Mobile Ed: New Testament Background Bundle (5 courses)

by David A. deSilva; Logos Mobile Education; Michael S. Heiser

and

1 more

Publisher:

Lexham Press

, 2014–2022

Overview

Dive into the New Testament manuscripts, their reliability and background, and how they impact us today with distinguished scholars Craig A. Evans, Michael S. Heiser, and David A. deSilva. Get a closer look into how we got the New Testament, the intertestamental period, and the early Christian environment.

Product Details

• Title: Title
• Instructors: Craig A. Evans, Michael S. Heiser, and David A. deSilva
• Publisher: Lexham Press
• Product Type: Logos Mobile Education
• Resource Type: Courseware, including transcripts, audio, and video resources
• Courses: 5
• Video Hours: 15

NT308 The Reliability of New Testament Manuscripts

• Instructor: Craig A. Evans
• Publication Date: 2015
• Video Hours: 1

In this course, Craig Evans answers a question commonly asked about the New Testament—can we trust the manuscripts? Because the answer has serious consequences, Dr. Evans clearly outlines the history of these important documents. He discusses the quality, quantity, and age of the manuscripts and how these elements compare to nonbiblical ancient texts. He describes the practices of ancient writers and scribes and provides numerous examples to show that the manuscripts of the New Testament are reliable.

Contents:

Introduction

• Introducing the Speaker and the Course

Unit 1: Evidence for the Reliability of New Testament Manuscripts

• The Basics of New Testament Manuscripts
• Finding Manuscripts in Logos
• Examples Demonstrating the Quality of New Testament Manuscripts
• Adding Manuscript Images to Presentations or Documents
• Exploring Ancient Manuscripts and Resources
• The Comparative Strength of the New Testament Manuscript Record
• The Longevity of the Autographs
• Researching the Works of Tertullian
• The Number of Autographs
• Accessing and Navigating the Textual Apparatus
• The Preservation of the New Testament in Translations

Craig A. Evans is the Payzant Distinguished Professor of New Testament and director of the graduate program at Acadia Divinity College in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. He has written extensively on the historical Jesus and the Jewish background of the New Testament era. His books include Jesus and His Contemporaries: Comparative Studies, a commentary on Mark in the Word Biblical Commentary, Jesus and the Ossuaries, and Ancient Texts for New Testament Studies. He has recently served on the advisory board of the Gospel of Judas for National Geographic Society and has appeared frequently as an expert commentator on network television programs such as Dateline, and in various documentaries on the BBC, the Discovery Channel and the History Channel.

NT313 Jesus and the Witness of the Outsiders

• Instructor: Craig A. Evans
• Publication Date: 2015
• Video Hours: 1

In this course, Dr. Craig Evans explores various ancient sources that refer to Christ. He focuses on the evidence from extrabiblical sources, and looks at what they reveal about the life of Christ and how Jesus was perceived by early non-Christian witnesses. He examines references to Jesus in Roman, Jewish, and other writings, and looks at where Jesus’ name was invoked in both Christian and pagan charms and incantations.

Contents:

Introduction

• Introducing the Speaker and the Course

Unit 1: The Witness of Roman Writers

• Tacitus and Suetonius
• Pliny the Younger
• Celsus and Lucian
• Using Clippings to Document Ancient Non-Christian Witnesses to Christ
• Mara bar Serapion

Unit 2: The Witness of Jewish Writers

• Josephus’ Jewish Antiquities
• Using Timelines in Logos to Find Events in Jesus’ Life
• Translations of Josephus and Rabbinic Literature
• The Qur’an and Other Writings
• Building and Searching a Collection of Ancient Non-Christian Witnesses to Christ

Unit 3: Invocations of the Name of Jesus

• The Greek Magical Papyrus
• Silver Phylactery from Beirut
• Magic Bowls
• Curse Tablets and Lamellae
• The “Jesus Cup”

Conclusion

• Relevance of These Witnesses

Craig A. Evans is the Payzant Distinguished Professor of New Testament and director of the graduate program at Acadia Divinity College in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. He has written extensively on the historical Jesus and the Jewish background of the New Testament era. His books include Jesus and His Contemporaries: Comparative Studies, a commentary on Mark in the Word Biblical Commentary, Jesus and the Ossuaries, and Ancient Texts for New Testament Studies. He has recently served on the advisory board of the Gospel of Judas for National Geographic Society and has appeared frequently as an expert commentator on network television programs such as Dateline, and in various documentaries on the BBC, the Discovery Channel and the History Channel.

