Philosophy and Religion 337

Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha

Spring, 2009 - Wednesday 6:30-9:15 - Bear 261

Working Syllabus
(Watch for Continuous Updates)

Instructor:

Dr. George T. Zervos
Office: Bear Hall, Room 270
Office Hours: Wed. 4:00-5:00 pm
E-mail: zervosg@uncw.edu

Textbook: None Required

Attendance:  Required

Roll will be taken consistently to enhance personal interaction between the instructor and the students and to reward students with excellent attendance (No more than two absences for the semester). More than two absences for the semester will have an incrementally detrimental effect on final grades. Students who come to class late will NOT be counted as present.

 Grading: Ten Point Grading System - Plus and Minus Will Be Applied

50% - Examination
50% - Presentation

NOTE: The Instructor reserves the right to Add or Deduct up to 10 points from individual students' final grades at his discretion based on his perception of their Class Performance and Academic Attitude.

***The purpose of this course is to examine the Judeo-Christian apocryphal and pseudepigraphical literature from the Academic-Scientific-Historical-Critical Perspective. Students are expected to approach this subject with an unbiased and non-confessional attitude. Students will be required to learn the scholarly viewpoints presented in the course, but not necessarily to accept them as their own. This course will have a Lecture/Discussion format. Students will be expected to have read the assigned materials before class as preparation for the issues to be discussed that day. Certain issues will be debated formally and more extensively in class as per the Syllabus.

Select Old Testament Pseudepigrapha

Select New Testament Pseudepigrapha

The Bible Gateway: All You Really Need?

The Two Links below are Your Gateway
to the Ancient Jewish and Christian Religious Literature

Consider the Issues of Canon (OT) and Text

The Aleppo Codex - The Leningrad Codex - Codex Sinaiticus

Try to consider this issue through the eyes of the early Judeo-Christians
for whom there existed no distinction between these two groups of documents.
The division is later and artificial.

Canonical Documents
(The Bible Gateway: the "Official" Bible)

Non-Canonical Documents
(Apocrypha & Pseudepigrapha)

The Most Important Word in Biblical Study

Pseudepigrapha

sue-duh-PIG-rough-uh

Y E U D E P I G R A F A

The Online Critical Pseudepigrapha

Major Themes of this Course:

1. Canonical and Non-Canonical Documents in Judaism and Christianity
 2. The Historical Framework: Judeo-Christianity in the Ancient World
3. Power Struggles:

1. Judaism vs. Christianity
2. Judaism vs. Judaism:
        Priests, Kings, Procurators, Jewish Sects
3. Christianity vs. Christianity:
        Jesus’ Apostles vs. Jesus’ Family vs. Paul
        Prophets, Bishops, Christian Sects

 4. Mary and the Conception, Birth, and Infancy of Jesus:

1. Before 70 CE
2. Matthew and Luke
3. The Protevangelium of James
4. The Ascension of Isaiah
5. Infancy Gospels
6. Church Tradition
7. Women in Christianity            

Weekly Assignments:
Read through the online materials for each week
and be prepared to discuss their implications in class.

Term Assignment:
Choose a Topic to Research and Present to the Class.
This can be done either during the course of the semester when your topic is covered in class,
or at the end of the semester on one of the days designated for research presentations.
Examples of Past Research Projects:

Mark/Matthew/Luke/John
Paul and Pseudo-Paul
Origins of Christmas
Pseudo-Messianic Prophecies
The Sybilline Oracles
Ezekiel 38-39 - Gog and Magog
Satan in the OT and NT
The Illegitimacy of Jesus
John the Baptist
Jesus' Family Values
Jesus as Apocalyptic Prophet


Jan 7 – Feb 18 - Select Old Testament Pseudepigrapha

Jan 7: Introduction to the Course - Definition of Terms

Jan 14: The Historical Framework - EarlyJewishWritings - Bible Texts

Serious Implications of the Pseudepigrapha Problem
Historical Reality vs. Religious Doctrine
(CNN - MSNBC) vs. CBN (Current Events) (Hagee - Christian Zionism)
    War in the Middle East: Kill 'em all!

Historical Maps

Inerrancy of the Bible?

