Chapter 1: “What Is the New Testament?”

Explain “diversity” in second-century Christianity and in the New Testament.

What does Ehrman mean by “diversity”?

What basic points of view do we find in adoptionism, Marcionism, Gnosticism?

Does historical research support or undermine the faith? Why?

Explain what “canon” means and how it came about.

What does Ehrman mean by “proto-orthodox”?

Comment on the following:

When the New Testament was being written, there was no such thing as the New Testament.

The New Testament is not a book, but a library.

Chapter 2: “The World of Early Christian Traditions.”

List and explain some ways in which the world of the New Testament is different from our own.

Why is it problematic to determine a starting-place in our study of the New Testament?

Why is Apollonius of Tyana a significant figure for the study of Jesus?

What do we mean by the Greco-Roman world?

How do modern ideas of religion differ from that in the Greco-Roman world?

Describe Judaism in the ancient world. How did others see it? How did it see itself? What were its key elements?

What is magic, and what role did it play in the ancient world?

Chapter 3: “The Traditions of Jesus in their Greco-Roman Context”

What is meant by “oral tradition”?

What does this mean for the shape of the tradition, both formally and in terms of its content?

What implications does this have for the historicity of the gospels?

Were the gospel writers eyewitnesses to the events?

Chapter 4: “The Christian Gospels: A Literary and Historical Introduction”

Why is the study of genre important?

What genre of literature are the gospels?

Chapter 5: “Jesus, the Suffering Son of God: The Gospel According to Mark.”

What if you had only the gospel of Mark, and no other information about Jesus in any form. What view would you then have of: Jesus; the church; the disciples?

Answer the following questions using the text of Mark as your evidence.

What does Mark mean by Son of God?

What does he mean by Son of Man?

For Mark, what did Jesus accomplish and how?

How are the disciples portrayed? Why?

What role does misunderstanding play in the gospel?

Are characters in the gospel able to understand who Jesus is? Why or why not?

How does Mark look at the time of the church? How does it relate to the time of Jesus? How does it relate to the end of the world?

What role do miracles (deeds of power) play in the Mark? What are the different sorts of miracles and how are they different from each other? Do they play different roles in Mark?

How does Mark interpret the death of Jesus?

What historical circumstances do you think were the setting for the composition of Mark? How does it address those circumstances?

How does Mark look at Judaism and Jews?

How does Mark look at women? What constitutes evidence for this and how do we go about interpreting it?

In reading Mark,

What were you surprised not to find there?

What were you surprised to find there?

What was puzzling to you?

What was disturbing to you?

What did you find interesting?

Chapter 6: “The Synoptic Problem and Its Significance for Interpretation”

What is the synoptic problem?

What are possible solutions?

What is Q?

What difference does all this make?

Chapter 7: “Jesus, the Jewish Messiah: The Gospel according to Matthew”

How is Matthew similar to Mark?

How is Matthew different from Mark?

How does Matthew portray Jesus? The disciples? The church? Jews and Judaism? Women?

If the only gospel we had were Matthew, what would Christianity look like?

In reading Matthew:,

What were you surprised not to find there?

What were you surprised to find there?

What was puzzling to you?

What was disturbing to you?

What did you find interesting?