NT311 The World of Jesus and the Gospels

• Instructor: Craig A. Evans
• Publication Date: 2014
• Video Hours: 3

Gain clarity in your reading of the Gospels with a study of the intertestamental period. The decline of the Persian Empire, the rise of Alexander the Great, Israel’s military engagements and religious movements—the events between the final book of the Old Testament and the first Gospel are a backdrop for Christ’s appearance and the development of Christianity. Intertestamental history clarifies the context of the New Testament for a deeper, more robust understanding of Scripture.

Contents:

Introduction

• Introducing the Speaker and the Course

Unit 1: Intertestamental Socio-Religious World

• Timeline
• Succession of Imperial Powers
• Using the Timeline to Trace the History of the Intertestamental Period
• Antiochus Epiphanes
• Accessing and Utilizing the Perseus Classics Collection in Logos
• Hasmoneans
• Using the Topic Section in Search Results to Research Antiochus IV
• Roman Intervention
• Creating a Custom Series and Layout to Study the Bible with Apocrypha
• History of Rome
• Herod the Great
• Using the Favorites Tool to Store and Organize Research
• Roman Prefects and Procurators
• Using the Bible Facts Tool to Distinguish between the Herods
• Jewish Agitators: “Messiahs”
• Jewish Agitators: “Prophets”
• Searching the Writings of Josephus for Mentions of Christ
• Time of Jesus: Religious and Cultural Background
• Time of Jesus: Social and Economic Background
• Temple
• Finding and Exporting Images with the Bible Facts Tool
• Synagogues

Unit 2: Intertestamental Ideas

• Interpreting Scripture
• Using a Proximity Search to Find Images of the Synagogue at Capernaum
• Intertestamental Literature
• Extracanonical Insights: Parable of the Vineyard
• Creating a Layout to Study the Targums
• Extracanonical Insights: John the Baptist’s Messianic Doubts
• Extracanonical Insights: John’s Prologue
• Intertestamental Development of Old Testament Ideas
• Graeco-Roman Philosophies
• Summary and Conclusions

Craig A. Evans is the Payzant Distinguished Professor of New Testament and director of the graduate program at Acadia Divinity College in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. He has written extensively on the historical Jesus and the Jewish background of the New Testament era. His books include Jesus and His Contemporaries: Comparative Studies, a commentary on Mark in the Word Biblical Commentary, Jesus and the Ossuaries, and Ancient Texts for New Testament Studies. He has recently served on the advisory board of the Gospel of Judas for National Geographic Society and has appeared frequently as an expert commentator on network television programs such as Dateline, and in various documentaries on the BBC, the Discovery Channel and the History Channel.

NT281 How We Got the New Testament

• Instructor: Michael S. Heiser
• Publication Date: 2014
• Video Hours: 4

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.

Contents:

Introduction

• Introducing the Speaker and the Course

Unit 1: Preliminary Issues

• 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

Unit 2: Inspiration

• Two Sides to Inspiration
• Flawed Conception of Inspiration
• Coherent Conception: Major Verses
• Coherent Conception: Textual Phenomena

Unit 3: The Composition of the New Testament Books

• 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

Unit 4: Canonical Recognition of the New Testament Books

• Concept of Canon
• Early Development
• The Impact of Canon on Copying and Transmission

Unit 5: Manuscripts of the New Testament

• 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

Unit 6: The History of the Text’s Transmission

• 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

Unit 7: The Impact of Textual History

• 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

Unit 8: Textual Criticism of the New Testament

• 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

Unit 9: The “King James Only” Controversy

• Preview of the Issue
• The Merit Argument
• The Providence Argument
• The Satanic Argument
• The Heresy Argument
• A Personal Note

Conclusion

• Course Summary

Dr. Michael S. Heiser is the academic editor for Logos Bible Software, Bible Study Magazine, and the Faithlife Study Bible. His varied academic background enables 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 both directly contribute to Logos’ goal of adapting scholarly tools for nonspecialists.

