JD Reiner - SoundSage

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Have you ever heard of the Acts of John? The above video provides an overview of this fascinating early Christian text. Written sometime between the year 150 and 250 AD, the Acts of John tells about John's life after the ministry of Jesus, from his work in Ephesus to his preaching about Jesus to his peaceful death. Even though it was heterodox in its Christology, it survived for centuries before it was condemned by the Second Council of Nicaea in 787.

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Many of us know that philosophy of history has two main fields: speculative and analytic. The former discusses whether there is a "big picture" to world history; the other asks what the discipline of history is "for" or meant to be. Today, we will focus on the analytic field. In other words, we will explore what issues that this field tries to address, as well as its relevance to the study of history. As in the previous posts about historical philosophy, my comments here will rely heavily on M.C. Lemon's work, Philosophy of History: A Guide for Students.

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Footnotes from Web Post:

M.C. Lemon, Philosophy of History: A Guide for Students (New York: Routledge, 2003), 294--95.
Lemon, 295--98.
Lemon 298--301.
Lemon, 301--308.
Lemon, 308--18.
Lemon, 318--22.
Lemon, 323--56.

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The final method of reading the Bible that we will talk about is the theological style of interpretation. Unlike the historical and literary approaches, to read scripture theologically is to read it as inspired by God. Because of this, we can read the Bible as a single book with one overarching message, which is God’s offer of salvation for all people through Jesus’ death and resurrection. And because it has an overarching message, it speaks to us across times and places.

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Footnotes from Web Post

For a discussion of Christian theological interpretation of the Bible, see Carol A. Newson, “Christian Interpretation in the Premodern Era,” in the New Oxford Annotated Bible, with the Apocrypha, 5th ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018), 1869-70.
Matthew 2:13-15, KJV; see also the original passage as found in the SBLGNT: “Ἀναχωρησάντων δὲ αὐτῶν ἰδοὺ ἄγγελος κυρίου ⸂φαίνεται κατʼ ὄναρ⸃ τῷ Ἰωσὴφ λέγων· Ἐγερθεὶς παράλαβε τὸ παιδίον καὶ τὴν μητέρα αὐτοῦ καὶ φεῦγε εἰς Αἴγυπτον, καὶ ἴσθι ἐκεῖ ἕως ἂν εἴπω σοι· μέλλει γὰρ Ἡρῴδης ζητεῖν τὸ παιδίον τοῦ ἀπολέσαι αὐτό. ὁ δὲ ἐγερθεὶς παρέλαβε τὸ παιδίον καὶ τὴν μητέρα αὐτοῦ νυκτὸς καὶ ἀνεχώρησεν εἰς Αἴγυπτον, καὶ ἦν ἐκεῖ ἕως τῆς τελευτῆς Ἡρῴδου· ἵνα πληρωθῇ τὸ ῥηθὲν ⸀ὑπὸ κυρίου διὰ τοῦ προφήτου λέγοντος· Ἐξ Αἰγύπτου ἐκάλεσα τὸν υἱόν μου.”
Hosea 11:1, KJV; for the Hebrew Text of Hosea 11:1, see the Leningrad Codex as quoted here: “קָרְא֖וּ לָהֶ֑ם כֵּ֚ן הָלְכ֣וּ מִפְּנֵיהֶ֔ם לַבְּעָלִ֣ים יְזַבֵּ֔חוּ וְלַפְּסִלִ֖ים יְקַטֵּרֽוּן.” 4. See the study notes in the New Oxford Annotated Bible, 1387.

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Previously, we talked about reading the Bible from a historical perspective. Today, we are going to talk about the literary interpretation of the Bible. The literary method is different from the historical method because it focuses on reading the texts as they exist now rather than focusing on learning about the past. Here, we are interested in the books of the Bible as works of literature: we want to analyze the plot, setting, characters, vocabulary, sentence structure, literary devices, and other such things.

