Stephen L. Harris > Quotes

“In general, Matthew, Mark, and Luke—unlike John—follow the same order of events in narrating Jesus’ public ministry: All three begin with his baptism in the Jordan River, followed by descriptions of his tours through the villages of rural Galilee, where he heals the sick, expels demons, teaches the crowds, and debates issues of Torah observance with opponents. In all three, Jesus makes only one trip to Jerusalem (John reports many visits there), where he is arrested, condemned, and crucified. Because they present Jesus’ story from essentially the same viewpoint, they are called the Synoptic Gospels: They can be “seen together” and the contents compared.”
― Stephen L. Harris, The New Testament: A Student's Introduction

“This phenomenon of religious ecstasy, in which 274 believers emit an outpouring of strange sounds (called glossolalia), came to characterize the early church and was generally regarded as a sign of God’s presence (11: 14–18; cf.”
― Stephen L. Harris, The New Testament: A Student's Introduction

“Some New Testament writers, such as the author of Hebrews, used Platonic concepts to illustrate parallels and correspondences between the spiritual and physical worlds (Heb. 1: 1–4; 9: 1–14). The book’s famous definition of Christian faith is primarily a confession of Platonic belief in the reality of the invisible realm (Heb. 11: 1–2).”
― Stephen L. Harris, The New Testament: A Student's Introduction

“Dionysus of Thebes and Jesus of Nazareth Whereas Asclepius’s compassionate nature and benevolent works anticipate aspects of Jesus’ ministry, the myth of Dionysus foreshadows some later Christian theological interpretations of Jesus’ cosmic role (see Figure 4.5). Although Jesus is a historical figure and Dionysus purely mythical, Dionysus’s story contains events and themes, such as his divine parentage, violent death, descent into the Underworld, and subsequent resurrection to immortal life in heaven, where he sits near his father’s throne, that Christians ultimately made part of Jesus’ story (see Box 4.2).”
― Stephen L. Harris, The New Testament: A Student's Introduction

“During the first century after Jesus’ death, his followers interpreted his cosmic role—his posthumous descent into the Underworld, his ascent to heaven, and his invisible reign as universal king—in terms that echoed some ancient traditions about Greco-Roman gods and heroes.”
― Stephen L. Harris, The New Testament: A Student's Introduction

“In an ironic counterpoint to God’s voice, Mark next uses the speech of a demon to reveal Jesus’ hidden identity. When driven from a man he has possessed, the demon angrily declares: “I know who you are—the Holy One of God” (1: 25). Whereas Mark’s human characters fail to recognize Jesus’ true nature until after his death, supernatural entities, including “unclean spirits,” know and fear him. In a typically Markan paradox, human opponents accuse Jesus of being an agent of Beelzebub, “the prince of demons”—allegedly the source of his supernatural power—while the demons themselves testify that Jesus is “the Son of God” (3: 11, 22–28). Mark draws further on the questionable testimony of evil spirits when describing the Gerasene demoniac: The satanic “Legion” boldly announces that Jesus is “son of the Most High God” (5: 1–13).”
― Stephen L. Harris, The New Testament: A Student's Introduction

“Mark’s allusion to Jesus’ “brothers” and “sisters” (see also Matt. 13: 54–56) may disturb some readers. Because his Gospel does not include a tradition of Jesus’ virginal conception or birth, the existence of siblings may not have been an issue with the Markan community (as it apparently was not for the Pauline churches; none of Paul’s letters allude to a virgin birth).”
― Stephen L. Harris, The New Testament: A Student's Introduction

“Throughout this section of Acts, Luke repeatedly refers to Jesus as a “servant” (3: 13, 26; 4: 27, 30), the only New Testament writer to do so (cf. Luke 22: 26–27).”
― Stephen L. Harris, The New Testament: A Student's Introduction

“Mark’s report that Jesus’ “mother and his brothers” attempted to interfere with Jesus’ ministry (3: 21, 31–35) is consistent with the New Testament tradition that none of Jesus’ family members followed him until after his resurrection.”
― Stephen L. Harris, The New Testament: A Student's Introduction

“Matthew, however, explicitly affirms that Jesus was virginally conceived (Matt. 1: 18–25), and Luke strongly implies it (Luke 1: 26–38). Some Protestant Christians believe that, following Jesus’ delivery, his mother may have borne other children in the ordinary way. According to Roman Catholic doctrine, however, Mary remains perpetually virgin. Jesus’ “brothers” (translating the Greek adelphoi) are to be understood as close male relatives, perhaps cousins or stepbrothers (sons of Mary’s husband, Joseph, by a previous marriage). (An apocryphal infancy Gospel, the Protevangelium of James, which probably dates from the second century CE, depicts James as Jesus’ older stepbrother and Mary as eternally virgin; see Chapter 20.)”
― Stephen L. Harris, The New Testament: A Student's Introduction

