Tony Burke

EXCEL file of Provisional Grades (April 11, 2011)

York University ~ Winter 2011

Instructor: Dr. Tony Burke

E-mail: tburke@yorku.ca
Phone: 416-736-2100 ext. 22329
Office Hours and Location: Mon. and Tues. 5:00-6:00 pm and other times by appointment, McLaughlin 036.
Class Time and Location: Mondays, 7-10 pm, ACW 302.

1. Course description: A study of the synoptic gospels (Mark, Matthew, Luke) and other early Christian texts from a historical and literary perspective. The course begins with a discussion of the first-century Palestinian context for traditions about Jesus and a look at scholars’ attempts to reconstruct the oral traditions that preceded the three written gospels. Each gospel is then examined in turn with emphasis on the socio-historical background of the text and its interpretation and transformation of oral and literary sources. Theories on the literary relationships between the three gospels will be discussed also. The synoptic gospels are considered historians’ best source for the life of Jesus. Therefore, the course will examine closely certain episodes from Jesus’ life as recorded in these gospels, including the stories of his birth, death, and resurrection. Non-canonical texts and non-Christian texts will be brought into the discussions where they shed light on the canonical gospels. The course will conclude with a look at John the Baptist in Christian tradition.

2. Prerequisites: May be taken independently of AK/HUMA 3421 3.0. Not open to students who have taken AK/HUMA 3420 6.0.

3. Required Texts:

Ehrman, B. The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings. 4th ed. Oxford University Press, 2003. (note: earlier editions may be used but beware that the chapter numbering differs)

Throckmorton, Burton H. Gospel Parallels. Fifth ed. Thomas Nelson, 1992.

Ehrman, B. Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why. San Francisco: Harper, 2007.

New Revised Standard Version, The New Oxford Annotated Bible, College Edition. Oxford University Press, 2001 (another Bible is also acceptable but it must be the New Revised Standard Version)

4. Methods of Evaluation

All written work in this course is expected to be of high quality—i.e., it must conform to the style and format guidelines typical of Humanities courses—and it must be your own. To help ensure that these requirements are met, you are urged to visit the on-line guides listed below. In addition, a style sheet of my own design is to be attached to your first short paper and your film review (see the assignment descriptions below). No paper will be accepted without the style sheet attached. For additional writing assistance, visit the following web site:

http://www.arts.yorku.ca/caw/resources.html

NOTE: All graded work in this course is to be submitted to Turnitin.com (and brought to class in a hard copy). For an overview of this service and the University’s policies regarding Turnitin.com, please see HERE: It is very simple to use. Go to www.turnitin.com for instructions on how to create a user profile. You can use whatever email address you wish but it must be a working one since you will receive emails over the course of the year. It is recommended that you NOT use internet email accounts (e.g., Hotmail, Yahoo, etc.). You create your own password so make it easy to remember. You will also require the following information to sign in initially: Class ID: 3708445. Password: bible.

A. Academic Integrity: York University is very concerned about the increase in student plagiarism. As heinous a crime as plagiarism is, sometimes it is perpetrated in ignorance. The university has set up an on-line tutorial to help students recognize acts of plagiarism. You are required to complete this tutorial (no papers will be accepted until you do so). Go to the web site and work your way through the tutorial. Print off the results of the quiz and hand them in by Jan. 31. There is no grade value for this assignment, but no papers will be accepted until the test results are handed in to the instructor. Site address: http://www.yorku.ca/tutorial/academic_integrity/ (select “For Students”).

B. First-Century Judaism Quiz: Learning about biblical literature necessitates knowledge of the land and cultures in which it was written. To that end, study chapters 2-3 of Ehrman’s textbook, the lecture material from Jan. 10, and the map on p. 81 in preparation for a quiz that will take place in the first 15 minutes of class Jan. 24. To prepare, memorize the locations of the following: Bethlehem, Caesarea, Caesarea Philippi, Capernaum, the Dead Sea, Decapolis, Gadara, Galilee, Jericho, Jerusalem, the Jordan River (runs from the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea), Judaea, Nazareth, Sea of Galilee, Samaria, Sidon, and Tyre. You can practice using this map. Grade value: 10%.

C. Tutorial Assignments: For several classes you are asked to prepare for class answers to questions related to the assigned readings. Two of these (your choice) must be handed in for grading. Your answers must be approximately two pages in length and should be brought to class to aid you in contributing to group work and class discussions. Each assignment will be graded out of 10.  WARNING: the ideas presented in your assignments must be your own; any assignment which shows evidence of plagiarism will be given a grade of zero. No paper will be accepted without the style sheet attached (find it HERE). Total Grade Value: 20%.