Church Fathers - Dei Verbum (ch. III) - Chicago Statement - Assemblies of God

Minimalists vs. Maximalists - Note
 Israel Finkelstein: Haaretz: Grounds for Disbelief - PBS: Interview
Zeev Herzog: Haaretz: Deconstructing Jericho
 Thomas Thompson: Israel and the History of Palestine
Philip Davies: Minimalism, "Ancient Israel," and Anti-Semitism
                            Final Comments on Minimalism
William Dever (Leading Maximalist)

In 1997, the biblical archeologist William Dever remarked to the two leading minimalists, Thomas Thompson and Niels Peter Lemche, in a round-table discussion sponsored by the Biblical Archeology Review:

“If you guys think I or the Israeli archeologists are looking for the Israelite conquest [of Canaan] archeologically, you're wrong. We've given that up. We've given up the patriarchs. That's a dead issue. But the rise of the Israelite state [of David and Solomon] is not .... I agree that there is no connected history in [the Book of] Joshua, but maybe we should look at the Book of Judges. That fits a lot better with the facts on the ground as we now know them.”

Review of "Who were the Early Israelites and Where did they Come From?"

Thomas Thompson's Response to Dever's Book

The TaNaKh

Jewish Publication Society - Judaica Press - Tanakh.org

Jan 21: Torah Rival Pentateuchs - Moses vs. Enoch  

EarlyJewishWritings - The Bible Gateway - Bible Texts

Moses: Ramses II
Creation Stories - Genesis 3 - Bible Women - Tertullian - Biblical Flood Story
The Golden Calf - The Name of God - Myths of Ugarit - YHWH Helios 2
The Conquest of Canaan: "Kill 'em all; let God sort 'em out."

Documentary Hypothesis

Enoch:  Introduction - Charles Translation - Jude 14 - Hebrews 11
The Son of Man in Enoch - The Enoch Scroll  - Fallen Angels Teaching
Alien Resistance

  Deuteronomistic History - Josiah the Messiah

When asked what he considered to be the First and Greatest Commandment in the Torah,
Jesus ignored the Ten Commandments and quoted instead from the Book of Deuteronomy. But there is considerable confusion among the gospels as to what he actually said:

Jesus and the Shema

Jan 28/Feb 4: Neviim - Pseudo-Prophets - Deutero-Isaiah & Deutero-Zechariah

EarlyJewishWritings - Jewish Publication Society - Judaica Press - Tanakh.org

Yeshaya Who? Isaiah & Deutero-Isaiah - Historical Background
The Suffering Servant: Jesus or Israel? - The Great Isaiah Scroll
Jews for Jesus - Jews for Judaism - United Hebrew Congregations
Compounding Pseudepigraphy: Citing "Paul's" Hebrews

Zechariah Two Too? Zechariah & Deutero-Zechariah
Whence The Prince of Peace?

The Bottom Line:  The fact that Jesus was arrested, tried, condemned, beaten, humiliated, and finally crucified unto death disqualified him from being the Messiah according to contemporary Jewish expectations of what their Messiah was supposed to be and do. The Messiah was supposed to win, not lose, and certainly not be crucified as a criminal in a disgraceful public execution. Thus, in order to legitimize their claim that Jesus was the Messiah, Christians scoured the Old Testament to find prophecies that supported the reality of Jesus' life and death, prophecies that had never been interpreted in this way before, and many of which--including those of Deutero-Isaiah and Deutero-Zechariah above--were, in the final analysis, only Pseudepigraphical to begin with.

The Messiah Concept:

Jewish Encyclopedia

Livius.org

Justin Martyr and subsequent Apologists

Who were the ["Fathers of the Church"? NewAdvent - CCEL (index - supplement) - ICL - ECW - PIE]

"When you hear the words of the prophets, spoken as it were personally, do not imagine that they are spoken by the inspired persons themselves. It is the Divine Word who moves them….The Holy Prophetic Spirit taught us this when he informed us through Moses that God spoke as follows to the first created man: 'Behold, before your face, the good and the evil. Choose the good' " [Deut. 30:15, 19] (First Apology 36, 43 [inter AD. 148-155]).

"Why should we believe a crucified man, that he is the firstborn of the unbegotten God, and that he will pass judgment on the whole human race, if we had not found testimonies published about him [in Scripture] before he came and was made man, and if we had not seen these predictions fulfilled?...These words [of the prophets], then, have become the proof that Jesus Christ is the Son and Apostle of God, being of old the Word..." (Ibid. 53, 61).
 

