Have you read it and what's it about?

I recently began reading the non-canonical Acts of the Apostles that Ehrman includes in his book, Lost Scriptures. It struck me as I was reading The Acts of John and The Acts of Paul that there are some similarities between these, what we might call legendary tales about holy men, and the legendary tales about Elijah and Elisha in 1 Kings 17 – 2 Kings 8. One example of the similarities can be found in 2 Kings 4 and Elisha’s healing of the Shunnamite woman’s son and John’s healing of Cleopatra in chapter 19 of The Acts of John. Another example is the contest between Elijah and the prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18 and John’s visit to the Temple of Artemis in chapters 38-44 of The Acts of John.

The stories about the Israelite prophets do not in and of themselves include anything of religious significance. They are really more about the power of the respective holy man. The religious, or maybe better put, the theological significance of these stories comes from the narrative framework around them – the books of 1 and 2 Kings and the Hebrew Bible as a whole. One could argue the same thing with regard to The Acts of John. The work seems to say more about John than it does about the God he worships. John though does offer us a glimpse of the God he worships as we overhear his prayers in the midst of his encounters with others, or at least a glimpse of how he understands this God. The prayer at the end of chapter 21 casts the struggles of Cleopatra and Lycomedes into the larger framework of the cosmic battle between good and evil. John offers an altar call of sorts in chapter 22 as he prays that God perform this miracle so that others will believe.

In fairness to The Acts of John, I was struck with several questions in response to particular aspects of the text. When John is preaching at the Temple of Artemis, he says to the crowd, “How many miraculous deeds did you see me perform, how many cures! And still you are hardened in the heart and cannot see clearly” (Ch. 39, Lns 9-13). John appears to believe that the miraculous should lead to belief. It prompts me to ask myself, “What does lead to belief?” “Is the proof in the pudding?”

When John eulogizes Drusiana, he says of her, “And she preferred to die rather than to commit the repugnant act [consenting to sexual intercourse after vowing abstinence]” (Ch. 63, Lns 14-16). Now before anyone asks, I’m not advocating sexual abstinence as an absolute. Rather, John prompts me to wonder, “How far am I willing to go out faith or for my faith?” Regardless the area of my life, “How does my faith define or effect my behavior?” I am also driven to contemplate the significance of the body as Callimachus breaks into Drusiana’s tomb in order to practice necrophilia.

The last question that I will offer in this post is in response to John’s words, “The believer must above all things consider the end and carefully examine how it will come, whether energetic and sober and without impediment, or in confusion and flattering worldly things and bound by passions” (Ch. 69, Lns. 1-6). The question is, “How do I want to die?” It is a question related to many situations covered in the media in recent years and in particularly memorable ways this past year.

I found these texts to be provocative. I also noticed what Ehrman describes as a more gnostic or docetic characteristic of chapters 88 and following. That probably indicates that these were added to the material from a different source. Also, did anyone notice the hymns in chapters 94-96?

Literary Categories in the New Testament

Gospel – Matthew, Mark, Luke, John

• Derives from the Greek evangelion which means “good news”
• New Testament gospels appear to take previous oral preaching about Jesus along with sayings attributed to him and then form them into biographies of sorts
• NT gospels are written to particular contexts and with particular agendas
• Focuses upon the events of Jesus’ life
  

Narrative History – Acts

• Only one example in the NT
• Complements the gospels in that the story of Jesus and the story of the church are incomplete without one another
  

Letters – Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, Philemon, 3 John

• Private correspondence between pastor and people
• Address particular peoples and circumstances
• Typically follow pattern of letter writing in the ancient world
  

Epistle – Ephesians, 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, Hebrews, James, 1 & 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, Jude

• More sophisticated literary form typically in the ancient world
• Intended more for publication
• Intended for a general audience
• Addresses broader issues
  

Letters and epistles in the NT include liturgical materials, moral instruction, and religious instruction. Because of this nature, both tend to break literary stylistic rules.