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Footnotes from Web Post:

For a discussion of literary interpretation of the Bible, see Carol A. Newsom, “Contemporary Methods in Biblical Study,” in the New Oxford Annotated Bible, with the Apocrypha, 5th ed., ed. Michael Coogan (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018), 1883.
Collen Conway, “The Gospel According to John,” in the New Oxford Annotated Bible, 1520; see also Raymond Brown, The Gospel according to John, I-XII (Garden City: Doubleday, 1966).

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In a previous post, we looked at the character of Judas Iscariot in the Gospel of Mark. Today, we will see how he is portrayed in Matthew's gospel.

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The Gospels, ed. John Barton and John Muddiman (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010), 27-28.
Matthew 10:4, KJV.
1 Corinthians 11:23-24, KJV.
Matthew 26:14-16, KJV. For the Greek text, see the SBLGNT rendering: "Τότε πορευθεὶς εἷς τῶν δώδεκα, ὁ λεγόμενος Ἰούδας Ἰσκαριώτης, πρὸς τοὺς ἀρχιερεῖς εἶπεν· Τί θέλετέ μοι δοῦναι κἀγὼ ὑμῖν παραδώσω αὐτόν; οἱ δὲ ἔστησαν αὐτῷ τριάκοντα ἀργύρια. καὶ ἀπὸ τότε ἐζήτει εὐκαιρίαν ἵνα αὐτὸν παραδῷ."
Matthew 26:21-25, KJV. For the Greek text, see the SBLGNT rendering: "καὶ ἐσθιόντων αὐτῶν εἶπεν· Ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι εἷς ἐξ ὑμῶν παραδώσει με. καὶ λυπούμενοι σφόδρα ἤρξαντο λέγειν αὐτῷ ⸂εἷς ἕκαστος⸃· Μήτι ἐγώ εἰμι, κύριε; ὁ δὲ ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπεν· Ὁ ἐμβάψας μετʼ ἐμοῦ ⸂τὴν χεῖρα ἐν τῷ τρυβλίῳ⸃ οὗτός με παραδώσει· ὁ μὲν υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ὑπάγει καθὼς γέγραπται περὶ αὐτοῦ, οὐαὶ δὲ τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ ἐκείνῳ διʼ οὗ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου παραδίδοται· καλὸν ἦν αὐτῷ εἰ οὐκ ἐγεννήθη ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἐκεῖνος. ἀποκριθεὶς δὲ Ἰούδας ὁ παραδιδοὺς αὐτὸν εἶπεν· Μήτι ἐγώ εἰμι, ῥαββί; λέγει αὐτῷ· Σὺ εἶπας."
Matthew 26:47-50, KJV. For the Greek text, see the SBLGNT rendering:"Καὶ ἔτι αὐτοῦ λαλοῦντος ἰδοὺ Ἰούδας εἷς τῶν δώδεκα ἦλθεν καὶ μετʼ αὐτοῦ ὄχλος πολὺς μετὰ μαχαιρῶν καὶ ξύλων ἀπὸ τῶν ἀρχιερέων καὶ πρεσβυτέρων τοῦ λαοῦ. ὁ δὲ παραδιδοὺς αὐτὸν ἔδωκεν αὐτοῖς σημεῖον λέγων· Ὃν ἂν φιλήσω αὐτός ἐστιν· κρατήσατε αὐτόν. καὶ εὐθέως προσελθὼν τῷ Ἰησοῦ εἶπεν· Χαῖρε, ῥαββί· καὶ κατεφίλησεν αὐτόν. ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν αὐτῷ· Ἑταῖρε, ἐφʼ ⸀ὃ πάρει. τότε προσελθόντες ἐπέβαλον τὰς χεῖρας ἐπὶ τὸν Ἰησοῦν καὶ ἐκράτησαν αὐτόν.
Matthew 27:3-5, KJV. For the Greek texst, see the SBLGNT rendering:"Τότε ἰδὼν Ἰούδας ὁ ⸀παραδιδοὺς αὐτὸν ὅτι κατεκρίθη μεταμεληθεὶς ⸀ἔστρεψεν τὰ τριάκοντα ἀργύρια τοῖς ἀρχιερεῦσιν ⸀καὶ πρεσβυτέροις λέγων· Ἥμαρτον παραδοὺς αἷμα ⸀ἀθῷον. οἱ δὲ εἶπαν· Τί πρὸς ἡμᾶς; σὺ ⸀ὄψῃ. καὶ ῥίψας τὰ ἀργύρια ⸂εἰς τὸν ναὸν⸃ ἀνεχώρησεν, καὶ ἀπελθὼν ἀπήγξατο."