***Be Thinking about your Research Project
      Dates for Research Presentations are Voluntary up to Mar 4,
        On Mar 4 Presentation Dates will be Assigned to Students

Feb 11/18: Khetuvim - Daniel the Prophet?  Overview of Daniel

Compare the Place of Daniel in the Jewish and Christian Canons

Jewish: Jewish Publication Society - Judaica Press - Tanakh.org

Christian: Greek/NETS - Catholic/New American Bible - Protestant/Bible Online

The Rise of Apocalyptic - EarlyJewishWritings

BU Center for Millenial Studies - Links to Millenial Sites - Jack van Impe Ministries

 The Historical Context: Cultural Warfare - Judaism vs. Hellenism

Apocalyptic was an extension of late Jewish prophecy heavily influenced by ancient Near Eastern Culture and Religion. But it came into being specifically as a resistance to the Hellenization of Judean society after the conquests of Alexander the Great.

Apocalyptic as "Higher Wisdom by Revelation"
    necessitates the suppression of:

  • Greek Rationalism
  • Religious Skepticism
  • Hellenistic Cosmopolitanism
  • Cultural Optimism

Alexander the Great - Map - Yavan in the House of Shem - Attalus.org

The Second Century BCE - Year by Year - Greco-Roman Writers Online

After his Conquest of the East, the Empire of Alexander the Great broke apart into four smaller kingdoms ruled by Alexander's former generals. Israel became a battleground between the Greek Seleucid Empire to the North in Syria and the Greek Ptolemaic Empire to the South in Egypt. In 200 B.C.E. Antiochus III (the Great)  wrested Palestine away from Ptolemaic Egypt.

Hellenistic Culture (a blend of Greek Culture and various local Oriental Cultures within Alexander's empire) spread throughout the Middle East including Israel. Israel became increasingly polarized between those Jews who adopted this new "Western" Culture and those who adhered to their ancestral customs and religion. This strife came to a head in 167 BCE, when war broke out between the Hellenized Jews, who were supported by their Greek Seleucid overlords, and conservative Judaizing Jews led by the Maccabees, who sought support from the rising Roman Empire. 2 Maccabees, is the "authorized version" of the story, based on an original history written by Jason of Cyrene. 1 Maccabees was also written from the Maccabean point of view. Greek influence on Israel continues.

NETS 1 Maccabees - History by Koester - Into His Own

They Built a Gymnasium - Temple of Olympian Zeus - Babylonian King List

Seleucid King Antiochus IV Epiphanes

http://people.uncw.edu/zervosg/Pr336\PAR336 Apocalypse.htm

Livy on Antiochus IV Epiphanes 

Jewish Virtual Library

Jewish Encyclopedia

Catholic Encyclopedia

Mel and the Maccabees

Deja vu? Josephus Wars of the Jews, ch. 1

A rapidly expanding Western Empire with political and economic interests in the Middle East becomes involved in the war between a Syro-Mesopotamian Kingdom and Israel. Israel enters into a defensive alliance with the Empire, which at first helps Israel defend itself against its enemies but soon absorbs Israel into its Empire and eventually destroys it. Sound Familiar?

Eschatology - End-time Prophecies in Daniel (Cf. ApDan)

Ex Eventu Prophecy - Porphyry (B) - Porphyry on Daniel
On Images - Against the Christians (B) - Boethius on Porphyry

The Faith Response: Spirit and Truth? (Daniel) - Hanukkah

Additional Links to Late Jewish Apocalyptic (not required)

The Essenes (2 - 3) - War Scroll - Hosea Pesher - "Killer" or "Killed" Messiah?
Chicago DSS Project - Coins - Copper Scroll - The Messianic Apocalypse

New Developments: Rachel Elior

Time - Haaretz -

Elior Responds to Critics

Elior Responds to Respondents

Free Thought/Rationalism Blog

***Be Thinking about your Research Project
      Dates for Research Presentations are Voluntary up to Mar 4,
        On Mar 4 Presentation Dates will be Assigned to Students
        Please E-Mail me your preference

 

Feb 25 - Mar 25 - Select New Testament Pseudepigrapha

Christianity "Inherits" Jewish Apocalyptic - The Rise of Rome

The Destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE Spawns Daniel Wannabees:

Diehard Post-70 Jewish Apocalyptic: Annette Reed

IV Ezra (2 Esdras; CCEL) KJV Text (Another Intro)

II Baruch - Text - Introduction - Structure - OCP - ABD

  • Ch. 35-38 Vision

  • Ch. 39-40 Interpretation of Vision

Sibylline Oracles - III-V

Revelation - The Apocalypse of John Who?