Apocalyptic – Revelation

• Derives from the Greek word apokalypsis which means disclosure, unveiling, or revelation
• Often includes a negative view of the present time and highlights hope in a new order, time, or creation
• Uses highly symbolic language
  

Canon - Usually Not a Weapon

This kind of canon is not a projectile-firing weapon from the battlefield. Although sometimes it is used as a weapon. In our context, it instead refers to the measuring rod by which a faith community judges writings authoritative for its life together. As a religious movement chronologically moves away from its founder or central figure, it must find ways to define its identity, followers, and acceptable practices. A canon offers a list of texts deemed worthy for liturgy and teaching and in turn definines its identity and practice.

Marcion’s mid 2nd century delineation of a list of NT texts was the first attempt at the determination of a canon. In the New Testament and the early church, references to scripture refer to the Hebrew Bible and specifically the Greek version called the Septuagint, abbreviated LXX.

Much like our practice today of reading scripture lessons, the worship practice of the early church appears to have included the reading of scripture (Hebrew Bible) along with received letters and other texts. Partially in response to Marcion’s list of authoritative New Testament books , a counter-list began to emerge. The Hebrew Bible was considered scripture without question; the Christian faith was seen as the fulfillment of the promises to Israel and the Hebrew Bible became the Christian Old Testament.

The four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, were the first to gain general recognition as authoritative. The multiple witnesses and emphasis on the incarnation and resurrection offered a rebuttal of the Gnostics as well as Marcion. Acts and Pauline epistles were the next ones to be considered authoritative. By the end of the 2nd Century, the core of the canon was established.

The Political Landscape in Palestine - 587 B.C.E. to 135 C.E.

Palestine was a fault line in the ancient world, a place where empires rubbed against one another. Like a fault line in the earth’s tectonic plates, when the different empires rubbed against one another the ground shook. All of these empires wanted to dominate this trade crossroads and access the somewhat fertile region. The Assyrians, Egyptians, Babylonians, Persians, and Greeks, each in their turn, controlled Palestine as an occupied territory from 587 B.C.E. until 143 B.C.E. In the middle of the 2nd Century B.C.E., the Maccabeans revolted against their Hellenistic rulers. The Hasmonean dynasty ruled until 63 B.C.E. when the Roman general Pompey conquered Palestine.

Throughout the Roman rule of Palestine there was almost continual unrest. Syncretism is perhaps the best way to describe Rome’s approach to the religions of her territories. The Romans wanted their subjects to see all of their gods as the same; it presented no difficulty to add gods to the Roman pantheon. While the Romans were tolerant of religion as a general practice in the territories they occupied, the Jews became unsettled at the slightest threat to their faith. Emperor worship presented a major problem for Jews and Christians alike. From 66 – 70 C.E., the Jews waged a major revolt against their occupiers. The end of the revolt arrived when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and razed the temple. Bar Kochba led another revolt in 135 C.E. that ended much as the earlier one.

What If You Didn't Believe What You Believe?

Have you been wondering what Christianity and the church would look like if the intellectual battles of the first and second centuries had gone a different way? What would you believe about who Jesus is? How would you describe your faith if the Marcionites, the Gnostics, or the Ebionites had come out on top in these arguments?

Tom Ehrman explores these issues and others in his book, Lost Christianities. On beliefnet, Deborah Caldwell has an interesting interview with Ehrman on these questions and his book that might make for some interesting conversation. Check out the interview.

The Gospel of John - An Overview

Authorship – probably written about 100 C.E. and authorship unknown, variously attributed to John the disciple, John the Presbyter of Ephesus, the Beloved Disciple

Structure – 2 major sections, the Book of Signs (chs. 1-12) and the Book of Glory (chs. 13-20), John does not employ the same geographical, lineal progression of the Synoptic Gospels.

Purpose – All the gospels are written rhetoric intended to proclaim and persuade who Jesus is and why he should be believed in. John wants to encourage belief in his community’s high Christology.

