Understanding the New Testament

By: The Great Courses

Narrated by: Professor David Brakke

Length: 12 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

The New Testament is a fascinating book - the canonical root of Christian history and theology. Yet the book is also a paradox, because this single “book” is comprised of 27 different books by more than a dozen authors, each of whom has a different perspective and is responding to a different set of historical circumstances. How do you reconcile this diversity of voices into a single, unified belief system? And should you even try?

For a historian, the diversity of authors is not a challenge to be reckoned with, but rather an exciting opportunity. In the New Testament, we have 27 primary sources that offer a doorway to the extraordinary history of the early Christian communities. In these books, you can discover how:

• Christian practices developed;
• Conflicts of belief were debated and addressed;
• The institution of the Church evolved; and
• A man named Jesus of Nazareth was transformed into the Messiah.

Join Professor David Brakke, an award-winning Professor of History at The Ohio State University, for Understanding the New Testament. In these 24 eye-opening lectures, he takes you behind the scenes to study not only the text of the New Testament, but also the authors and the world in which it was created. You will explore Jewish lives under Roman occupation, reflect on the apocalyptic mood of the first and second centuries AD, witness the early Christians’ evangelism beyond the Jewish communities, and witness the birth of a faith that continues to shape our world today.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2019 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2019 The Great Courses

The Best GC Overview of the NT

Professor Brakke is a wonderful lecturer, with a soothing cadence and consistent delivery. His lectures follow a clear path and are rich with insight. While I’ve listened to pretty much all of Professor Ehrman’s lectures - I prefer Brakke. If you’re doing a Great Courses dive on Christian history, highly recommend.

introduction to critical/historical secular view

there are some areas where he makes the bible look contradictory where other biblical scholars have resolutions...

overall interesting book, highly recommend.

This book gives context of what was said and how target audiences and languages need to be taken into consideration.
Paul is a menace but can take criticism though.
Interesting to view the NT as unfolding over time, reacting to things, rather than a static text.
Mark writes during war time. he uses "Messianic Secret" Jesus was divine but never told anyone. compare to EVERY other apostle who never said it was a "secret"
PARABOLES!!!!! Apostles often used as caricature, not seeing divinity, needing constant re-explaining, regular doubt, etc.
Luke's main source is Mark, but apostles are not dumb, but info was hidden (by god?) until big J died at which point he came back and explained. Mark = apostles are dumb, Luke =apostles are shielded from info.

OG gospel ends with apostilles not learning, and women at cave ordered to spread good news, but they never do. Later additions retcon because " We know the Goodnews now therefore they must have learned / spoken.

Gospel according to John (written from perspective of "beloved disciple" who is unknown) might not be about/by John.

First human to call Jesus son-of-god was a Roman Centurion at the crucifixion.
Hating on figs is an analogy of money changers in temple.

Anachronism is rife: Blind man is expelled from synagogue which was not a thing during Jesus' lifetime but a major issue at time of writing of Gospel according to John.
John: Hard dichotomy follower of Jesus or follower of Moses (non-Christian Jews). Compare to Matthew who has Jesus as 2nd Moses and sees no conflict.

Jesus is quite different in dif. books. Mathew and Mark give different narratives regarding J stating if he was son of god (I am vs. You say I am)
All gospels agree J is son of god, why conflict in J statements? interesting.
Lends credence to authenticity of quotes.

Jesus is either descendant of Abraham or predated Abraham. Paul spent a lot of time rewriting Abraham to let gentiles remain uncircumcised.

Typology - everything in Old Test is alluding to New Test. (Supersessionism is extreme version which says Old Test no longer required). Book of Hebrews uses a lot of typology (note Letters to Hebrews is not a letter nor to Hebrews).

Book of James (author is not brother of Christ but might be purposely ambiguous to claim authority). Faith without Works is dead.
James Faith = belief, Work = good deeds
Paul Faith = TRUST in god, Work = Jewish law (circumcision, Kosher, etc)
Scholars believe James is commenting on Paul, but James is likely misunderstanding Paul. Commonly seen as contradictions in later history. see Martin Luthur.

