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Technical writing/Researching and interviewing EE

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Researching and Interviewing
There are a limited number of opportunities to get cooperation and information from experts: The experts are people who have the best information about the product, but the experts are the busiest people on the project. It is important to minimize interview time and allow them to develop the product or project. Do not waste the expert's time. The better prepared for the interview you are the less time the interview will take.

Plan the Interview
Review notes from the project manager. Focus on the subjects that you have agreed to write about. Read any previous product documentation on the subject matter. This research can provide useful information. If writing an update or amendment to a product, ask which information has changed and which information is still the same.

 * Book a quiet room so you can hear everything the expert says.
 * Officially invite the expert to the meeting (they are more likely to come).
 * Be sure of what subjects must be covered.
 * write a list of open questions (questions that cannot be answered yes or no)
 * research the subject matter, the research will make your questions more specific
 * do proper time management

Prepare for Interview

 * bring everything you need to the interview, pens, paper, computer notebook
 * choose a quiet place for the interview
 * choose a convenient time for the interview

Conduct the interview

 * arrive at the correct time or before
 * thank the expert for their time
 * ask all the questions on the list using open questions

Validate the information after the interview
Check the information you record and ensure that it does not contradict other previous information
 * track each task (every update or amendment)

Why Plan the interview?
Testers, developers and architects are busy people.

Minimize the amount of time spent.

The maximum duration of an interview should be 30 minutes.

Remember the phrase: Proper Preparation and Planning Prevents Poor Performance

How do you prepare for an interview?
It is important to prepare clear and well-defined questions.

Always be focused and ask open questions.

An open question is a question that you cannot answer yes or no to.

Make sure any equipment used works before the interview.

Why Research for an Interview?
It is important to prepare before meeting with the Subject Matter Expert. (SME) This:
 * reduces the time that the interview lasts
 * assures the SME that they need not explain everything from basic principles.

When the research is complete some information may require explanation.

Write a list of questions to ask the SME.

The aim is to get all the information needed in one interview.

What to bring to the interview?
Bring:
 * a laptop or tablet to type the information directly into the document
 * a notepad and pen to note phone numbers and the names of other SMEs
 * different coloured pens to highlight information or separate the text clearly.
 * a recorder to record the information that the SME gives verbally.
 * a camera to take pictures of any diagrams the SME draws on a whiteboard
 * a copy of the old version of the document or any research material used.

Where is the best place to have the interview?
Always book a quiet meeting room where the SME can bring a laptop to show you the information.

SMEs will attend most booked meetings

Do not book a meeting in a cafe or noisy environment.

This will also eliminate potential disruptions that can take place in the SME's regular work location

When is the best time to have the interview?
The best time to have an interview is when the SME has time.

If the SME has an assistant ask when the SME is likely to have time and book a meeting then.

Monday mornings are usually the worst time because many issues arise over the weekend and often on Friday afternoons the SME will finish off the tasks for that week.

How do you start the interview?

 * Be prompt
 * Thank the SME for his or her time
 * Tell the SME:
 * the scope of the interview
 * why you need the information

Conduct the interview
Do not record every word that the SME says
 * Take notes of:
 * concepts
 * numbers
 * relevant facts.
 * Begin with prepared questions
 * Ask more questions to clarify the SME's answers
 * Do not be afraid to lead the interview
 * Return the SME back to the points where the answer does not completely clarify an issue
 * Check that all the prepared questions have answers. This is an important part of the tracking process.
 * Ask if anything was overlooked.
 * Thank the SME again for his or her time.

Validate the information after the interview
Validate the information acquired by checking that the information does not contradict another source of information. If there are contradictions prepare a list of questions and book another interview

Track each task
Each update or amendment becomes a task.

It is essential to Track each task for the life cycle of a project. If tasks are tracked then everyone in the team knows:
 * what has been done
 * what still needs to be done

Make a list of topics and concepts that correspond to the requirement specification of the system.

By tracking these requirements to the actual system and documents delivered to the users this validates that every task has been done.

How to Validate
Providing accurate information is one of the most important tasks in technical writing.

Test the information against the software if available.

A second technical writer notices errors undetected because familiarity with the text.

Let the SME validate information in the document. The developer is a key resource for validating the veracity of what is written, but never for commenting on the style.