“The most dramatic event is the encounter of Saul (Paul) with the risen Lord on the road to Damascus. The author regards Paul’s experience as crucial and gives no fewer than three separate accounts of the incident (9: 3–8; 22: 6–11; 26: 12–19). Luke clothes the event in supernatural images—a blinding light and heavenly voice—although Paul’s only surviving reports of what happened are much more subdued (cf. Gal. 1: 12, 15–16; 1 Cor. 15: 8–9).”
― Stephen L. Harris, The New Testament: A Student's Introduction

“Given Luke’s policy of depicting Paul as an obedient churchman, willingly subject to apostolic decrees, it is not surprising that Acts’ portrayal of the Jerusalem conference contrasts markedly with Paul’s eyewitness report (Gal. 2: 1–10). Whereas Acts shows the Gentile–Torah issue peacefully and unanimously settled, Paul declares that “not for one moment” did he compromise his position that Gentile Christians should live absolutely free of Torah “bondage.” According to Galatians, Paul accepted no restrictions, whereas Acts states that he unhesitatingly agreed to James’s four Torah prohibitions. In addition, Paul reveals an attitude toward eating meat sacrificed to Greco-Roman gods that differs from that ascribed to him in Acts (1 Cor. 8: 8; 10: 27).”
― Stephen L. Harris, The New Testament: A Student's Introduction

“Three major forces largely shaped the world in which Christianity was born and developed: the Scriptures and traditions of Judaism, the culture of Greece, and the political power of Rome.”
― Stephen L. Harris, The New Testament: A Student's Introduction

“Only a few deities associated with the Olympian cult apparently offered a satisfying personal relationship with their worshipers. Two of the most accessible figures were Asclepius and Dionysus, both of whom were born mortal and underwent suffering and death before achieving immortality, experiences that allowed them to bridge the gulf between humanity and divinity.”
― Stephen L. Harris, The New Testament: A Student's Introduction

“Mark’s view that the resurrected Jesus will not be found near his burial site—Jerusalem—contrasts with the Lukan tradition that Jesus instructed his followers to remain in Jerusalem awaiting the Holy Spirit (Luke 24: 47–53; Acts 1–2). Whereas Luke makes Jerusalem the center of Christian growth and expansion, the Spirit-empowered parent church led by Peter and James, Jesus’ “brother” (Acts 1: 4–3: 34; 15: 13–21; 21: 16), Mark paints it as a hotbed of conniving hypocrites who scheme to murder the Son of God.”
― Stephen L. Harris, The New Testament: A Student's Introduction

“In the thought world Mark creates, the apocalyptic Son of Man who is about to appear in glory (13: 24–31) is the same as the Son of Man who came forty years earlier to die on the cross (8: 31, 38; 9: 9–13, 31).”
― Stephen L. Harris, The New Testament: A Student's Introduction

“Lieutenant Paul T. Funkhouser from Evansville, Indiana, a twenty-three-year-old lawyer yet to practice his trade, led the way aboard his motorcycle. He kept riding back and forth to let the drivers know where to go, and then dashing off to the head of the column.”
― Stephen L. Harris, Rock of the Marne: The American Soldiers Who Turned the Tide Against the Kaiser in World War I

“the Gospel writers compiled not necessarily what Jesus exactly said or did, but what the believing community collectively understood to be the tenor of his actions and sayings.”
― Stephen L. Harris, The New Testament: A Student's Introduction

“The child is born to a virgin made pregnant by the Holy Spirit (1: 18–19). To the author, this fulfills a passage from Isaiah 7: 14, which in Hebrew states that “a young woman is with child, and she will bear a son.” Matthew, however, quotes not the original Hebrew-language version of the text, but an Old Greek translation in which “young woman” is rendered as parthenos, or “virgin.” Historians believe that Isaiah’s words originally referred to the birth of an heir to the then-reigning Davidic king, but Matthew sees them as forecasting the Messiah’s unique manner of birth.”
― Stephen L. Harris, The New Testament: A Student's Introduction

“Luke sometimes rearranges the sequence of individual incidents to emphasize his particular themes. Whereas Mark placed Jesus’ rejection at Nazareth midway through the Galilean campaign, Luke sets it at the beginning (4: 16–30). Adding that the Nazarenes attempted to kill Jesus to Mark’s account, he uses the incident to foreshadow his subject’s later death in Jerusalem (see Box 9.1).”
― Stephen L. Harris, The New Testament: A Student's Introduction