To avoid unnecessary persecution "Accept the authority of"; masters, husbands, the emperor.

Book of Jude (Judas but not Iscariot) brother of James (unspecified James) author not brother of Baptist but likely wants people to think that.
Main use of Jude is to rebuke other Christians, example 2nd Peter quotes Jude

Timothy has requirements for bishops / priests / deacons and promotes patriarchy. Timothy wants silent women, but Paul has women below men but allows them to have a voice.

Revelation to John (not apostle John and author makes this clear). John was persecuted by government for his faith
Roman citizens had to sacrifice, particularly to Dea Roma and the genius of emperor. Jews were exempt but when Christians no longer considered Jews they had to sacrifice.
If Christians refused, they could be punished, up to and including death, making them a martyr.
Revelations echos Daniel (Old Testament), but a lot of strange images that are not explained opening them up to interpretation.
Lots of juxtaposition and paradox, feeling of chaos but also clearly ordered by god (precise numbers and frequent use of 7 which echos wholeness).

Paul recommends not eating meat sacrificed to idols, revelations says it is a SIN! Jezebel a prophetess says its okay to eat the meat.
144,000 male virgins will be saved (metaphor not literal) juxtaposed by jezebel fornicators (fornication is eating meat sacrificed to idols).

Historically Bible read piecemeal, so contradictions and conflicts rarely noticed, or if noticed many readers assumed that they themselves did not fully understand.
Bishop Irenaeus promoted reading whole bible to understand diversity in gospels. However, he condemned heretics who exploited the difference in bible. Irenaeus teaches the rule of truth, which is the truth taught by disciples and has been handed down via the church. Irenaeus' rule of truth is predecessor to Nicaean Creed. Rule of Truth is the bridge that connects diversity within New Test as well as Old Test.

The Diatessaron is the most prominent early gospel harmony combines the four gospels into a single coherent narrative. contrast this with allegorical interpretation, differences are for education, not contradictions.

Martin Luthur - Canon within the Canon. All bible sacred but certain parts more correct. e.g. if James contradicts Paul, Paul is correct.
Cannon within cannon usually are ideas rather than whole books, e.g. ignore parts that contradict preconceptions.
Krister Stendahl proposes a more nuanced approach, different passages are appropriate for specific issues. e.g. Emperor appointed by god, but Rome is satanic. both are correct but at different times.

Familiar but Worthwhile

It’s tempting to complain that the material in this lecture series is already available in Bart Ehrman’s many courses for The Teaching Company, but Professor Brakke is such a genial and accomplished instructor that I found myself admiring his rehearsal of familiar New Testament historical criticism anyway. Believers may prefer Brakke’s less threatening take on the perspective, methods and findings of this particular brand of biblical scholarship, while skeptics will have their doubts confirmed by the many questions that are raised. To summarize: Brakke does a fine job explaining how Christianity emerged from a Jewish apocalyptic tradition and then evolved into the faith we know today when the end times failed to arrive – an evolution he traces through a close, critical reading of the books of the New Testament.

Highly Informative and worth your time.

Very interesting to hear how the New Testament could have possibly been assembled. I never felt like I was being pushed to the right or left of a topic. Just informed to make up my own mind.

Brakke (PhD) offers well-rounded New Testament 101

I read a review that seemed to dislike Brakke's personal views, which he sometimes offers as a matter of his own expert opinion, but what I appreciated was that he offers the spectrum of views Christians have taken about their beloved New Testament from the time it was written to now. As a part-time/amateur Bible scholar I felt like I was in the lecture hall, eager to hear the next lecture as soon as the first was completed. I have more questions for Professor Brakke than I have answers from his comprehensive introductory presentation of the historical background, interpretations, and summaries of the New Testament. I would recommend this lecture series to anyone who wanted to take a step into the critical scholarism of the New Testament as well as for anyone who wants a solid overview of New Testament books. I appreciate that Professor Brakke does not tell the listener what to think. His summaries of the books and topics have depth but don't bog you down with too many details. We are offered a guide through the text, but also avenues of inquiry and study to pursue on our own. I was digging into questions I had as I would pause between listening, on my own time. I hope others enjoy this lecture series and that it spurs them on to their own research and investigation of the New Testament text.