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In this presentation, we will talk about one method of interpreting the Bible: the historical. In other videos, we will talk about literary and theological interpretations, so stay tuned for those as well.

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Footnotes from Web Post:

For a discussion of the historical method of biblical interpretation, see Michael Coogan, “The Interpretation of the Bible from the Nineteenth to the Mid-Twentieth Centuries,” in the New Oxford Annotated Bible, with the Apocrypha, 5th ed., ed. Michael Coogan (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018), 1877.
John 1:1-5, KJV; for the original language, see the passage as found in the SBL Greek New Testament: “Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος. οὗτος ἦν ἐν ἀρχῇ πρὸς τὸν θεόν. πάντα διʼ αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο, καὶ χωρὶς αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο οὐδὲ ἕν. ὃ γέγονεν ἐν αὐτῷ ζωὴ ἦν, καὶ ἡ ζωὴ ἦν τὸ φῶς τῶν ἀνθρώπων· καὶ τὸ φῶς ἐν τῇ σκοτίᾳ φαίνει, καὶ ἡ σκοτία αὐτὸ οὐ κατέλαβεν.”
For a discussion of "The Word" in John, see Craig Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1993), 264.

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Most people are familiar with Judas Iscariot, the disciple who betrayed Jesus. However, they may not realize that his character is developed a little differently in each gospel. In other words, one gospel will include some details about him, while another includes others. Looking at his character in each gospel alone can tell us a lot about the individual voice that each gospel has for him. In this post, we will explore the person of Judas Iscariot as he appears in the Gospel of Mark. In future posts, we will explore how he is developed in the other gospels, so you will want to stay tuned for the next few weeks to get a full treatment of one of the most demonized characters in the Bible.

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Footnotes from Web Post:

For the date of composition of Mark, see The Gospels, ed. John Barton and John Muddiman (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010), 85.
Mark 3:19, SBL NT; see also the KJV.
Mark 14:10-11, SBL NT; see also the KJV.
Mark 14:10-11, SBL NT; see also the KJV.
Mark 14:17-21, SBL NT.
Mark 14:17-21, KJV.
Mark 14:43-46, SBL NT.
Mark 14:43-46, KJV.

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As many of you probably know already, the word gospel means "good news." But what should we make of the discussion about the Gospel of Judas, that is, "the good news" of Judas, since its publication in 2006? How can there be any good news about Judas Iscariot, the ultimate betrayer, the one who handed Jesus over to his enemies? Yet, here it is, the Gospel of Judas. Let us take a closer look at it.

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Footnotes for Web Post

The Other Gospels: Accounts of Jesus from Outside the New Testament, ed. Bart D. Ehrman and Zlatko Pleše (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014), 201.
April DeConick, The Thirteenth Apostle: What the Gospel of Judas Really Says (New York: Continuum, 2007), 22-42.
Ehrman and Pleše, 205; for the original, see Codex Tchacos page 33, lines 1-18.
Ehrman and Pleše, 201-204.
Codex Tchacos page 44, lines 20-21 and page 56, lines 17-18, transcribed by Kasser et. al.
Ehrman and Pleše, 208.
DeConick, 77.
Ehman and Pleše, 212.
DeConick, 89.
Ehrman and Pleše, 202.

