Seminar.