D. Synoptic Problem Assignment: By the middle of the course I expect you to be comfortable enough with the methodology to perform your own study of a pericope (episode from the gospels). For the assignment, you will be given an episode found in the three synoptic gospels. From it you must determine: a. the earliest form of the pericope (which gospel writer came first? what evidence do you see in the pericope for this determination), b. filter out the gospel writer’s redactional (editorial) interests (noting also the changes made to the story by all the gospel writers and how their changes relate to their own redactional interests), and c. determine the original pre-gospel form of the pericope (what was the story before the earliest gospel writer incorporated it into his text?). The assignment is due Mar. 14.  To prepare, make sure you are familiar with the various solutions to the Synoptic Problem, and know generally how each gospel writer tends to edit his sources (redactional interests). Value of final grade: 10%.

E. Book Review: Bart Ehrman’s Misquoting Jesus has helped bring the issues and problems of biblical text-criticism to a wide audience. Prepare a review of the book providing a summary of its contents (roughly 60% of your review) and a critique of his approach, style, methodology, and arguments. Examples of scholarly book reviews are available HERE. Your book review will be accepted only if the required style sheet is attached (you can find it HERE). WARNING: start reading the book early, as it will be difficult to keep up with other assigned readings if you leave it too late. Required length: five pages. This assignment must be submitted to turnitin.com by 8pm. Due date: Feb. 28. Grade Value: 20%.

F. Film Analysis: students will view independently or in class March 21 the film The Passion of the Christ, a controversial portrayal of Jesus’ final days by director Mel Gibson. Some viewers applaud the film for its realism, for telling the story as it was, for being powerful and faithaffirming; but others charge it with being unhistorical, Anti-Semitic, and extremely violent (“the greatest gory ever sold”, “pornography for fundamentalists”). We may never know exactly what happened in Jesus’ final days but we do know what the gospels say about the events. Your assignment is to critique how the filmmaker uses the gospels in the film. In interviews, Gibson has stated: “We’ve done the research. I’m telling the story as the Bible tells it. I think the story, as it really happened, speaks for itself. The Gospel is a complete script, and that’s what we’re filming.” Do you agree? In your essay, consider the following questions: What does he include from the gospels? What does he exclude? What is emphasized? or minimized? What do you see in the film that is not found in the gospels? In your essay be sure to refer frequently to the gospels, using appropriate documentation style. For more information on the film visit the official site at http://www.thepassionofthechrist.com. The essay must be five pages long (and no longer) and is to be handed in on the final class (April 4). Your film review will be accepted only if the required style sheet is attached (find it HERE). Required length: five pages. Value of final grade: 30%.

G. Class participation: each class features an hour of group work sandwiched between two hours of lecture/discussion. To ensure your participation in this group work, a portion of your final grade is allotted to evaluating your contributions to the group discussions. Value of final grade: 10%.

Missing papers: In the event that papers go missing, it is your responsibility to keep a hard copy of all written work submitted for the course.

Late papers: the instructor, like you, is a very busy person. He likes to receive papers on time so that he can give them back to you within a reasonable time and then get on with other things he has to do (the instructor has other courses to teach and other papers to grade). Late papers complicate his life. So, he cannot accept late papers unless they are accompanied with documentation from Special Needs or Health Services. Contact the instructor if you foresee problems handing in papers on time.

5. Important Dates

Monday, January 17: Last date to enroll in Winter term courses without the permission of the instructor.
Monday, January 31: Last date to enroll in Winter term courses with the permission of the instructor.
Friday, March 4: Last date to drop Winter term courses without receiving a grade.

6. Class Schedule

Please come to class having read the assigned primary and secondary readings and having consulted the on-line resources. A lecture outline for each week’s class will be posted on-line by Monday evening of each week. It is your responsibility to print your own copy of the outline and bring it to class.

Jan. 10: Introduction to the study of religion, and the study of the New Testament
Read after class today: Ehrman, chs. 1 and 30.
On-line Resources: the readings for today from the textbook discuss the process of assembling the modern New Testament from ancient Greek manuscripts. For additional insights into this process check out the Interpreting Ancient Manuscripts site at http://www.earlham.edu/~seidti/iam/interp_mss.html. Here you will see a detailed description of how scholars work with manuscripts to establish a critical edition. Be sure to try the Exercise in Textual Criticism to get a sense of the difficulties faced by New Testament text critics.

Jan. 17: The New Testament World
LECTURE OUTLINE
Read for today’s class: Ehrman, ch. 2-3; Exodus 1-13; Brief History of Ancient Judaism (PDF)
On-line resources: for more information on the world of Jesus visit James Tabor’s excellent site “The Jewish Roman World of Jesus” (http://www.religiousstudies.uncc.edu/JDTABOR/indexb.html).

Jan. 24: Literary criticism and the Gospels
LECTURE OUTLINE
Read for today’s class: Ehrman, ch. 4 & 5.
** First-Century Judaism Quiz in class today **
On-line resources: for images of sites from the world of Jesus visit http://www.holylandphotos.org/. Enter in the search line any of the locations from the map assigned for  this week’s quiz (e.g., Capernaum, the Decapolis) or check out their collections.

