Agenda:
New Testament
    birth narratives

Tuesday
    Quiz-check syllabus
    Mary Magdelene- make sure to go to the gospel of Mary link
    Anzaldua
Continue work on research paper. Paper version is due October 25th.

*Gnostic- comes from the term gnosis which means knowledge. The gnostics were a particular sect of people who believed that we were eternally engaged in a battle of good versus evil- had a vision of dualism. They thought everyone was a spark of light, a soul, and that Jesus was sent to gather up the light and take it away from evil.

Intro to Unit 5:New Testament

     When Rome officially claimed Christianity as THE only legal religion and settles its doctrine. The followers of Christ originally thought that Jesus was returning right away. After the end of the century came around they started to realize that maybe they should develop a canon for use in teaching the word of God. The stories we are reading, for this unit, are the writings that were seen to have the most authority when it was time to canonize the teachings of God. It is important to note that no one really knows who wrote these stories, most are just attributed to people.

Birth Narratives:

  We read Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John. Mark has no interest in the story of Jesus' birth, and Mary is hardly mentioned as anyone special. Matthew is interested in the way Jesus connects with the Old Testament. He links Jesus to Abraham and David through Joseph- so now Jesus has a father. Mary still plays no important role, Jesus gets his lineage through his father. Luke has a more developed birth narrative. Luke has a lot of important women in his writings, in this particular one we are told in detail how Mary is impregnated. John has  kind of a *Gnostic way of viewing this story. He goes all the way back to the beginning of time.

    The later we get in tradition, the farther back in time the writings go to explain Jesus. All the stories get mooshed into one and eventually, around the twelfth century, Mary becomes a more important figure. The Cult of the Virgin is formed.