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In this post of Theology and Religion with J.D. Reiner, we will continue our discussion of the philosophy of history by examining its speculative branch. Last time, we defined that field as answering the "why" questions about history. Within the next ten to fifteen minutes, I will attempt to summarize the major answers given in western civilization, from the ancient world until the late nineteenth century. Obviously, that will be very difficult to do with justice, but you are certainly free to explore further by looking up the information in the footnotes. Again, most of the information here comes from M.C. Lemon's very thorough 2003 survey, Philosophy of History: A Guide for Students. Visit jdreiner.com to read or listen to more content and learn about my work. Email me at jonathandreiner@gmail.com to get in touch. To donate through PayPal, paste this link into your browser: paypal.me/jonathandreiner To donate Bitcoin for my work, use this public key: bc1qwnu9exmhp3ugcepvxvhn5tyw765zgeskgfm200 Footnotes from Website Post

Patrick Gardner, "Philosophy of History," Encyclopædia Britannica, June 16, 2017. https://www.britannica.com/topic/philosophy-of-history.
M.C. Lemon, Philosophy of History: A Guide for Students (London: Routledge, 2003), 28-29.
Lemon, 31-35.
Lemon, 35-41.
Lemon, 52-53.
Lemon, 61-62.
Lemon, 74-78.
Costelloe, "Giambattista Vico," Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, August 2, 2018. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/vico/#Bib; see also Lemon, 127-67.
Lemon, 184-86.
Lemon, 187-94.
Lemon, 196-200.
Philip Cary, Philosophy and Religion in the West (Chantilly: The Great Courses, 1999), 116; see also Lemon, 213-21.
Lemon, 253-70.

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Welcome back to another post from Theology and Religion with J.D. Reiner. Because we like to talk a lot about methodological distinctions between disciplines, I think that is it appropriate for us to have a discussion about the philosophy of history. You may know what "philosophy" is, and perhaps you know what "history" is about, but you may not know much about the "philosophy of history." Unfortunately, many professional historians either do not know much about this important field or refrain from discussing it much; they just learn the methods for their fields and hurry to the archives to drool over old books and papers. They just like doing the fun part without having to think too hard about the foundations of their field.

We, however, are going to try to do a little more justice to the philosophy of history. Today, we will examine what that field is and why it is important for those who want to understand the past, whether it is biblical history or anything else. In future posts, we will look at more detailed aspects of this branch of philosophy, but for now, we will content ourselves with a short introduction.

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Footnotes from Web Post

M.C. Lemon, Philosophy of History: A Guide for Students (New York: Routledge, 2003), 1-3.
Lemon, 7-13.
Lemon, 290.

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What group of Christians produced the Gospel of John? That is a question addressed by the historical-critical field of Gospel community studies. In their quest to reconstruct the world behind biblical texts, critical historians have tried to understand the different Christian communities that produced the canonical Gospels. They have been especially interested in John's Gospel because of how different it is from Matthew, Mark, and Luke. In this post, we will survey the fascinating topic of the Johannine community. We will see how experts detect evidence of the community in the Gospel, what reconstructions scholars have proposed, and what critics of the theories have said.

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Footnotes

For the two-level reading of John, see J. Louis Martyn, History and Theology in the Fourth Gospel, 3rd ed. (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2003).
John 9:1-41, KJV
For a discussion of the blind man and the exclusion of the Jewish Christians from the synagogue, see Martyn, 35-68.
For Raymond Brown's reconstruction of the Johannine community, see Raymond E. Brown, The Community of the Beloved Disciple (New York: Paulist Press, 1979).
For the alternative view, see The Gospels for All Christians, ed. Richard Bauckham (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1998).
To see Klink's discussion of the Johannine community, see Edward W. Klink III, The Sheep of the Fold (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007).

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In the last session of Theology and Religion with J.D. Reiner, we discussed the canonical sources that refer to Jesus' burial, that is, the places within the New Testament that talk about how Joseph entombed Jesus. Those sources were 1 Corinthians and the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Today, we will cover three of the earliest sources from outside the New Testament, which are the Gospel of Peter, the Secret Book of James, and the Epistula Apostolorum.

