BBL 2020 Understanding the New Testament: Home

Students will write a modest paper (2,000-2,500 words --not including title page or bibliography, but footnotes do count).

 DUE WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 4 BY 11:55 PM.

The paper will have the following

• 2,000-2,500 words (approx 8 pages of text)
• 12-point font, Times New Roman
• Doubled-spaced
• One-inch margins
• Title page with name and box number
• Use Turabian Style including Bibliography and Reference cited in footnotes
• Minimum of 10 Academic sources  - the textbook, the Bible, and the video[s] do not count towards this total

Upload final papers to Moodle in either Microsoft Word or PDF format (NOT PAGES FORMAT).

The rest of this guide will provide instruction and resources to assist you in this assignment.  Don't forget to take advantage of the research and writing helps provided to you.

You will be assigned one of the following topics:

• Bart Ehrman has mounted numerous attacks on the historical reliability of the Gospels. Watch the following videos where he summarizes his views:
  • Video 1
  • Video 2 
  • Video 3 
  • Video 4 
  • Video 5 

In Part 1 of the paper, you will summarize at least three arguments that Ehrman uses to claim that the canonical Gospels are not reliable. In Part 2 of the paper, you will respond to each of the arguments from Part 1. For both parts of the paper, you will support your statements, summaries, and arguments with research from academic sources.

• Bart Ehrman has argued at length that in the first two centuries of early Christianity there was such a wide diversity of views that there was really no such thing as orthodoxy. Watch this video interview with Ehrman for a summary of his views:
  • Lost Christianities

In Part 1 of the paper, summarize at least three arguments that Ehrman gives for widespread diversity in early Christianity and the evidence he uses to support his views. In Part 2 of the paper, you will respond to the arguments from Part 1. For both parts of the paper, you will support your statements, summaries, and arguments with research from academic sources.