Exercise 2.1: Finding the Questions
1.
In the space below, write the title of your tentative topic (e.g. Internet addiction)
The validity of Bible criticism
2.
Briefly state why you chose this topic.
Because I want to know what people have to say about the Bible, and I want to know if what they say has any merit.
3.
Spend about five minutes listing what you already know (if anything) about your topic. For example, are
you aware of any interesting facts, common misconceptions, your own assumptions, important people or
institutions involved, key schools of thought, the extent of the problem, current trends, etc.?
I have a large knowledge about the Bible already.
There is a large amount of criticism about the first 4 books in the New Testament. These 4 books give an account of the life of Jesus Christ on earth from the perspectives of 4 different men. The reason for the criticism is mostly because they are not word for word the same, and some people believe that there are contradictions in them. I want to know if there is any truth to those particular beliefs, and I want to know other criticisms.
4.
Now spend at least fifteen minutes brainstorming a list of questions about your topic you’d love to learn the
answers to. Make this list as long as you can, and don’t worry whether every question is a good one.
What criticisms are there about the Bible, particuarly the New Testament gospels?
What "contradictions" are in the gospels?
What is the history behind the authors of these 4 books?
Are any of the "contradictions" even important?
Which authors are writing from first hand accounts and which from second hand?
If an author wrote from a second hand account, how reliable is their source?
Do we have any original documents?
What is the carbon dating of the most original documents we have?
What comparison can we make with other historical documents?
How reliable is carbon dating?
What is the chance that over time the translation of the gospels has been marred or messed with?
What were the dates that each of the books were written on?
What were the occupations of each of the authors?
Could any of the authors have had reason to lie about what they wrote? Would there be any benefit to them if they did?
If there is reason to believe that the New Testament gospels are valid, what does that do to their content?
What is the conceptual message in comparison to their written style?
What are common misconceptions about the Bible gospels?
What versions of the Bible are probably more or less reliable? Does it matter?
How reliable are documents of comparing time relation?
Are there any other forms of dating other than carbon dating?
How does carbon dating work?
How were historical accounts recorded back in Bible times?
What kind of documents were the gospels originally intended to be? ex. letters, historical accounts, personal diary type....
Who are the "experts" in this area?
What books would be good sources for this kind of research?
What kind of documents should I search for?
What are my biases that I need to look out for as I do my research?
How were the original documents copied and translated?
How much time passed between the original writings and the second copies?
What generation of copies do we now possess?
What languages are they in?
What languages were they originally written in?
What generation of copies do we have of age comparing documents?
5.
If you’re working in a computer lab (or generating hard copies of the exercise), your instructor may ask you
to comment on other students’ responses to Steps 1-4. Focus particularly on what your classmates did in the
fourth step. For each you view, do two things: add a question you would like answered about the student’s
topic, and mark the question you find most intriguing.
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