Dr. Heiser earned his PhD in Hebrew Bible and Semitic languages and holds and MA in ancient history and Hebrew studies. He is 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 specializes 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.

NT201 The Cultural World of the New Testament

• Instructor: David A. deSilva
• Publication Date: 2015
• Video Hours: 6

Join Dr. David deSilva as he describes important cultural concepts from the first century and shows how these concepts shed light on the New Testament. Learn why the author of 1 Peter spoke to the shame Christians were experiencing, and what cultural norms they had to fight against as they sought to follow Christ. Discover how grace and gratitude were viewed differently than they are today. Learn what purity meant for Jews, how patronage and reciprocity impacted everyday decisions, how families and households operated, and more. Dr. deSilva pulls from a variety of sources to explain these concepts and uses the books of Hebrews and 1 Peter to illustrate them.

This course will give you a better understanding of the environment early Christians were in as they broke the rules of society for the sake of the gospel.

Contents:

Introduction

• Introducing the Speaker and the Course

Unit 1: Honor and Shame

• Introduction to Culture
• Honor, Shame, and Social Control
• Honor and Shame in Complex Cultures
• Competing for Honor

Unit 2: Honor and Shame: 1 Peter

• The Experience of Shame
• Consider the Source
• Who’s on Trial Here?
• Reinterpreting Experiences of Shame (Part 1)
• Reinterpreting Experiences of Shame (Part 2)
• Defending Your Honor
• Using a Historical Background Collection
• Honored in God’s Sight
• The Social Matrix of Perseverance
• Embodying 1 Peter

Unit 3: Patronage and Reciprocity

• Patrons, Clients, and Brokers
• The Social Context of Grace
• Running a Louw-Nida Search on Charis
• Graceful Giving
• Graceful Receiving and Expression of Gratitude
• An Example from the Life of Jesus

Unit 4: Patronage and Reciprocity: Hebrews

• God as Patron
• Jesus as Patron and Mediator
• The Letter to the Hebrews and Its Audience
• Summons to Grateful Response
• Warnings against Ingratitude (Part 1)
• Warnings against Ingratitude (Part 2)
• Cultural Awareness and Solving Theological Problems

Unit 5: Family and Household

• Establishing Kinship
• Kinship Ethics
• The Household of the Classical World
• Women in the Household
• Studying Sirach on the Silent Wife
• Children
• Analyzing Parentage and Honor (John 8:31–41)
• Slaves
• Reconfiguring Kinship
• Searching for the Cultural Concept of Kinship

Unit 6: Family and Household: 1 Peter

• New Birth into a New Family
• Ethical Implications of the New Birth
• Advice for Christians in Natural Households: Wives
• Advice for Christians in Natural Households: Husbands
• Advice for Christians in Natural Households: Slaves

Unit 7: Purity and Pollution

• Basic Concepts
• Clean, Unclean, Common, and Holy
• Early Judaism’s Purity Maps (Part 1)
• Investigating Herod's Temple
• Early Judaism’s Purity Maps (Part 2)
• What Makes Purity Codes Meaningful?
• Levels of Concern for Purity

Unit 8: Purity and Pollution: Hebrews

• Purity Regulations in a Pauline Church
• Purity and New Group Boundaries
• Rewriting Maps of Sacred Space and Personnel
• Jesus’ Death as Consecration
• Reexamining Purity Lines Today
• Building a Sermon on Defilement (Mark 7:20–23)

Conclusion

• Authentic Hearing, Authentic Following

Dr. David A. deSilva is the trustees’ distinguished professor of New Testament and Greek at Ashland Theological Seminary in Ohio, where he’s taught since 1995. He’s written over 20 books in the areas of New Testament and Second Temple Judaism and is a leading expert on the cultural world of the New Testament.