Tips for collecting information from SMEs
Either call the SME or go over to their desk and ask a few questions.
 * Don’t send e-mails asking for technical explanations.

 * Set up official meetings with SMEs to ask all the questions you have. People may be busy, but they can rarely escape an official meeting if you set it up.

 * If you can sit near an SME, one technique that works well is to wait until you see them entering a "dead" state (e.g., they’re waiting for something to install, or they can’t figure something out, or they’re finished with something). Timing is everything. Ask a question at that time, and then ask another. It might get them going on a bit longer than they had planned.

 * Ask to look over their shoulder and watch what they’re doing. I suspect that many SMEs relish their techie knowledge, and this is one way to ingratiate yourself by inundating their senses with indirect adulation.

 * To get an SME to review a document, set a due date and call a meeting at which the SME is required to deliver his or her review. If you just send the document and ask for a critique/review, it may never come.

 * Although you can always buy an SME lunch, it’s sometimes hard to keep the focus on work. If you carpool, you can ask the SME questions in the car, where he or she doesn't have access to a computer.

Taken from | I'd Rather be Writing by Tom Johnson, used with permission.

A key tip to ensure that your work is reviewed on time and every time, is to confirm that the Development team or Product team takes ownership of the documentation deliverable as part of their product release. For documents that do not have to go out to a customer with the product, it is the responsibility of the writer and Development/Product Manager to block the SME time for review. No amount of reiteration can convince a SME to actually review the work unless there is a commitment from the Development or Product team to deliver a document on a said date and time. Use escalation and email reminders with prudence and be gentle in your communications.

End of lesson Test

 * 1) Where is the best place to have the interview? A quiet room where you can hear SME perfectly.
 * 2) When is the best time to have the interview? Where the SME has time but not on Monday morning because it is usually very busy and the SME will not pay much attention to your interview.
 * 3) How do you prepare for an interview? Book a quite room, write open quetions, get familiar with the subject, oficially invite the expert.
 * 4) How do you start the interview? Thank the SME for his/her time and inform him/her about the scope of the interview and why do you need the information.

Back to previous module
Personas (EE) How to use the correct language for the people who will read the documents

Forward to next module
Structuring Information(EE)

Learn More

 * Online Technical Writing
 * Subject matter interview techniques for technical writers
 * Conducting Successful SME Interviews
 * Conducting Successful SME Interviews PDF Form
 * Be Nice to Your SME!
 * Interviewing the SME

back to Technical Writing Level 1


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Joint Entrance Examination/AIEEE 2009/Q083 youngs modulus

Original Question by Vijay Karthik

 * Here's the question...

What's Up?

 * Latest discussions on the forum

Mechanics-Help

Physics-Help

Reply![]

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


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User talk:Priyanka sinha

 Hello Priyanka sinha, and welcome to Wikiversity! If you need help, feel free to visit my talk page, or contact us and ask questions. After you leave a comment on a talk page, remember to sign and date; it helps everyone follow the threads of the discussion. The signature icon in the edit window makes it simple. To get started, you may

 * Take a guided tour and learn to edit.
 * Visit a (kind of) random project.
 * Browse Wikiversity, or visit a portal corresponding to your educational level: pre-school, primary, secondary, tertiary, non-formal education.
 * Find out about research activities on Wikiversity.

 * Read an introduction for teachers and find out how to write an educational resource for Wikiversity.
 * Give feedback about your initial observations
 * Discuss Wikiversity issues or ask questions at the colloquium.
 * Chat with other Wikiversitans on #wikiversity-en.

And don't forget to explore Wikiversity with the links to your left. Be bold to contribute and to experiment with the sandbox or your userpage, and see you around Wikiversity! --mikeu talk 14:36, 23 August 2009 (UTC)

title: User talk:Priyanka sinha


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Wikiversity talk:Community Review/Topic bans for User:JWSchmidt

page readability
This page is getting increasingly difficult for me to read. I'm not even sure where to insert comments without confusing the flow of dicussion even more. Is there anything we can do to modify the structure of the page to improve this? --mikeu talk 15:24, 23 August 2009 (UTC)