Symbolism and Use of Language – Note how Jesus is compared to such realities as light, water, bread, a shepherd, a vine, and resurrection and life. John makes wide use of irony (Pilot’s posting of the sign on the cross) and double entendre (“born again” with Nicodemus).

Vocabulary – There is considerable dualistic language in the gospel such as light and darkness, and life and death.

Representative Examples of Material Found Only in John

1. Doctrine of the Logos – Before coming to earth, Jesus preexisted with God, where he was God’s mediator in creating the universe (1:1-18), (8:12-59)

2. Miracle at Cana – Jesus changes water into wine (2:1-12)

3. Spiritual Rebirth – Conversation with Nicodemus (3:1-21)

4. Jesus is the water of eternal life – Conversation with Samaritan Woman (4:1-42)

5. Jesus heals the invalid at Jerusalem’s Sheep Pool (5:1-47)

6. “I am” sayings – Jesus speaks as divine Wisdom revealed, equating himself with objects or concepts of symbolic value, such as “the bread of life” (6:22-66), “the good shepherd” (10:1-21), “the resurrection and the life” (11:25), “the way,” “the truth” (14:6), and “the true vine” (15:1-17).

7. Cure of the man born blind – debate between church and synagogue (9:1-41)

8. Resurrection of Lazarus (11:1-12:11)

9. Different tradition of the Last Supper – washing the disciples’ feet (13:1-20) and the farewell discourses; promise of the Holy Spirit that will empoer the disciples and interpret the meaning of Jesus’ life (13:31-17:26)

10. Resurrection appearances in or near Jerusalem – to Mary Magdalene, the disciples, and Thomas (20:1-29)

11. Resurrection appearances in Galilee – to Peter and the Beloved Disciple (21:1-23)

The Gospel of Matthew - An Overview

Authorship: Unknown, 2nd century tradition connects it to the tax collector, Levi, however there is no way to verify this point

Date: Late 80s or early 90s, after the synagogue and church split between 85 and 90 C.E., it also presupposes the destruction of the temple in 70 C.E. (Matt 22:7)

Highlights:
• It is placed first in the NT because it serves as good connector with OT by including a genealogy for Jesus and emphasizing the nature and function of the church (chs 10 & 18)
• Presents Jesus’ life as fulfillment of biblical law and prophecy
• Organized around 5 discourses of Jesus:
1. chs 5-7, Sermon on the Mount
2. ch 10, Instructions for missionary disciples
3. ch 13, Parables of the kingdom of Heaven
4. ch 18, Sincere Discipleship
5. chs 24-25, End of the present age

The Gospel of Luke - An Overview

Authorship: Unknown, tradition suggests Luke is a traveling companion of Paul, Luke & Acts are thought to be a 2 volume work

Date: Luke includes an awareness of the Temple’s destruction in 70 C.E. (21:20-24) so it is after 70 C.E. but before the compilation of Paul’s writings c. 95 C.E. Most scholars date Luke to around 85 C.E.

Highlights:
• Luke-Acts has a positive view of the world. Gentiles can be followers of God. These books downplay the role of the Roman Empire in the crucifixion (23:22).
• Jesus effects a great reversal-the lowly are raised up, the haughty are brought down. Human security and complacency are challenged. While Luke’s worldview is generally positive, there is a reversal of understanding regarding how the world works.
• Jesus is the messiah of “all nations” or all people. Luke portrays Jesus as a savior, which is in terms that Greek and Roman audiences can understand given their involvement in mystery cults.
• Emphasis on the power of the prophetic word to share God’s message to the world.
• God’s message reverses human expectations and calls for conversion and repentance.
• The people of God respond to Good News by bearing fruits of faith.

The Gospel of Mark - An Overview

Authorship: Unknown but seems to be in response to Nero’s persecution of Christians in Rome in 64-65 C.E.

Date: Along with Nero’s persecutions in 64-65 C.E., there is a Jewish uprising in Palestine in 66-73 C.E. that included the destruction of the temple and Jerusalem in 70 C.E. Mark’s emphasizes the troubles of the day and encourages believers to remain steadfast because these troubles point to Jesus’ return. All of this suggests a date around 70 C.E. for the composition of this gospel.

