Download Defining Religion

How the iconoclast became an icon.
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The quest for the
historical Jesus begins
in the Enlightenment
period, when the
Church has lost its
control of university
curriculum. Hermann
S. Reimarus: The Aims
of Jesus and His
Disciples (1778).
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Reimarus was the
first to distinguish
between what the
historical Jesus did
and said and the
teachings and aims
of his disciples.
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Reimarus argued that
Jesus wished to found
a godly state. In the
Gospels, Jesus never
claimed that he came
to atone for our sins.
Jesus should be
revered as the teacher
of “a remarkable,
simple, exalted and
practical religion.”
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The Life of Jesus, a two
volume work, appeared
in 1835. The gospels,
says Strauss, contain a
mixture of historical
material and myth.
Christian legends are
woven out of Old
Testament motifs. We
are prepared to meet with
both legend and mythos in
the gospel history;
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In 1906 Albert
Schweitzer produced The
Quest of the Historical
Jesus. Concluding that
Jesus expected the
immanent end of the
world, Schweitzer
regarded him as
irrelevant, leading him to
abandon his theological
career to practice
medicine in Africa.
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Neo-Orthodoxy and
the Christ of faith.
Renewed quests:
Distinguishing the
core of Jesus’
teachings and
deeds from the
interpretive
insertions and
additions by gospel
writers.
Robert W. Funk
Jesus Seminar
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Priority of Mark: The Gospel of Mark was
written first, and both Matthew and Luke use
Mark as a source.
Q hypothesis: A lost “sayings gospel” known
as “Q” was used by Matthew and Luke.
Synoptic over John: The Gospel of John
regarded as less reliable as a historical
source.
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Jesus (4 BCE- 30 CE) His one year ministry is
described in the gospel of Mark, which became a
source for the writers of Matthew and Luke (who
add a story of Jesus’ miraculous birth, and
additional sayings and parables from a lost sayings
gospel now called Q). The latest gospel (John)
presents a somewhat different picture of the three
year ministry of Jesus (Synoptics: parables,
exorcism, concern for poor; John: long discourses,
no parables or exorcisms).
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Earliest New Testament
manuscripts date from
175 CE. Jesus’
teachings were
delivered orally,
remembered, retold,
and eventually written
down in a number of
gospel traditions,
which were recopied
and redacted.
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Aim of the gospels: to
establish the
Messiahship of Jesus to
the Jews and his
importance to the
Gentiles.
Paul: expresses no
familiarity with the
four Gospels. Christ as
key event in salvation
history, atonement.
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0-30 CE: John the Baptist (d.
27 CE); Jesus of Nazareth (d.
30 CE)
30-60 CE: Paul of Tarsus,
founder of Gentile Christianity,
letters written 50-60 CE.
Sayings Gospel Q (50-60 CE)
Gospel of Thomas, 1st edition
(50-60 CE)
60-80 CE: Gospel of Signs
(60-70 CE)
Gospel of Mark, 1st ed, (70 CE)
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Gospel of Matthew, incorporating
Mark and Q (85 CE)
Gospel of Luke, incorporating Mark
and Q (90 CE)
Gospel of Peter (50-100 CE)
Egerton Gospel (50-100 CE)
Gospel of John, incorporating
Gospel of Signs, (90 CE)
Gospel of Mark, can. Ed. (100 CE)
150-325 CE: Four recognized
gospels; official collections of the
New Testament; 1st official creeds;
1st surviving copies of “Bibles”
(300-350 CE)
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4 canonical gospels:
Matthew, Mark, Luke, John.
4 complete non-canonical
gospels: Infancy Gospel of
James, Secret Book of
James; Gospel of Thomas;
Infancy Gospel of Thomas.
8 Fragmentary noncanonical gospels: Egerton
Gospel; Gospel of Mary;
Gospel Oxyrhynchus 840;
Gospel Oxyrhynchus 124;
Gospel of Peter; Dialogue of
the Savior
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Gospel of the Savior;
Gospel of Judas.
4 Gospels known only from
quotations: Secret Gospel
of Mark; Gospel of the
Ebionites; Gospel of the
Hebrews; Gospel of the
Nazoreans.