“The term that many English-language Bibles translate as “hell” is Gehenna (gē hinnōm) (Matt. 5: 22, 29–30; 10: 28; 23: 15, 33), which originally referred not to a place of posthumous torment but to a specific geographical location, a ravine near Jerusalem. A valley bordering Israel’s capital city on the southwest, Gehenna was named for the “sons of Hinnom (gē ben( e) hinnōm),” the biblical designation of an ancient Canaanite group that occupied the site before King David captured it about 1000 BCE. Gehenna had an evil reputation as the place where humans were sacrificed and burned as offerings to false gods, a practice that Israelite prophets vehemently condemned (Jer. 7: 31; 19: 11; 32: 35; cf. 2 Kings 23: 10; 2 Chron. 28: 3; 33: 5).”
― Stephen L. Harris, The New Testament: A Student's Introduction

“To make Jesus’ action precisely fit his concept of the prophecy, Matthew has Jesus mount not one but two animals simultaneously, “the donkey and her foal,” for his triumphant ride into Jerusalem (21: 1–11).”
― Stephen L. Harris, The New Testament: A Student's Introduction

“The first convert is Simon Magus, a notorious magician who later tries to buy Peter’s gift of imparting the Holy Spirit, an attempt the apostle severely rebukes (8: 4–24). In legends that developed after New Testament times, Simon became a sinister figure involved in black magic and the occult. According to some historians, he is the prototype of Faust, the medieval scholar who—to gain forbidden knowledge—sells his soul to the devil.”
― Stephen L. Harris, The New Testament: A Student's Introduction

“Psalm of Solomon 17 is the first known work of Jewish literature to use the terms son of David and Lord Messiah (Christ), distinctive titles that New Testament writers apply to Jesus. Although Psalm of Solomon 17 sees the Messiah as sinless and powerful, he is clearly a human rather than a supernatural figure, God’s agent but not a divine being. His promised activities include gathering together “a holy people” who will be “children of their God,” cleansing Jerusalem (presumably including its Temple), and ruling compassionately over the Gentiles. Although a Davidic heir, this “Lord Messiah” achieves his dominion without military conquest because he is “powerful in the holy spirit” and strengthened by “wisdom and understanding.” This vision of a peaceful Messiah subduing opponents through “the word of his mouth [his teaching]” is much closer to that adopted by the Gospel authors than the traditional expectation of a warrior-king like the historical David (see Box 3.3).”
― Stephen L. Harris, The New Testament: A Student's Introduction

“As we study the Evangelists’ accounts of Jesus’ life and death, we discover that their main goal is to persuade readers of Jesus’ supreme importance to all humankind and to win their allegiance to a king infinitely superior to any earthly ruler.”
― Stephen L. Harris, The New Testament: A Student's Introduction

“In presenting their stories of Jesus, the Gospel writers offer a powerful alternative to the Roman system, with its succession of “divine” emperors flatteringly hailed as world rulers and “saviors.” For the Evangelists, Jesus is the rightful king that Roman monarchs could only pretend to be, imperial propaganda notwithstanding. Pontius Pilate, representing Rome, had executed Jesus as “King of the Jews” (Matt. 27: 11, 37), but God had raised him to immortal life and made him ruler over the entire cosmos.”
― Stephen L. Harris, The New Testament: A Student's Introduction

“Jesus—nailed to the cross—appears powerless and defeated (15: 29–30). As Mark so darkly paints it, the scene is a tragic paradox: Despite the seeming triumph of religious and political forces allied against him, Jesus is neither guilty nor a failure. The failure lies in humanity’s collective inability to recognize the sufferer’s inestimable value, to see in him God’s hand at work.”
― Stephen L. Harris, The New Testament: A Student's Introduction

“To emphasize the spiritual blindness of Jesus’ tormenters, Mark states that a midday darkness envelops the earth (15: 33).”
― Stephen L. Harris, The New Testament: A Student's Introduction

“The word itself, not found in the Bible, commemorates Hel, the fierce Norse goddess who reigned over the netherworld.”
― Stephen L. Harris, The New Testament: A Student's Introduction

“New Testament readers are frequently disappointed to find that the Christian Scriptures say little about the nature of the soul or its survival in an afterlife. Instead, church authorities base most of their teachings about the soul on Greek philosophy, particularly on the teachings of Socrates and Plato.”
― Stephen L. Harris, The New Testament: A Student's Introduction