Highlights:
• Presents Jesus as universally misunderstood, rejected by his own people and condemned by the Romans
• Interprets Jesus as an apocalyptic preacher, healer, and exorcist
• Emphasizes Jesus’ actions over and above his teachings
• Equates discipleship with suffering
• Narrative movement is from north to south, ministry in the north, journey to Jerusalem, the events in Jerusalem
• Paints the 12 disciples as dull-witted, inept, unreliable, and cowardly

Gaps, Ambiguity, and the Reading Process

There are all kinds of different ways of reading. What follows below is a description of a reading process that has profoundly influenced me. The material included here you should consider the work of Meir Sternberg. I have quoted him at places and summarized material at other points. The work referenced is his book, The Poetics of Biblical Narrative: Ideological Literature and the Drama of Reading (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1985).

Sternberg writes, “To understand a literary work, we have to answer, in the course of reading, a series of such questions as: What is happening or has happened, and why? What connects the present event or situation to what went before, and how do both relate to what will probably come after? What are the features, motives, or designs of this or that character? How does he/she view his/her fellow characters? What norms govern the existence and conduct of all?” (186).

Answering such questions enables us as readers to make sense of the world (or world view) represented in the text.

Yet often times, answers to these questions are not provided by the text itself. Sometimes, they are provided by the larger context of the text. Other times, the ambiguities are filled automatically from information supplied in the text. Still other times, we as readers supply the answers to the questions. Sometimes we offer temporary, partial, or tentative answers. Sometimes we offer whole and final answers.

As illustrated by some of the non-canonical gospels the Disciples class has been reading, ancient literary works sometimes are not much more than small pieces, sentences and fragments, placed next to each other but without a narrative to tie them together. Even when the narrative is present, the works remain constituent pieces but sewn together more coherently (at least sometimes). In either instance, stories contain gaps that must be filled. Such gap-filling may involve simple linkage of elements that we do automatically. When the gaps are larger and more intricate networks, the gap-filling requires conscious, laborious, hesitant, and constant modification (186).

Even children’s literature requires such gap-filling. Sternberg offer the Hebrew nursery rhyme, “Little Jonathan,” as an example. It goes like this:

Every day, that’s the way
Jonathan goes out to play.
Climbed a tree. What did he see?
Birdies: one, two, three!

Naughty boy! What have we seen?
There’s a hole in your new jeans!

How did the jeans get torn? We tend to automatically say the tree. Could it not also have been some fence that the boy crawled under? We prefer the tree because it lets us link the elements of the rhyme. It “offers the simplest and most probable explanation for the coexistence and unfolding of the different givens in the text” (187).


In literary works of greater complexity, the gap-filling is more difficult and requires more conscious and intentional work. For example, “what was Abraham’s state of mind while answering the questions ‘Where is the lamb for the burnt offering?’ put to him by his son Isaac?” (187).

Ancient Gnosticism: An Overview

Gnosis is the Greek word meaning knowledge. Gnosticism refers to an amorphous ideology in ancient Greco-Roman culture as well as the early church. Gnostics claimed they possessed a special knowledge that led to true understanding and ultimately salvation. They believed that all matter is evil and that the spirit, or the receptacle of the special knowledge, was imprisoned in the human body. Gnostics await a divine messenger who comes to awaken a divine spark present in human beings, at least some human beings. The view that all matter is evil raised the question for Gnostics about how they should live in the world. Should one choose the ascetic life in order that the spirit can gain control of the urges, passions, and desires of the evil body? Or, should one choose a libertine life and leave the body to its own devices since the spirit is indestructible?

Gnostic Christians believed that Christ, not Jesus, was this divine messenger. They believed that Christ only appeared to be human and therefore could not have been crucified and in turn he was not resurrected. Gnosticism was not the only belief system that asserted this belief. Docetism describes the general belief that Christ appeared to be human but was not.