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Footnotes

Peter Kirby, "The Gospel of Peter," Early Christian Writings, accessed June 1, 2021. http://earlychristianwritings.com/gos....
See the translation found in Raymond E. Brown, The Death of the Messiah: From Gethsemane to the Grave: A Commentary on the Passion Narratives, 2 vols. (New York: Doubleday, 1994), 1318.
For a discussion of this book, see Helmut Koester, Ancient Christian Gospels (Harrisburg: Trinity Press International, 1990), 187-200; See also Peter Kirby, "The Secret Book of James," Early Christian Writings, accessed June 1, 2021. http://earlychristianwritings.com/sec....
"Secret Book of James," trans. Francis E. Williams, in The Nag Hammadi Library in English, ed. James M. Robinson (San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1990), 31-32.
Peter Kirby, "Epistula Apostolorum," Early Christian Writings, accessed June 1, 2021. http://earlychristianwritings.com/apo....
For the whole translation, see "Epistle of the Apostles," trans. Montague Rhode James, in The Apocryphal New Testament (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1924), 485-503.

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In this session of Theology and Religion with J.D. Reiner, we will examine the five earliest references to Jesus’ burial in the New Testament. In the next session, we will look at three early non-canonical references, that is, the three earliest accounts outside the New Testament. We will compare the documents to each other, and then we will discuss their significance both to the secular study of religion and to Christian theology.

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Footnotes from Post:

For a discussion of Paul’s quotation, see Bart D. Ehrman, How Jesus Became God: The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher from Galilee (New York: HarperOne, 2014), 90-95, 137.
1 Corinthians 15:3-8, KJV.
For the date of composition of Mark, see The Gospels, ed. John Barton and John Muddiman (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010), 85.
Mark 15:42-47, KJV.
For Matthew’s date of composition, Barton and Muddiman, 27-28.
Matthew 27:57-61, KJV.
For Luke’s date of composition, see Barton and Muddiman, 137.
Luke 23:50-56, KJV.
For John’s date of composition, see Barton and Muddiman, 187.
For a discussion of John’s relationship with the Synoptic Gospels, see Dwight Moody Smith, John Among the Gospels: The Relationship in Twentieth-Century Research (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1992); see also the introduction to my M.A. thesis, “The Johannine Community, the Synoptic Gospels, and the Source behind John’s Resurrection Narrative” (Ann Arbor: Proquest, 2020), 1-13.
John 19:38-42, KJV.
For a discussion of the archaeology, history, and social science surrounding Jewish burial practices, see Byron McCane, Roll Back the Stone: Death and Burial in the World of Jesus (Harrisburg: Trinity Press International, 2003).
For the development of Christian traditions about Jesus’ burial, see my peer-reviewed article, “The Dishonorable Burial of Jesus of Nazareth by Joseph of Arimathea,” FCH Annals vol. 27 (2021), 36; see also Bart D. Ehrman, Jesus, Interrupted: Revealing the Hidden Contradictions in the Bible (and Why We Don’t Know About Them) (New York: HarperOne, 2009), 21-22.
For more examples of theological reflection on the burial stories, see the footnotes of Patristic quotations on Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John in the Ancient Faith Study Bible (Nashville: Holman, 2019).

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Today, we are going to talk about one of the most important living thinkers in modern Christianity. His name is Alister McGrath. He is a leading Anglican scientist and theologian at Oxford University. I want to explain how he has influenced my own thinking. His writings and lectures have helped me in my journey of faith, and his ideas have affected my approach to my own academic work.

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Content Footnotes

Alister E. McGrath, “There is Nothing Blind about Faith,” ABC Religion and Ethics, February 14, 2011. https://www.abc.net.au/religion/there-is-nothing-blind-about-faith/10101704.
Alister E. McGrath, “What is the Relationship Between Science and Religion?” YouTube Video, 3:01, February 12, 2010. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNp0tYWR7XY.

Here are some titles of books by Alister McGrath that I have read which I recommend:

--- Theology: The Basics

--- The Renewal of Anglicanism

--- Narrative Apologetics

--- Luther's Theology of the Cross

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Today, we will reflect theologically on the story of Jesus and the Syrophoenician woman. This means that we will read the text as sacred scripture, rather than just as a historical document. We will reflect on what God is teaching us by reading the passages within the framework of Christian tradition. The church fathers are the main sources from which we draw our tradition of interpretation, so we will explore what they have to say about the story. Specifically, we will see how four Patristic bishops and monks, spanning from the fourth to the eighth centuries, interpreted the meaning of the story for the spiritual life of Christians.