 * Agreed, it's confusing. A statement and support system like the one used at w:WP:RFC might work better, or even the w:WP:RFARB system of keeping statements separate. I've actually often wondered why they do it that way (seems a bit awkward), but perhaps they experienced the same difficulties early on. It's better than the mess we have now, anyway. --SB_Johnny talk 15:32, 23 August 2009 (UTC)

here we go again
Can't we just ban both these guys for a bit!? SB_Johnny and JWS ... please. It's like watching two 5 year old kids with slightly better vocabularies go at it again and again. I'm tired of both of them. We could make a Wikia for them both and just let them write and write and write and write to each other for a year or so, then maybe let them back. Countrymike 22:51, 23 August 2009 (UTC)
 * We could change the Wikiversity project motto to: "Our preferred way to end discussions is to use the mighty ban hammer." The slogan can be: "We done learned good from Wikipedia!" --JWSchmidt 01:00, 24 August 2009 (UTC)

moving Wikiversity forward
OK? CQ 06:54, 24 August 2009 (UTC)


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Recovery psychology/Identity Politics of Recovery

Identity Politics of Mental Health Recovery
In first discussing whom the population served is; we must speak of their identity in who they are and further from what prespective they see themselves. Identity politics refers to political arguments that focus upon the self interest and perspectives of social minorities, or self-identified social interest groups. Not all members of any given group are necessarily involved in identity politics. In Mental/Behavioral Health a "patient" is not a term commonly used, as the client is only a patient when speaking directly to a doctor, nurse or other medical staff. The following are the terms used in the Identity Politics of Mental Health Recovery:
 * User: This term applies to anybody whom uses psychiatric services, willingly or otherwise.
 * Consumer or Mental Health Consumer: This is an economic term, which for many represents empowerment and choice. This term denotes but does not necessarily mean a propsychiatry attitude. It is used in much the same way the term consumer is usually defined in economics.
 * Survivor or Psychiatric Survivor: This term applies to those who feel they have survived psychiatric treatment. This term denotes an antipsychiatry attitude; many who call themselves survivors believe they are in recovery from psychiatry itself, not as much as the mental disorder.
 * Non-survivor or Psychiatric non-survivor: This term is used by psychiatric survivors to describe persons who did not survive or continue living through or after psychiatric treatment. The recovery of psychiatric nonsurvivors is the work of psychiatric survivors; who feel persons who have died in mental hospitals prior to deinstutionalization need to be exhummed, identitied (to restore dignity) and properly buried. Survivors feel this a reclamation of their heritage.
 * Ex-Patient: This term refers to a person no longer receiving services.
 * Recipient or behavioral Health Recipient: This term has become popular to be used by behavioral health to describe clients who recieve services. This term has become in use after the US Federal initiative to Transform the Mental Health System in to a Recovery Oriented System. The irony of this term becoming a term of regular usage, is that the word recipient means just that a recipient. Recovery would be the transforming of a "recipient" to that of a "consumer."  Recipient does not necessarily imply recovery.
 * CSX Movement or C/S/X Movement: Collectively these various different movements or identity politics are called Consumer/Survivor/Ex-patient Movement; although they may or may not have completely conflicting views with regard to different aspects of mental health.

 * Nuerodiverisity: Nuerodiversity is a similar movement to that of consumers, survivors and ex-patients. In the US; Mental/Behavioral Health services are often separate from developmental disability services.  Conditions such as Autism are while considered a mental disorder are not treated as mental illness.  Nuerodiversity holds the belief that Autism is a natural diversity and that to interfere or try to change it would be wrong. Nuerodiversity has many parallels to recovery ideas and concepts and is prone to antipsychiatry.

For more on the this listen to podcasts at Identity Politics of Mental Illness Radio

