Rev. Dr. Lisa A Morris
This book is dedicated to Arietta McDougal;
My beloved Grandmother and spiritual role model.

Copyright 2009 by Rev. Dr. Lisa Morris. All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-0-557-25733-1
TABLE OF CONTENTS

LESSON 1: Introduction to Historical Jesus Studies Sources and Gospel Synopsis 4-14
LESSON 2: Religious Sects of Jesus’ day 15-22
LESSON 3: Quests-Period One Through Period Two 23-34
LESSON 4: Continuing the Quest 35-42
LESSON 5: Period 5: Third Quest/Renewed Quest 43-50
LESSON 6: The Q Source: A Hypothetical Document? 51-59
LESSON 7: The Nag Hammadi Texts/Gnosticism and the discovery
of the Gospel of Thomas 60-75
LESSON 8: The Environment In First Century Palestine 76-87
LESSON 9: The Secret Gospel Of Mark 88-96
LESSON 10: Kingdom of God Teachings: The Parables 97-104
LESSON 11: The Concept Of Time In Jesus’ Day Part 1 105-113
LESSON 12: The Concept Of Time In Jesus’ Day Part 2 114-121
LESSON 13: The Kingdom Is Coming! 122-128
LESSON 14: Faith And The Coming Of The Kingdom 129-136
LESSON 15: The Kingdom Or The Catastrophe 137-144
LESSON 16: The Kingdome Of God Sayings Part 1 145-155
LESSON 17: The Kingdom Of God Sayings Part 2 156-164
LESSON 18: Final Review Part 1 165-170
LESSON 19: Final Review Part 2 171-182

LESSON 1
Introduction to Historical Jesus Studies/Sources and Gospel
Welcome to your degree program in Jesus Studies. Jesus Studies is
a new field of investigation whereby scholars try to reconstruct the
original teachings of Jesus. There are many different theories as to
who the man Jesus was, the historical man. Once we know the
historical man and the context in which he lived in the ancient first
century world, then we can begin to uncover his original teachings.
In this course will we pay special attention to the parables and
Jesus’ message regarding the Kingdom of God. Let’s briefly look at
the different sources used to reconstruct the life of the historical
Jesus.

A BRIEF LOOK AT SOURCES
Rather than focusing on the beliefs of the different authors of the
gospels, let us begin with the historical study of the gospels. We
want to know what Jesus actually said and did.
Most historians agree that in order to reconstruct the life of a
person from antiquity, we need a number of sources that date back
to that period of time in history. The sources should not contradict
each other and should be independent of each other. Historians
must look for internal consistency in the sources. This means that
the sources are not theologically slanted toward the particular
author’s viewpoint.