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jdreiner.com

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Footnotes

Refer to Mark 7:24-30 and Matthew 15:21-28, as covered in Parts 1-3 of this series.
Hilary of Poitiers, “On Matthew 15.5,” in Ancient Faith Study Bible (Nashville: Holman, 2019), 1156.
Theodore of Mopsuestia, “Fragment 83,” in Ancient Faith Study Bible (Nashville: Holman, 2019), 1156.
John Chrysostom, “Homily on Matthew 22.7,” in The Complete Church Fathers, ed. by Philip Schaff (Kindle, 2016).
John of Damascus, “The Orthodox Faith 3.17,” in Ancient Faith Study Bible (Nashville: Holman, 2019), 1198.

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Welcome back to my podcast on theology and religion. For the last couple of episodes, we’ve examined the Markan and Matthean versions of Jesus’ encounter with the Syrophoenician woman. We saw that Mark was teaching that both Jews and Gentiles could participate in the kingdom of God. We also saw that Matthew taught the same thing as Mark but with an added focus on the Jews and Jewish Christians. Today, in Part 3, we’re going to determine the historicity of the story. Did the “historical Jesus” actually meet a Syrophoenician woman and pronounce an exorcism?

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Bibliography for Parts 1-3

Burkill, T. A. “The Historical Development of the Story of the Syrophoenician Woman (Mark VII: 24-31).” Novum Testamentum 9, no. 3 (1967): 161-177.

Gullotta, Daniel N. “Among Dogs and Disciples: An Examination of the Story of the Canaanite Woman (Matthew 15:21-28) and the Question of the Gentile Mission within the Matthean Community.” Neotestamentica 48, no. 2 (July 2014): 325-339.

Gundry, Robert H. Matthew: A Commentary on His Literary and Theological Art. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1982.

Hart, Lawrence D. “The Canaanite Woman: Meeting Jesus as Sage and Lord: Matthew 15:21-28 & Mark 7:24-30.” Expository Times 122, no. 1: 20-25.

Latourelle, René. The Miracles of Jesus and the Theology of Miracles. New York: Paulist Press, 1988.

Meier, John P. A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus, vols. 1-2. New York: Doubleday, 1994.

Rhoads, David M. “Jesus and the Syrophoenician Woman in Mark: A Narrative-Critical Study.” Journal of the American Academy of Religion 62, no. 2 (1994): 370-371.

Syon, Danny. Small Change in Hellenistic Roman Galilee. Jerusalem: Israel Numismatic Society, 2015.

Telford, William. The Theology of the Gospel of Mark. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.

Theissen, Gerd. The Gospels in Context: Social and Political History in the Synoptic Tradition. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1991.

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In our last discussion, we explored the Gospel of Mark’s story of Jesus and the Syrophoenician woman. We talked about how Mark used the pericope to show that Gentiles, as well as Jews, could become followers of Jesus and participate in the kingdom of God. Today, we’re going to look at Matthew’s version of the story. We’ll analyze it historically in the same way that we analyzed Mark. I hope that you’re ready to take a dive into the fascinating field of redaction criticism as we proceed with this episode.

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Who doesn’t love a good Bible study? I certainly do, so for the next few episodes, we’re going to explore a New Testament passage with both historical criticism and theological reflection. Our story for today is Jesus’ conversation with the Syrophoenician woman. This story has always interested me, probably because my father used to preach a very good sermon on it when I was a boy. When I was in graduate school years later, I listened to a different sermon about it at a local church. That sermon inspired me to write a term paper on that story, or “pericope,” as the fancy biblical scholars like to call stories in the Gospels. Now, I’m using this show to talk about the results.

Bibliography

Burkill, T. A. “The Historical Development of the Story of the Syrophoenician Woman (Mark VII: 24-31).” Novum Testamentum 9, no. 3 (1967): 161-177.