Anti-psychiatry
Although anti-psychiatry views are very apparent in the recovery movement, not all believers in "recovery" are anti-psychiatry, there are some who are quite a bit pro-psychiatry. Recovery Psychology must remain purely objective, with regards to these two views; while offering honest descriptions of both points of view in the educational curriculum. One of the issues that the members of the "recovery movement" have against the antipsychiatry movement would be the lack of concern for the mental well-being of persons claimed to be have psychological disorders. The fallacy of antipsychiatry would be the reoccurring theme that states that:
 * Psychiatrist Loren Mosher & David Oaks on Panel at NAMSCC Website
 * MindFreedom Video on YouTube
 * Erving Goffman noted Antipsychiatry author on wikipedia
 * Antipsychiatry Videos by Psychetruth
 * Psychiatry vs. Psychology
 * On Mental Health Liberation
 * On Mental Health Liberation#2
 * On Recovery
 * On Schizophrenia and Recovery
 * On Recovering from Depression
 * On Recovering from Depression#2
 * Anti-psychiatry article on Wikipedia
 * | Anti-psychiatry article on mental health matters
 * Psychiatric Liberation on wikiversity Needs a lot of work to be completed
 * MindFreedom International
 * Psychetruth
 * Harm Reduction Coming off Psychiatric Drugs by Will Hall (Icarus Project)
 * "Anti-Psychiatry and the Search for Autonomy"
 * Thomas Szasz on America's Drug Forum pt.1of3
 * Thomas Szasz on America's Drug Forum pt.2of3
 * Thomas Szasz on America's Drug Forum pt.3of3
 * Psychiatric Survivor Pride Weekend video on YouTube
 * 1) there is no such thing as a mental illness
 * 2) any person who believes in treatment for mental illness (i.e. psychiatry) is crazy (mentally ill)
 * 3) in order for this first proposition to be true as an antecedent, the consequent statement would have to be excluded, an analysis of academic or intelectual antipsychiatry and indentity politics antipsychiatry groups almost always leads to the admission that somebody is crazy (mentally ill)

The Consumer Movement
The C/S/X movement is a form of Identity politics made up of persons who have been labeled or designated as "Consumers/Survivors/Ex-Patients" of the mental health system. Noted there is some discussion out by psychiatric survivors of psychiatric non-survivors. A psychiatric non-survivor is a person who is said to have died or been severely damaged in to a death-like state for the remainder of their life because of psychiatry. In contrast a non-consumer is only a person who has never been labeled or diagnosed with a psychological disorder. A Personal History of the Consumer Movement by Sally Clay
 * History of the Consumer Movement Wikibook started by Recovery Psychology but needs serious work to be completed.
 * from spiritualcompetancy.com
 * mhselfhelp.org on the Consumer Movement
 * mhselfhelp.org on the Consumer Movement
 * Ex-patients history from power2u
 * Freshstart Ontario Television
 * Powerpoint presentation
 * edewasseige videos on YouTube
 * The Recovery Model
 * Article on Wikipedia
 * National Association of Social Workers Article on the Recovery Model
 * Mental Health Recovery Model on the Mental Health Recovery Model PDF
 * spiritual competency.com Recovery Lesson 1
 * Expert Interview from power2u
 * Faces of Recovery Videos
 * The Value of Mental Health Recovery
 * My Mental Health Recovery story by Jaymedecas
 * Dinner conversation with Dan Fisher
 * Discovery to Recovery Part1
 * Discovery to Recovery Part2

Family Advocacy Movement
NAMI, a propsychiatry agancy with in the family advocacy movement has been a powerful force in what is termed as the recovery movement. See also the Self-Help Movement, See also Family advocacy movement.Others also have been researching and developing methods for families coping with psychological disorders.

Mad Pride
The following videos are about mad pride. Mad pride can be described as an identity politic or philosophical rhetoric of social movement. The idea is of coming out of the closet so to speak about having a psychological disorder. Googling "recovery psychology" yeilds |the work of Michel Feher identifying consumer activism as an identity politic. A Case Study of the "Right to Treatment" as Legal Rights Discourse in the U.S.A.by Michael McCubbin, Ph.D. and David N. Weisstub, J.D. The Right to Treatment as an American Constitutional Issue
 * 1) David Oaks on Mad Pride
 * 2) madpridetoronto Channel on YouTube Toronto, CA
 * 3) qldalliance Channel on YouTube Queensland, AU (these videos refer c/s/x movement as the user movement)
 * 4) Mad Pride Site in the UK
 * 5) Madpride bookreview from Mental Help Net
 * 6) Mad Tea Party?
 * 7) Mad Pride Month Article from psychcentral blog
 * 8) Essay Question: Define what is mad pride about.
 * 9) Psychiatric Survivors Toronto
 * 10) Mad Pride
 * 11) ESSAY Question: |Scroll down to see Michel Feher: Empowerment Hazards: Affirmative Action, Recovery Psychology, and Identity Politics in "Meeting the Needs of the Mentally Ill"