2 Hypothetical Gospels: Q;
Signs Gospel
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Gospel of the Four
Heavenly Regions;
Gospel of Perfection;
Gospel of Eve; Gospel
of the Twelve; Gospel
of Matthias; Gospel of
Bartholomew; Gospel
of Cerinthus; Gospel of
Basilides; Gospel of
Marcion; Gospel of
Apelles
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Gospel of Bardesanes;
Matthew’s Logia
collection.
Most of the titles were
added later (in the 2nd
century.
Each of these gospels
was deemed true and
sufficient for some
early Christian group.
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Stories of Jesus’ birth are
found in Matthew and Luke.
These stories are late
additions, dating from the
late 1st or early second
century. The conviction
that God raised Jesus from
the dead produced an
exaltation Christology,
identifying Jesus with the
son of man in Daniel 7.
(See Romans 1.3-4, e.g.)
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When Jesus failed to return
as soon as expected, his
followers began to frame
another version of his story,
in which he was designated
the son of God at his
baptism (adoptionist
Christology, Mark 1.10-11)
Finally, the later gospels of
Matthew and Luke move the
messianic status of Jesus
back to his birth, using
themes common in
Hellenistic biographies of
famous people.
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The biography of a Greek
hero consisted of five parts:
a miraculous or unusual
birth; a revealing childhood
episode; a summary of wise
teachings; wondrous deeds;
and a martyrdom or noble
death. Since the NT
gospels contain these
elements, they are
examples of Hellenistic
biographies. (Plato,
Alexander the Great,
Apollonius Tyana, etc.)
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Hellenistic infancy
narratives consist of five
parts:
1. A genealogy revealing
illustrious ancestors.
2. An unusual, mysterious,
or miraculous conception.
3. An annunciation by an
angel or in a dream.
4. A birth accompanied by
supernatural portents.
5a. Praise of great things to
come, or 5b. Persecution by
a potential competitor.
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1. Family Tree
1:1-17
2. Miraculous Birth of Jesus 1:18-25
◦ Miraculous Conception
1:18
◦ Annunciation to Joseph
1:20-21
◦ Prediction of the Prophet
1:22
3. Astrologers from the East
2:1-12
◦ Star in the East
2:1-2,7-9
◦ Prediction of the prophet
2:15
◦ Astrologers pay homage to the child 2:10-12
4. Flight to Egypt
2:13-15
◦ Prediction of the prophet
2:15
5. Murder of the babies
2:16-18
◦ Prediction of the prophet
2:17
6. Migration to Nazareth
2:19-23
◦ Prediction of the prophet
2:23
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1. Genealogy
2. Miraculous conception of Jesus
◦ Annunciation to Mary
◦ Mary’s visit to Elizabeth
◦ Mary’s hymn of praise
3. Birth of Jesus
4. Visit of the Shepherds
◦ Annunciation to the shepherds
◦ Shepherds praise God
5. Dedication of Jesus and predictions
◦ Circumcision and naming
◦ Presentation in the temple
◦ Simeon predicts Jesus’ destiny
◦ Anna thanks God
6. Family returns to Nazareth
7. Childhood episode
3:23-38
1:26-38
1:39-45
2:1-7
2:15-20
2:21-38
2:21
2:22-24
2:25-35
2:36-38
2:39
2:40-52
1:26-56
1:46-56
2:8-20
2:8-14
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Searching for the voiceprint of the historical
Jesus. Careful scrutiny of ancient Christian
texts reveals tendencies in the evolving
tradition- from oral speaker to oral
speaker, written source to written source.
Scholars can create a profile of typical
Christian ways of reporting and interpreting
the words of Jesus. Unable to grasp the
subtleties of Jesus’ vision, his followers
reverted to the more popular apocalyptic
perspective of John the Baptist.
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John’s disciples and the
Pharisees were in the habit of
fasting, so they come and ask
him, “Why do the disciples of
John fast, and the disciples of
the Pharisees, but your
disciples don’t?” And Jesus
said to them, “The grooms
friends can’t fast while the
groom is present can they? So
long as the groom is around
you can’t expect them to fast.
[But the days will come when
the groom is taken from them,
and then they will fast on that
day.]
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The bracketed comment is a
self-justifying Christian
overlay inserted by Mark.
Jesus viewed his life as a
wedding celebration (a time
when peasants ignored their
limited resources and
celebrated.) The early church
rejected the celebratory
approach to life and reverted
to an earlier asceticism.
You are not to fast in concert
with the phonies. They fast
each week on Mondays and
Thursdays, You should fast on
Wednesdays and Fridays. (Did.