Jan. 31: The Gospel of Mark
LECTURE OUTLINE
Read for today’s class: Ehrman, ch. 6; Gospel of Mark, Secret Gospel of Mark; 2 Kings 2-5 (Bible).
Assignment: The vast majority of scholars believe Mark was the first gospel to have been written. Imagine you are living in the first-century and Mark is the only gospel text you know. Answer the following questions solely from information from the text: who is Jesus (where was he born? where did he live? what did he do?). Who are his most important followers and how are they portrayed? What happens when the women go to the tomb to prepare Jesus’ body (Mark 16:1-8; do not read 16:9-20 if it is included in your text)? (NOTE: this is one of the three tutorial assignments of which you are to hand in two).
On-line Resources: the Galilean city Sepphoris was a mere hour’s walk from Nazareth. The analysis of the excavations of Sepphoris may tell us much about the influences upon Jesus. For a tour of the excavations see the following site: http://www.ancientsandals.com/overviews/sepphoris.htm. Be sure to select the link to “Sepphoris photos” at the top of the page. The homepage of the organization also offers tours of other biblical sites including Nazareth and Bethlehem.
** Integrity Test Results due today **

Feb. 7: The Synoptic Problem and “Sayings” Gospels
LECTURE NOTES
Read for today’s class: Ehrman, ch. 7; Q (PDF), Gospel of Thomas.
On-line Resources: The Oxford Hypothesis (one of several solutions to the “Synoptic Problem”) has found an outspoken defender in British scholar Mark Goodacre. He has constructed a web site that is a great resource not only for the study of the Synoptic Gospels, but for other biblical research also. Check out his response to the Two-Document Hypothesis at http://www.ntgateway.com/Q/faq.htm. If time permits, click on some of his links for a sample of other scholarly on-line resources.

Feb. 14: The Gospel of Matthew
LECTURE NOTES
Read for today’s class: Ehrman, ch. 8; The Gospel of Matthew.
Assignment: read Peter’s Confession (Gospel Parallels #122). Assuming Mark wrote first, and Matthew used Mark as the source for his gospel, what changes did Matthew make to the story? What are the results of these changes (i.e., how does Matthew’s version read compared to Mark’s?). (NOTE: this is one of the three tutorial assignments of which you are to hand in two).
On-line resources: Several years ago PBS produced a series called “From Jesus to Christ: The First Christians.” To accompany the series, PBS set up a web site with some useful articles and resources. You can visit the site at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/.

Feb. 21: Reading Week

Feb. 28: The Gospel of Luke
LECTURE NOTES
Read for today’s class: Ehrman, ch. 9; The Gospel of Luke.
Assignment: Luke offers us our second look at the birth story of Jesus. For this assignment I want you to read both Matthew’s and Luke’s infancy narratives (Gospel Parallels Nos. A-L) and note the differences between the two accounts. Working as a historian, what do you think we can say about Jesus’ early years based on these two accounts? (NOTE: this is one of the three tutorial assignments of which you are to hand in two).
On-line resources: readers of Luke are surprised at the prominence of women in the gospel. One of the most exciting areas of research in the New Testament is the topic of women in Early Christianity. For a recent discussion of the topic visit http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/first/women.html.
** Misquoting Jesus Book Review due in class today **

Mar. 7: Studies in the Synoptic Gospels
NO LECTURE OUTLINE FOR TODAY; LINK to Ehrman/Wallace Debate
For today’s class: Today we will look at several key pericopae (episodes) from the Synoptic Gospels. Be sure to bring your copy of Throckmorton’s Synopsis to class.
On-line resources: For a different take on a synopsis of the gospels, see the on-line synopsis assembled by University of Toronto professor John Marshall at http://www.utoronto.ca/religion/synopsis/

Mar. 14: The Passion Narrative
LECTURE NOTES
Read for today’s class: Ehrman, ch. 18; Gospel Parallels on resurrection (Nos. 252-253, AA-EE); John 20-21; Gospel of Peter.
** Synoptic Problem Assignment due today **
On-line resources: for additional information on crucifixion, including archaeological finds, consult the following site:  www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/jesus/crucifixion.html

Mar. 21: No Class: Independent Film Viewing of The Passion of the Christ

Mar. 28: The Historical Jesus
LECTURE NOTES
Read for today’s class: Ehrman, chs. 13-17.
On-line resources: Today’s lesson illustrates that there were as many titles ascribed to Jesus as there were interpretations of his life and death. Even today Jesus continues to be presented in new and even bizarre ways. For an amusing take on modern uses of Jesus’ image check out http://www.jesusoftheweek.com. Warning: may offend some.

April 4: Special Topic ~ John the Baptist
LECTURE NOTES
Read for today’s class: The Life of John the Baptist by Serapion (HERE), The Beheading of John the Baptist (HERE)
On-line resources:
** The Passion of the Christ Film Review due today **