Various Movements within Movements

 * Disabilities Movement
 * Hearing Voices Movement
 * Hearing Voices Network
 * Paranoia Network
 * Asylum Online:An International Magazine for Democratic Psychiatry, Psychology, Education and Community Development
 * Some literature refers to the C/S/X movement meaning: Consumer/Survivor/Ex-patient movement. This Consumer movement started as the Psychiatric Survivors Movement, the two movements are often considered to be synonomous.  In large part the psychiatric survivor is a consumer of mental health services, therefore a "consumer."  The defining designation would that term "consumer" has a connotation of propsychiatric views, where as the survivors of psychiatric abuse has an antipsychiatry connotation.  The term consumer is meant in the term it is used in economics and politics, with the essence of the term stakeholder which implies empowerment.
 * The United States Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association or USPRA often states on their webpage or other materials the claim that they are leading the recovery movement this obviously implies that there is a something to be called the recovery movement.

The Independent Living Movement

 * Howie The Harp was one of the original pioneers in mental health recovery. This rare archive of footage is priceless in its historical value. Howard Gelding is discussed in 1.Psychiatric Rehabilitation(2002) William Anthony, Mikal Cohen, Marrianne Farkas, Cheryl Cagne 2.Psychiatric Rehabilitation (2002) Carlos Pratt, Kenneth J. Gill, Nora M. Barrett, Melissa M. Roberts 3.Best Practices in Psychosocial Rehabilitation (1999)Ruth Hughes and Diane Weinstein, while his concepts and ideas spear-headed the concepts of peer-support and the drop-in center etc. There is still no mention of Mr. Gelding in psychology.  Parts of this YouTube clip are taken from the  Jean Campbell documentary "People Say I'm Crazy"

Neurodiversity

 * The flow of this section will need some revision--recovery psychologist 03:33, 16 September 2008 (UTC)

Neurodiversity is a concept developed by autistic people and those in the Autism Rights and The Neurodiversity Movements as an alternative view of the condition. The proponents of Neurodiversity feel that certain conditions are not necessarily a developmental disability or mental disorder which requires curing or recovery. Developmental Disability Psychology should acknowledge Neurodiversity and other concepts developed by those in the Autism Rights and Neurodiversity Movements as deserving equal discussion and should be recognized as valid sources of information on the phenomena of these conditions.

In human services mental disorders are separated from developmental disorders. Recovery psychology recognizes antipsychiatry and propsychiatry views to sort out how clinical psychology can further produce recovery. Clinical psychology itself only focuses on pathological and remission, not on recovery. Recovery psychology would acknowledge the perspectives of those who call themselves "Aspies" who feel that they are not broken or in need of recovery. The concept in which autistic persons refer to non-autistic persons as neurotypical, or persons who force treatment on them as being a "curabie". parallels many antipsychiatry views. A course on Psychology of Developmental Disability might focus more on adaptability rather than recovery. Recovery in this context could mean anything from adaptability to being liberated from forced, unnecessary treatment that is not wanted by the person with autism, to the fight against prejudice.

Psychiatric survivors movement Even though autism spectrum 'disorders' are neurological disabilities and not mental illnesses, it is usually considered a psychological disorder. The diagnoses within the autism spectrum are also listed in the DSM-IV, the psychiatrist's diagnostic manual. Diagnosis is performed using behavioral criteria. Essentially, autism is currently diagnosed as if it were a psychological disorder, even though it isn't one. Nevertheless, people with autism often experience additional problems that are of a psychiatric nature, such as depression, anxiety and stress disorders, in part because of neurodiversity and in part because of the misunderstanding and hostility society at large still exhibits towards autistic people. From a self-advocacy viewpoint, this connects autistic people with the movement of psychiatric survivors. This is what those people call themselves who have experienced abuse at the hands of psychiatrists, including accidental or intentional misdiagnosis, involuntary hospitalisation, involuntary treatment with inaccurate medication (sometimes causing horrible side effects up to and including death), inappropriate restraint and isolation, etcetera. World-wide, psychiatric survivors unite in Support Coalition International, a grassroots organization fighting for the abolishment of involuntary, forced treatment (whether in-patient or out-patient), improvement of conditions in psychiatric hospitals, and respect for individual differences even if they are widely met with misunderstanding.
 * See Pervasive Developmental Disorders Portal on Wikipedia
 * See Martijn Dekker ON OUR OWN TERMS: Emerging Autistic Culture
 * Compare "On Our Own" to Mental Health Recovery History
 * Watch Autism Journey Begins on YouTube compare to Pat Deegans journey of recovery concept
 * Watch Autism PSA Let Us Speak For Ourselves on YouTube
 * Watch A Typical Aspie...on YouTube this video compares a typical aspie to typical NT and asks people to not judge others
 * Excerpt from Autistic Culture