8.1, 70-80 CE)
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1. The last will be
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(Q- Mt. 20.16; Lk.
13.30).
2. Many of the first
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(Mark 10.31; Mt.
19.30)
3. For many of the
first, and the first last.
will be last, of the last
many will be first.
first will be last, and
will become a single
one. (Thom. 4.2-3)
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It is easier for a camel
to squeeze through a
needle’s eye than for a
wealthy person to get
into God’s domain.
[And they were very
perplexed wondering,
“well then, who can be
saved? Jesus says, “For
mortals it is
impossible, but not for
God; after all,
everything’s possible
for God.] (Mark 10. 2527)
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Ask- it’ll be given to you.
Seek- you’ll find
Knock- it’ll opened to you
Everyone who asks receives
Everyone who seeks finds
And for the one who knocks it is opened.
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This guy was on his way down
from Jericho to Jerusalem when
he was waylaid by thieves.
They robbed him, beat him up,
and ran off, leaving him for
dead. By chance a priest was
on his way down that road;
when he spied the victim he
went out of his way to avoid
him. Similarly, when a Levite
came by the place, he, too,
took one look at him and
passed by on the far side of
the road. In contrast, there was
this Samaritan who was also
traveling that way.
When he came to that place
where the victim lay, he was
moved to pity by at the sight
of him. He went up to him,
treated his wounds with oil
and wine, and bandaged them.
He hoisted the fellow on to his
own animal, brought him to an
inn and cared for him. The
next day he brought out two
silver coins, which he gave to
the innkeeper with these
instructions, “Look after him,
and on my way back I’ll
reimburse you for any extra
expense you’ve had.”
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Matthew 22.2-14: Angry
king sends armies to
destroy them and their city.
Matthew transforms the
parable into an allegory. A
king (God) prepares a feast
for his son (Jesus); invites
his subjects (Jews) who
treat the invitation lightly or
kill the messengers
(prophets). The king
destroys them and their city
(Jerusalem) and invites new
guests (Gentiles).
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Luke 14.16-24: Angry King
sends slaves to invite the
homeless. Luke’s version is
closer to the original (also
closer to the version in the
Gospel of Thomas, 64. 112) The invitation of the
poor, crippled, blind, and
lame is a favorite theme of
Luke’s gospel. (See 4. 1819; 7.22)
From: The Five Gospels, p. 326. (R. Funk ed)
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Matt. 6.9-13: Our Father
in the heavens, your name
be revered. Impose your
imperial rule, enact your
will on earth as you have in
heaven. Provide us with the
bread we need for the day.
Forgive our debts to the
extent we have forgiven
those in debt to us. And
please don’t subject us to
test after test, but rescue us
from the evil one.
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Luke 11.2-4.: Father, your
name be revered. Impose your
imperial rule. Provide us with
the bread we need day by day.
Forgive our sins, since we too
forgive everyone in debt to us.
And please don’t subject us to
test after test.
[Father, your name be revered.
Impose your imperial rule.
Provide us with the bread we
need for the day. Forgive our
debts to the extent we have
forgiven those in debt to us.
And please don’t subject us to
test after test..] Q?
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The message of Jesus was centered around the
presence of the Kingdom of God (or God’s domain).
He used parables to communicate that our
everyday perception of the world was deceptive,
obscuring the reality of God’s domain. For Jesus,
God’s domain was present for those with “eyes to
see” and “ears” to hear. His critics (John 8.48) and
even his own family (Mark 3.20-21) thought he was
crazy.
For Jesus, God’s domain was not a political
kingdom or a future kingdom to be established
apocalyptically. It was a present reality for those
who could see it.
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God’s imperial rule will
not come by watching
for it. It will not be
said, “Look, here it is!”
or “Look, there it is!”
Rather, the Father’s
imperial rule is spread
out upon the earth,
and people don’t see
it. (Thomas 113.2-4)
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You won’t be able to
observe the coming of
God’s imperial rule.
People are not going to
be able to say, “Look,
here it is !”or “Over
there!” On the
contrary, God’s
imperial rule is right
there in in your
presence. (Luke
17:20-21)
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The apocalyptic expectation that God would
intervene and put an end to history (a view
espoused by John the Baptist and many other 1st
century Jews) is not consistent with the vision of
God’s domain found in the parables of Jesus.