Excellent

A very clear and understandable walk through the New Testament that helped me understand the history of it all. Fabulous.

for the alienated

As a millennial in North America, I grew up understanding Christianity as a political movement that always seemed to be on the side of intolerance, arrogance, and a presumptive wickedness willing to connive and manipulate like narcissistic infants, if unable to achieve their agendas by straightforward rhetoric (which was often). In short, by my early 20s I associated “Christianity” with American classism, hate, hysteria, and serpentine machinations that cloaked base unexamined and unchecked disgust, as religious freedom, presented, for instance, as pretending that human rights were topics of genuine democratic debate , in the same category as tax policy, zoning laws, and whether to close dramshops before 2 am.

Baptized and confirmed, I had accompanied one of my parents to Catholic Church in my youth. However, for the above reasons, I drifted toward indifferent agnosticism. And when post personal tragedy, I began to revisit the Catholic faith of my heritage, I was ashamed and kept it a secret.

It was personal examination of the faith, of the source material, and of interpretations presented by scholars and laypeople alike, throughout centuries, who approached faith and God as mystery and saw faith as a path that fulfilled and satiated through the act of exploration, even if the so called “end” might never be achieved, and through this the realization that sedition and dissent is as deeply woven into the diverse patchwork of this world religion’s history, as are the repeated attempts to harness its tenants for conformity, earthly status, and power.

The professor’s approach in this course, is the type of work that has helped me access the comfort, willpower, and inspiration that spirituality provides. The teacher does not provide answers, and his opinions (which he always announces as opinions), are regarding his current best guesses regarding historical events, over which there is a fair amount of current academic debate.

If you believe, or want to explore the possibility, that for a brief moment in our history, the Word manifested, “the Word became man”, consider this book/audiobook, the professor presents well sourced (as well sourced as possible) biographies of the authors of each section, their historical contexts, clear and possible contradictions, all for the student to absorb and then deduct meaning for themselves.

I would say that, for those looking for very specific instructions to survive and be acceptable, and to understand oneself primarily through comparison to others, than other reading choices would likely be preferable.

Great lectures, but a bad place to start

These lectures are highly informative and interesting, but the way that they are presented will make the topic very difficult to understand for newcomers. To me, the word "Understanding" in the title should imply a more beginner-friendly lecture, as it did in the previous "Understanding the Old Testament" course by The Great Courses, which I could easily follow despite having never read the text previously.

This course is presented almost in reverse chronological order -- it opens by recounting the events of the old testament, then skips straight to Paul's letters, which can be difficult to understand if you are not familiar with the Gospels. Also, the narrator skips around between books and never seems to use the book:chapter:verse format to refer to what he is talking about in the text. So, if you're trying to follow along with a Bible and highlighter in front of you, it may be difficult to take notes.

Overall, this course still gets 4 stars because my only complaint is that the title may be misleading to some listeners. If you are new to Christian scripture and history, I would recommend listening to the earlier Great Courses lecture series from 2013 simply titled "The New Testament" before this.

Great summary of New Testament development

Professor Brakke reviews the development of the New Testament beginning with Saint Paul’s letters, the earliest of the 27 books of the New Testament. Brakke presents a historian’s perspective of scripture supported by nearly 6,000 manuscripts or manuscript fragments from the first century through current Bibles. We learn that not all books were written by the purported authors, and some copiers of early versions made changes as they made copies.

As Professor Brakke notes, most biblical historians study the Bible to understand the context in which the books were written, and are Christians themselves. Readers who are convinced the Bible should be taken literally, will probably discount the evidence presented here.