THOUGHT EXPERIMENT: AN ASSIGNMENT
This part of the lessons is not intended to produce factual knowledge other than an understanding of mental vulernalabilities in a world of conflicting propaganda, rhethoric and ideologies View BBC Adam Curtis The Trap F@#* You Buddy, The Living Dead, The Lonely Robot or We will Force You to be Free on YouTube for a pessimistic view of the life of John Forbes Nash, R.D. Laing and antipsychiatry and the concept of "Freedom."
 * Think about the concepts of Conspiracy theory and Paranoia.
 * Think about the 1979 President's Commission on Mental Health being the first to identify the identity politics of mental health consumers.
 * Think about the movie "A beautiful mind" being released at the time of the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health
 * Think about COINTELPRO and the Patriot Act
 * Do you feel that it is reasonable that a person would have "seemingly" irrational beliefs and delusions about the world they live in
 * To see an opposing view regarding John Forbes Nash (an optimistic view on the life of...) see "A Beautiful Mind" or PBS documentary "A Brilliant Madness" on YOUTUBE or google the words: MENTAL HEALTH RECOVERY+JOHN FORBES NASH and read any propaganda discussing the two key search words as a single subject

Political History of Non-identity Politics
An overall discussion of politics is important to understand why this recovery concept is important. This can be best exemplified by Philippe Pinel at the Salpêtrière 1795, during the French Revolution ordered the removal of chains from patients at the Paris Asylum for insane women. He was instrumental in the development of Moral treatment. Psychiatrists and Clinical Psychologist such as Timothy Leary once prescribed LSD for therapuetic purposes; (this was also true of cocaine and ecstasy) this was around the time period of the Government coldwar science research such as MKULTRA which turned out persons such as Ken Kesey whom was an American author, best known for his novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest which is now one of the most well known heralded depictions of psychiatry by adherents of the antipsychiatry philosophy.
 * See Deinstutionalization
 * See Recovery Model

Politics in America and the fear of Abnormality
Nobody in America would want to be labeled a Nazi or a Communist. As both represent a deviation from the norm and are used as slurs in political conflict or debate as tools of propaganda. In America the established norms for political philosophy are Republican and Democrat.  Republicans are seen as being right wing politics where Democrats are seen as being left wing politics.  Nobody in America would proudly claim to be either a Nazi or a Communist.  As such would be considered abnormal, more claim to be near the center of political philosophy and to not have any extreme political views. Prior to the the Reconstruction era and the Civil War the two political parties were seen as the opposite sides than they now are seen as holding. This can be noted when we read about the Civil rights movement in America or the Klu Klux Klan. Prior to World War II and the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, The Republicans were considered liberals fighting for civil rights, freedoms and equality, while the Democrats were seen as oppressive and racist. The change in these idealogies, shows how external forces can alter the psychology, philosophy and political structure of a nation; if such alterations can occur in a mass population collectively, how can the social sciences deny that such external forces influence such on the individual psyche any differently? See articles on mental health in America about Siberia America (calling mental health a Russian and/or communist philosophy from a right-wing anti-psychiatry prespective) See Sally Satel articles slurring the Recovery model in favor of the remission model and calling the recovery movement a leftist anti-psychiatry coup of the government in the National Review (A conservative Republican media publication), or any Antipsychiatry literature which claims to be liberal. NOTE: The views of antipsychiatry can come from either extreme. Another example of logical thinking that is lost in the passion of political debate where persons lose their objectivity and opinons sway from ideology to ideology can be found in wikis is the ammount of factual information found on Conservapedia versus Wikipedia. The latter would have articles on New Freedom Commission on Mental Health under President George W Bush (a Republican) while Conservapedia, a conservative Republican media has little to no educated information regarding mental health. In fact in todays world we find a lot of superstition in the conservative view of psychological disorders that have not changed since Malleus Maleficarum. As stated earlier regarding the medical versus recovery model wars, Bi-partisan politics needs to stay out of the objective sciences, but as the articles on Sally Satel show an Anti-recovery propaganda is already attacking the recovery concept in the medical community. Anti-Mental Health attitudes (distinguished from antipsychiatry) still exist today, the major distinction between anti-psychiatry and anti-mental health is anti-psychiatry is often in support of radical mental health where as anti-mental health supports no mental health. Recovery psychology as a philosophical approach to scientific research, would not any political views once so ever. Although with its historical component, there would some recognition of identity politics. Interestingly enough the concept of recovery is accused of being a liberal concept, while one of the very first tenenets of mental health recovery is personal responsibility, which if the attackers of the recovery concept would evaluate their own "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" attitudes they would agree that they too believe in personal responsibility.


