Early Jesus Traditions
An exploration of the earliest traditions and sources which speak of Jesus of Nazareth, with the aim of discussing what we can learn both about the Historical Jesus and the search for him undertaken by modern scholarship.
This course aims at providing students with the necessary knowledge and skills to both discover for themselves what scholarship thinks of the Historical Jesus, and to help them come to their own conclusions about where the evidence currently points.
Learn about two long forgotten gospels (Q and Thomas) that have transformed modern discussions about both early Christianity and the identity of Jesus.
Explore the Second Temple Jewish background of Jesus by exploring non-canonical texts such as the Parables of Enoch in 1 Enoch, seeking to discover what role, if any, such documents played both for Jesus and the evangelists.
Discover why scholars are unable to agree on whether Jesus was a mystic, cynic philosopher, or apocalyptic messiah.
Investigate why and how early Christians believed it was acceptable and possible to disagree with things that Jesus said, and what importance this might have for studying the historical context of Jesus.
Recording Lecture 1 (Aug 16, 2020)
Q Contradictions Slideshow from Class
John Kloppenborg Excerpt
Bart Ehrman Textbook Excerpt
Burton Mack Translation and Analysis of Proposed Q1, Q2, and Q3
Dunn Jesus Remembered Q Excerpt
The Critical Edition of Q (Hermeneia Translation)
The Q Source - Side by Side
Sara Parks Explains the Value of Q
Sara Parks Discusses Women in Q
Short Clip from Documentary, featuring Stephen Patterson and John Crossan
Four Source Hypothesis Summary
AUG 23, 2020 Recording
Gospel of Thomas - Scholars Version
Lambdin Translation of Thomas taken from Ehrman's Lost Scripture's book
Ehrman and Plese Translation with Greek Fragments
Paul Foster Excerpt
John Kloppenborg Excerpt
Bart Ehrman Textbook Excerpt
Dale Martin Lecture at Yale on Thomas
Gospel of Thomas BBC Documentary
April DeConick's Reconstructed "Original" Version of Thomas, Plus Commentary on First Two Sayings
Barnstone Lyrical Translation of Thomas
Patterson Article Defending Independence of Thomas
Aug 30, 2020 Recording
Bart Ehrman Jesus Before the Gospels
Bart Ehrman Textbook Excerpt
Second Ehrman Textbook Excerpt on Mark
Redaction Criticism Example
Burton Mack Demise of Q Excerpt
Dale Martin Lecture at Yale on Mark
Sept 6 Recording
Bart Ehrman Textbook Excerpt
Marcus Borg and N.T. Wright Chapters
Dale Martin Lecture at Yale on the Historical Jesus
N.T. Wright Assesses the Historical Jesus
Ehrman Lecture 1 on Historical Criteria
Ehrman Lecture 2 on Historical Criteria
Sept 13, 2020 Recording
Hermeneia Translation of 1 Enoch (Book of Parables)
John Collins Intro to 1 Enoch's Book of Parables
deSilva's Jewish Teachers of Jesus Excerpt
Eerdman's Commentary on Parables of Enoch
Hermeneia Commentary 1 Enoch Ch. 47
Wendall Commentary 1 Enoch 47
Zolondek Article on Jesus' Death Predictions
Did Jesus Predict His Death? Licona
SUNDAY CLASS RECORDING (Special Discussion)
Dunn Jesus Remembered John the Baptist Excerpt
The Mandaean Book of John Ch. 18 and 30 Translation + Commentary
TUESDAY SPECIAL GUEST LECTURE Dr. McGrath
Sept 20, 2020 - Part 1
Sept 20, 2020 (Part 2)
SUNDAY CLASS RECORDING GUEST LECTURE Dr. CROSSAN
TUESDAY CLASS RECORDING
Sept 27, 2020 Recording with Sara Parks
TUESDAY CLASS RECORDING
SUNDAY CLASS RECORDING
Bart Ehrman Textbook Excerpt
Borg and N.T. Wright Chapters
Burton Mack Cynic Q Gospel Excerpt
Oct 4, 2020 Recording
SUNDAY CLASS RECORDING
TUESDAY CLASS RECORDING
Placeholder Article
Orphan Sayings - Scholars Version
Parables Parallels
Jesus: A Very Short Introduction Bauckham Excerpt
Dunn Jesus Remembered Excerpt
Oct 18 2020 Recording
SUNDAY CLASS RECORDING
Stephen Patterson Article
Ehrman Lecture
Ehrman Jesus, Interrupted Quote
TUESDAY CLASS RECORDING
Oct 25, 2020 Recording
SUNDAY CLASS RECORDING
Korpman Article
Burton Mack Authority of Jesus Q excerpt
Apocryphon of James Translation
Jesus Taught Violence Opinion Piece
Violent Jesus in Matthew article - David Sim
Violence in Matthew Article - Reid
(1) Sunday Class Recording
(1) Tuesday Class Recording
(2) SUNDAY CLASS RECORDING PART 1
(2) SUNDAY CLASS RECORDING PART 2
(2) TUESDAY CLASS RECORDING
(3) SUNDAY CLASS RECORDING
(3) TUESDAY CLASS RECORDING
(4) Sunday Class Recording
(4) TUESDAY CLASS RECORDING
(5) Sunday and Tuesday CLASS RECORDING
Matthew Korpman
Classes will be done via live Zoom meetings. These meetings will be recorded and uploaded to the website here for students so that they can either watch it because they missed the class, or review it because they wanted to remember something said during it.
No. The course will be conducted as a research seminar and your primary objective will be to read, discuss, and understand the material.
The course will be approximately three months long, or 10 or so weeks. This is about the length of an academic Quarter.
Yes. You will need to buy the first textbook for the class: Stephen J. Patterson's book "The Lost Way: How Two Forgotten Gospels Are Rewriting the Story of Christian Origins." Other than that, there may be one other textbook needed, but that has not been decided yet.
No. The class will be conducted as a research seminar which means we will try to make it fun, dynamic, and engaging.
The course will be run on two days per week (but you only need to come to one of them). It will be offered on Sunday mornings and Tuesdays evenings. Whichever time works best for you will be the one you should come to. Classes will also be recorded and available to watch on the website here in case you miss one.