Shaily Patel, "Excursus: Methods of Ideological Criticism," in Bart D. Ehrman, The New Testament: A Historical Introduction To the Early Christian Writings, sixth edition (OUP, 2016), 193. Like feminist criticism, queer criticism is a way of reading the New Testament that contests certain norms depicted in the text, especially those that privilege heterosexuality and fixed gender... Continue Reading →
Shaily Patel, "Excursus: Methods of Ideological Criticism," in Bart D. Ehrman, The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings, sixth edition (OUP, 2016), 192. Postcolonial criticism emphasizes the influence that empires and imperial policies, both ancient and modern, have on the texts, history, and scholarship of the New Testament. Postcolonial interpreters analyze how... Continue Reading →
Bart D. Ehrman, The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings, sixth edition (OUP, 2016), 187-188. This verse [i.e. John 9:22] is significant from a socio-historical perspective because we know that there was no official policy against accepting Jesus (or anyone else) as messiah during his lifetime. On the other hand, some Jewish... Continue Reading →
Bart D. Ehrman, The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings, sixth edition (OUP, 2016), 178. When thinking about the relationship of the New Testament writings to one another, we must constantly bear in mind that in the ancient world books were not published as they are today. In the modern world, books... Continue Reading →
Bart D. Ehrman, The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings, sixth edition (OUP, 2016), 163. When modern readers act as if [the Gospels of Mark and Luke were portraying Jesus in precisely the same way], for example, by thinking that Jesus said all of these things on the cross, some of them... Continue Reading →
Bart D. Ehrman, The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings, sixth edition (OUP, 2016), 155-156. One of the telling differences between the two accounts has to do with the question of Mary and Joseph's hometown. Most people simply assume that the couple lived in Nazareth. In the familiar story of Luke's Gospel,... Continue Reading →
Bart D. Ehrman, The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings, sixth edition (OUP, 2016), 147. Perhaps the best way to explain Matthew's extensive criticism of the Jewish authorities is to say that his own community continued to experience opposition from non-Christian Jews, especially influential scribes and rabbis of the local synagogue(s), who accused... Continue Reading →
Bart D. Ehrman, The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings, sixth edition (OUP, 2016), 139. Contrary to what many Christians have thought throughout the ages, for Matthew, following Jesus does not mean abandoning the Jewish Law and joining a new religion that is opposed to it. Even in Matthew's day some Christians... Continue Reading →
Bart D. Ehrman, The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings, sixth edition (OUP, 2016), 123. Sometimes Mark used a Greek style of writing that is somewhat awkward or not aesthetically pleasing, sometimes he uses unusual words phrases, and sometimes he presents difficult ideas. In many instances, however, these problems are not found... Continue Reading →
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