Thus, passages such as Mark 13:14- 27 reflect the
beliefs of the early Christian community who
applied prophetic texts such as Daniel 7 to Jesus.
Just remember, John the Baptist appeared on the scene,
eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, “he is
demented.” The son of Adam appeared on the scene both
eating and drinking, and you say, “There’s a glutton and a
drunk….:Lk.11.20.
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When someone slaps
you on the right cheek,
turn the other as well
(Q: Matt. 5.39)
If someone sues you
for your coat, give him
the shirt off your back
too. (Q: Matt. 5.40)
When anyone
conscripts you for one
mile, go along two. (Q:
Matt. 5.41)
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If you have money,
don’t lend it at
interest. Rather, give it
someone from whom
you won’t get it back.
(Q: Thomas 95.1-2)
Give to everyone who
begs from you (Q;
Matt. 5.42)
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Forgive, and you will be
forgiven. (Q; Luke 6.37)
Forgive our debts to the
extent we have forgiven
those in debt to us, (Q;
Matt. 6.12)
Take care that you don’t
flaunt your religion in
public to be noticed by
others. Otherwise, you will
have no recognition from
your father in the heavens.
(Matt. 6.1)
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And when you pray, don’t act
like the phonies. They love to
stand up and pray in houses of
worship and on street corners,
so they can show off in public.
I swear to you, they have
received all the reward they
will ever get. (Matt. 6.5)
But love your enemies, and do
good, and lend, expecting
nothing in return. Your reward
will be great, and you’ll be
children of the most high. (Q;
Luke 6:35)
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If someone sues you for your coat, give him the
shirt off your back to go with it. (Matt 5.40)
Don’t let your left hand in on what your right hand
is up to. (Matt. 6.3)
It’s not what goes into a person that can defile; it’s
what comes out that defiles. (Mark 7:15)
You see the sliver in your friend’s eye, but you
don’t see the timber in your own eye. When you
take the timber out of your own eye, then you will
see well enough to remove the sliver from your
friend’s eye. (Thomas 26.1-2)
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The Gospels report
three sorts of miracle
story: exorcisms,
cures, and nature
wonders. Such stories
are intended to portray
Jesus as a wonder
worker in the tradition
of Moses, Elijah, and
Greek gods.
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As Moses fed the
Israelites with mana in
the wilderness, so
Jesus feeds the five
thousand. As Elijah
raised a widow’s son,
so does Jesus, as
Poseidon drove his
chariot across the
waves, so Jesus walked
on the water. Such
stories reflect the shift
from Jesus’ vision to
Jesus himself.
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The earliest layers of the sayings tradition found in
Q and Thomas contain no trace of an empty tomb
story, appearances to key leaders, or an ascension
into the sky.
The earliest references to Jesus' resurrection occur
in the letters of Paul. I Cor. 15: 3-8 (dated at about
54 CE) says that Jesus died, was buried, was raised
again on the third day. He was seen by Cephas,
the 12, a group of 500, James, all the apostles, and
finally to Paul himself.
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Mark (earliest gospel).
No appearance stories.
Three women (Mary of
Magdala, Mary the
mother of James, and
Salome) discover an
empty tomb. A
heavenly messenger
informs them that
Jesus has been raised.
Fearful, they say
nothing.
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Matthew: The two
Marys (without Salome)
arrive at the tomb. An
earthquake has rolled
away the stone, and an
angel is sitting on it.
As the women hurry
off, Jesus appears to
them. Guards report
the event. Later, Jesus
appears to the eleven
on a mountain.
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Luke: The two Marys
and some other women
come to the tomb.
Two angels appear and
remind them of Jesus’
prediction that he
would die and rise.
The disciples don’t
believe them. First
appearance is to two
people on the road to
Emmaus.
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They report to the 11
that “Jesus has been
raised and appeared to
Simon” (Peter). Jesus
then appears, some
think he is a ghost.
Jesus invites them to
touch him.
John: Mary M. goes to
the tomb. She is the
first to see the risen
Jesus.
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Acts of the Apostles:
Persecution; Pentecost.
Conversion of Saul.
Paul: salvation by
faith, ritual adherence
not required. Letters
composed: 50-60 CE.
To make sense of a
crucified Messiah, Paul
combined the Jewish
ideal of the Messiah
with Isaiah’s suffering
servant.