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User talk:JohnOrlando

 Hello JohnOrlando, and welcome to Wikiversity! If you need help, feel free to visit my talk page, or contact us and ask questions. After you leave a comment on a talk page, remember to sign and date; it helps everyone follow the threads of the discussion. The signature icon in the edit window makes it simple. To get started, you may

 * Take a guided tour and learn to edit.
 * Visit a (kind of) random project.
 * Browse Wikiversity, or visit a portal corresponding to your educational level: pre-school, primary, secondary, tertiary, non-formal education.
 * Find out about research activities on Wikiversity.

 * Read an introduction for teachers and find out how to write an educational resource for Wikiversity.
 * Give feedback about your initial observations
 * Discuss Wikiversity issues or ask questions at the colloquium.
 * Chat with other Wikiversitans on #wikiversity-en.

And don't forget to explore Wikiversity with the links to your left. Be bold to contribute and to experiment with the sandbox or your userpage, and see you around Wikiversity! SB_Johnny talk 16:57, 23 August 2009 (UTC)

title: User talk:JohnOrlando


text:
Recovery psychology/Theory

The Theory of Recovery
In researching recovery, there may be little to no findings on the internet or in any literature offline that represents a scientific theory of recovery. There may be a lot of declarations of what recovery is or that it does happen, but there is a shortage of describing the stages or recovery. The following are some of the ideas that various writers of recovery have come up with:
 * Twelve Step Recovery-This is prehaps the easiest to remember or the easist to understand; since it is the oldest recovery theory or recovery philosophy.
 * Recovery Inc started by Abraham Low was the first to adapt 12 step recovery to be about helping persons with mental illness. His theory started the Abraham Low Self-Help Systemsa cognitive-behavioral, peer-to-peer, self-help training system.

Patricia Deegan Inside Outside
"Inside Outside" is a work of hope created by former patients and film-makers Pat Deegan and Terry Strecker. The film depicts the lives of eight people with very significant histories of institutionalization, as they transition from nursing homes and psychiatric hospitals into the community. In the spirit of the President's New Freedom Initiative and the Supreme Court's Olmstead Decision, the film carries the message that recovery and life in the community are possibilities even for people who are viewed as the most chronic or impaired. The film leaves audiences of professionals and people with psychiatric disabilities alike, cheering for these eight individuals as they make their journey from inside institutions to full community inclusion on the outside. Produced for the US Department of Health And Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Mental Health Services. Production Company: Advocates for Human Potential, Inc. Creative Commons license: Public Domain. "Inside Outside" PART 2 is a work of hope created by former patients and film-makers Pat Deegan and Terry Strecker. The film depicts the lives of eight people with very significant histories of institutionalization, as they transition from nursing homes and psychiatric hospitals into the community. In the spirit of the President's New Freedom Initiative and the Supreme Court's Olmstead Decision, the film carries the message that recovery and life in the community are possibilities even for people who are viewed as the most chronic or impaired. The film leaves audiences of professionals and people with psychiatric disabilities alike, cheering for these eight individuals as they make their journey from inside institutions to full community inclusion on the outside. Produced for the US Department of Health And Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Mental Health Services.
 * Inside Outside: Building & Having A Meaningful Life After Hospitalization Part1
 * Inside Outside: Building & Having A Meaningful Life After Hospitalization Part2