Paul, Deutero-Paul, and Pseudo-Paul - Catholic Archbishop - Cargills

The Authorship Problem of 1 and 2 Thessalonians - Paul and Thessalonica

Authenticity of 2 Thessalonians

Divergent Eschatologies 1 Thess 4:13-5:11 vs. 2 Thess 2:1-12

1. Certain signs seem to precede the Lord's return here, while none did in 1 Thessalonians

In 1 Thess 5:1-3 the Lord will appear suddenly, “like a thief in the night,” with no intervening events.

1 But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. 2 For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. 3 For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. 4 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief.

In 2 Thess 2:3 before the 2nd coming of Christ the man of lawlessness must appear

3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

2. Paul includes himself in the group of living saints who anticipate the Lord's return in the first letter, but does he do so in the second also?

In 1 Thess 4:15-17 Paul includes himself in "we who are still alive and remain until the coming of the Lord."

15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.

Cf. 2 Thess 2 - Who is the "man of sin" and what is restraining him?

1 Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, 2 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. 3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6 And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, 12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

***Mar 4: Research Project Topics and Dates Due

Mar 4: The Synoptic Problem

The Background: Jesus Seminar - Synoptic Gospels Primer - Q Project

The Synoptic Problem - Online Synopsis

Examples:

Jesus and John the Baptist as Apocalyptic Preachers

The Synoptic Apocalypse

John the Maverick Gospel - Seams

Thomas and Gnosticism - Whence Gnosticism?

Mar 18: The Problem of the Nativity of Jesus

The Canonical Nativity Stories (Who was Jesus' Father?)

Jesus ben Pantera?

Jesus a "family values" guy?

The Origins of "Christmas":

Cosmic Christmas - The Christian Churches of God - The Un-Christ-Mass Club

Church of Jehovah - Bible Tools.org

Another Primary Source for Jesus' Conception/Nativity

The Protevangelium of James - With Commentary

My Article: An Early Non-Canonical Annunciation Story

(English version - ProtJas X-XII English version)

My Article: Seeking the Source of the Marian Myth

The Ascension of Isaiah

Mar 25: Christianization of the Divine Feminine

My Articles: The Development of Mariology in Early Christianity

  Christmas with Salome - The Doubting Salome Story

  Did Matthew Invent the Virginity of Mary?

Almah or Bethel? The Great Isaiah Scroll

Septuagint Greek & English - Matt 1:23 Greek

Classical Christian Veneration of Mary:

Orthodox (see II. The Life Story of the All-Holy Virgin Mary)
                    Orthodox Services to the Most Holy Theotokos
                        Antiochian Orthodox

Eisodia November 21 Greek - English
                Kapnikarea - Panagia Gorgoepikoos - another

Catholic (see "More startling . . .")

Pagan Origins of the Christ Myth - Women Priests
Women's Life in Greece and Rome

Neo-Pagan Goddess Concepts

Apuleius' Metamorphoses
Initiation into the Mysteries of Isis
Isis, the Virgin of the World

Oct. 28-Nov. 3 - Halloween a Preparation for the Rites of Isis

From October 28 to November 1, the rites of Isis, the Isia, were celebrated at Rome.
These rites reenacted Isis's search for Osiris after his murder by his brother,
her discovery of his dismembered body, and her revival of his remains.

April 1 - April 22: Student Presentations

A Month Full of Goddesses - Aprilis

Week 12 - April 1 -

Anderson - God in Politics
Cole - Insertions in OT Prophets
Watson - Lilith
Goldstein - Early Church Tithing

Week 13 - April 8

Rodriguez - Pseudo-Prophets
Hendershot - Pseudo-Paul
Poole - Left Behind
Jernigan - YHWH and J

Week 14 - April 15

McNeeley - Third Temple
Rupert - Apocalyptic in DSS
Farrar - Gospel of Mary
Cook - Gospel of Thomas Canonical?
Whatley - Gospel of Thomas Anti-Apocalyptic?

Week 15 - April 22

Murphy - Women in Revelation
Fields - Jesus as Apocalyptic Prophet
Frank - Sibylline Oracles
DiGirolamo - Revelation 13
Robertson - Revelation 17

Final Examination: Due Wed. April 29 - 7-10 PM

Click on This Link to download the Exam

Please follow the instructions