Orthodox Christianity, referred to as such because it became the dominant or authoritative perspective, objected to and opposed Gnosticism partly because Gnosticism denies creation, the incarnation, and the resurrection.

To Learn More About Gnosticism Check Out:
An encylcopedia article on Gnosticism

The Gnosis Archive

Other Sites on Gnosticism

What Happens When You Die?

I asked that question last Sunday in the midst of a group discussion in the Disciples class related to some of the Gnostic gospels. I must say that this adult group has been gracious in allowing me to sit in on their study and offer comments along the way and even ask, sometimes, pointed questions. I asked the question in this way because I think that sometimes we aren't always able to articulate fully what we believe and that it is sometimes difficult for us to see the inconsistencies in our own belief systems. Asking a question like "What happens when you die?" enables us to cut through some other stuff and get to the heart of the matter.

Because this material is so foreign to us and seemingly far removed from our context, it can be a struggle to enter the world of the text and explore the Gnostic understandings of creation, human beings, and Christ. How do we make sense of this stuff, how does it relate to us, and does it matter? Maybe we can frame the discussion and make sense of it by stating what we believe about these things. We do this not to gain a condemnatory measuring rod but in order to create a dialogue partner that can help us interpret what we're reading.

Who Do You Say He Is?

According to the Gospel of Matthew (16:15), Jesus asks the disciples “Who do you say that I am?”

That question to the disciples is one that all who profess to follow Jesus, whether ancient or modern, whether heretical or orthodox, must answer. In the canonical gospels, we receive 4 different, if similar, answers to that question. The other writings of the early church offer a variety of answers to that same question. We can receive a general perspective, and sometimes a quiet detailed perspective, of how a given community understands Jesus by examining the texts that the given community used to convey their answer to the question Jesus asked of the disciples. This opportunity exists as we read those texts in the New Testament as well as those texts not considered a part of scripture. The latter category includes other texts omitted from the New Testament and the writings of early church mothers and fathers.

Perhaps the description above is a bit confusing. That’s not my goal. So let me state it a different way. Any of these texts that we’re considering reflect a community’s efforts to understand Jesus, his message, his meaning for their life together, their history, and the world. We are still doing that same thing. In that way the story of Jesus is not finished and never can be. We are still wrestling, like Jacob at the Jabbok, with who God is, how God deals with the world, and how God deals with us.

Now, who do you say that he is?

Marcion

Considered a heretic by orthodox Christianity, Marcion was the son of a Christian bishop and active in the church in Rome in the 2nd century (c. 144 C.E.). He saw the world as evil and despised Judaism. He concluded that the creator of earth was evil, rejected the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), and believed the God of the Hebrew Bible was arbitrary and vindicative illustrated respectively by the deity’s choice of the Hebrews over all other people and by the deity’s accounting for all disobedience and punishment of all such disobedience.

Marcion believed the God of Jesus intended only a spiritual world and this God is loving, requires nothing of us, and gives salvation freely. Marcion denied the birth narratives of Matthew and Luke and believed that Jesus appeared full-grown during the reign of Tiberius. Because of his rejection of the Hebrew Bible, he delineated his own New Testament that included Paul’s epistles and a version of Luke’s gospel expunged of any references to the Hebrew Bible or Judaism. In opposition to the church in Rome, Marcion established another church in Rome that lasted for a few centuries after his death.

To learn more about Marcion, check out the following:
Fragments of His Writings

An Encyclopedia Article on Marcion

What One Early Church Father Had To Say In Response

Jerusalem in the Time of Jesus

Here are some pictures of a model of Jerusalem from about the time of Jesus. I took these photos on a 1992 trip to Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Israel, and Greece. This model is located at the Holyland Hotel in Jerusalem. It is a 1:50 scale model of the city as it may have looked around the beginning of the revolt in 66 C.E.

Here is a side view of the Herodian temple.


Here is a front view of the Herodian temple.


Click on the link to see more of the model.