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I passed on to you the
account I was taught:
Christ died for our sins
in accordance with the
scriptures, and was
buried; he was raised
on the third day in
accordance with the
scriptures, and
appeared to Cephas
and then to the twelve.
I Cor. 15.3-5
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The conviction that Jesus was no longer
dead but risen began with Peter. Paul
claims to have his own vision on the road to
Damascus. The conviction that Jesus was
risen and seated at the right hand of God
founds the confession that he was the son
of God, a heavenly savior figure who came
to earth incognito to redeem humanity.
This was an intermediate stage on the way
to the belief that Jesus was divine.
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Authentic letters of
Paul: 1 Thessalonians;
1st and 2nd Corinthians
Galatians; Philippians;
Philemon; Romans.
The pastoral epistles
reflect an early 2nd
century theology,
Colossians develops a
more exalted
conception of Jesus
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Paul presents a
contrast between those
alienated from God
and those who have
been justified by God
through faith in the
atoning death of
Christ. They have
received the spirit of
God which enables
them to live a more
ethical life.
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For Paul, those who receive the spirit of Christ
form a new community, a body of Christ in
which there are no social divisions: in Christ
there is no such thing as Jew and Greek, slave
and freeman, male and female, for you are all
one person in Christ Jesus. (Gal 3.28)
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The Doctrine of the trinity is
not found in the New
Testament. In his letter to
the Philippians, Paul quotes
an early Christian hymn:
Who subsisting in the form of
God did not cling to his
equality with God but emptied
himself, to assume the
condition of a slave, and
become as men are…he was
humbler yet, even to accepting
death, death on a cross. But
God raised him high
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and gave him the name which
is above all names so that all
beings in the heavens, on
earth and in the underworld,
should bend the knee at the
name of Jesus and that every
tongue should acclaim Jesus
Christ as Lord (kyrios) to the
glory of God the Father.
This suggests that Jesus
existed with God before
becoming a man. But he is
distinct from and lower than
God who raises him and gives
him the title Kyrios.
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Forty years after Paul, John’s gospel makes a similar claim,
describing Jesus as the logos existing “with God from the
beginning.” Through him all things came to be, not one thing had
its being but through him. Since the power and wisdom of Jesus
derived from God, his life expressed “what was there from the
beginning.”
Peter does not describe Jesus as God. He was a man commended to
you by God by the miracles…and signs that God worked through
him when he was among you. (Acts 2.22)
Arius vs Athanasius at Nicaea in 325 CE. Arius argued that Christ
the Word was created by God to be his instrument in creation.
Athanasius argued that Jesus must be of the same nature as the
Father, only the creator of the world could redeem it. Athanasius’
view was adopted, even though it failed to explain how Jesus could
be “of the same stuff” of the Father without being a second God.
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480-550- Benedict, monasticism.
540-604- Pope Gregory I
1054- Eastern and Western Church split.
Filioque.
1225-1274- Thomas Aquinas
1483-1546- Martin Luther. 1517- posts
95 theses on Wittenberg door. Opposes
indulgences, penance, transubstantiation,
purgatory, celibacy, papal authority.
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Lutheran doctrine: Priesthood
of all believers; solo scriptura;
salvation by faith alone.
1521- Luther excommunicated
at the Diet of Worms. Here I
stand, I can do no other.
The popish schoolmen have
altogether darkened the principal
article of all Christian doctrine.
For it belongs only to the divine
power to destroy sin and abolish
death….They have attributed this
divine power to our own works
saying, If thou do this work or that
, thou shalt overcome sin, death,
and the wrath of God; and by this
means they set us in God’s place,
making us in very deed naturally, if
I may so say, God himself.
John Calvin (1509-64).
Total depravity
Unmerited grace
Limited atonement
Irresistible grace
Perseverance of the saints
 1800’s European
Enlightenment: Opposition to
ignorance and intolerance.
Theological liberalism, deism.
1910- Protestant ecumenical
movement.
 1962- Vatican II.
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In the enlightenment
age, universities
became independent
from the authority of
the church. Scientific
investigation of the
physical universe led to
the collapse of the
symbolic picture of the
universe found in the
pages of the Bible.
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The historical-critical
study of the Bible has
eroded claims about its
reliability as a source
of historical and
theological truth.
Fundamentalists have
responded by denying
the credibility of
science. Liberals have
searched for
metaphorical meaning
in the tradition.