 * Patricia Deegan 4 stages of Inside/Outside-Similar to Jullian Rotter's Locus of Control; Deegan sees recovery as stages
 * 1) . Inside Inside-Inside the hospital mentally and physically (see Learned Helplessness)Institutionalized
 * 2) . Inside Outside-Inside the hospital mentally and outside physically
 * 3) . Outside Inside-Outside the hospital mentally and inside physically; high level of recidivism
 * 4) . Outside Outside-Outside the hospital mentally and physically; community relationships, state of mind that is ones own responsibility and control to be in recovery. Natural healing where an internal psychological process tells the person to get better. In this stage a person wants to because recovery comes from inside the person and not inside the institution. The choice not to go back to the hospital. "when the person starts to get better they lose all their friends" see Identity Politics see also Personal Medicine

Other theory

 * Wellness Recovery Action Plan TM by Mary Ellen Copeland
 * Recovery is a process not a destination. This is the typical doctrine, which has been repeatedly used.
 * Recovery process explained as a non-linear process of grieving: Anger, Denial, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance Elizabeth Kubler-Ross developed the "Five Stages of Grief." In the video Recovery Section 2 Part 4 from virtualward on YouTube above the speaker Larry, tells of a womans recovery in the terms of the greiving process, not unlike the five stages of grief, these five stages are not linear. This is one model of the recovery process, do all recovery expeirinces conform to this paradigm?
 * Mark Raggins
 * Mental Health Recovery Project: The mental health recovery project holds the theory of integrating clinical psychology and positive psychology; with the focus on wellness instead of illness. Martin Seligman has founded "positive psychology" which does not look at what is wrong with a person but what is right about a person.

title: Recovery psychology/Theory


text:
Evan Ratliff

Evan Ratliff is a recently-created Wikipedia article about an eclectic journalist that a few of us are following. The article is being used to test Wikipedia's policy and process for deletions. The article was deleted once and carried a deletion tag for a few hours. Now we are watching to see how the article and the unique current event that it describes are playing out both in its article history and on the web.

Curator: CQ (yeoman)

Article seed
Evan Ratliff from Wired Magazine is conducting an experiment by seemingly vanishing as far as knowledge of his physical whereabouts. . Wired has offered a $5000 reward for anyone who can find him. He is still "on the grid" and at large but communicating with his followers on Twitter. The publicity stunt may be to call attention to Internet related unemployment. The Google Wave development group has even proposed using the phenomenal ploy as a test case for the new technology pushing the frontier of real-time web activity. Ratliff is using his specially created blog to taunt the "hunters". Facebook groups have emerged to team up and find him or to help him remain at large

New top matter added
5 hours and 20 minutes later, Top matter was added by w:User:Shreevatsa to improve the article's relevance and notability. The second deletion tag was removed and the tag and the seed portion were moved to a new section titled, Experiment.

Introduction: "Evan Ratliff is a contributor to Wired Magazine and one of the coauthors of Safe: the race to protect ourselves in a newly dangerous world. His article The Zombie Hunters: On the trail of cyberextortionists, written for The New Yorker in 2005, was featured in The best of technology writing 2006. "

As a current event
w:User:SmackBot updated the tag with the date One question now is if Evan's experiment is notable enough for the Portal:Current events/Science and technology.

So far - so good CQ 21:04, 24 August 2009 (UTC)

Evidently not according to w:User:Yellowdesk

Improvement

 * Another reference to the $5K reward was added by Mu301 on 28 August 2009
 * Later on the 28th, An anonymous editer added some links and the Clues section..
 * Also on the 28th a blurb and reference I added when I hastily started the article: The publicity stunt may be to call attention to Internet related unemployment.  was removed by Dzjim (pronounced "jim") with the edit summary Removed claim not made by cited article..
 * On September 4 someone with the the same IP as above added a link to a Facebook page Posted by Jeff Reifman which transcludes Evan Ratliff’s Playlist at wired.
 * The tag was changed to reflist here

suggestions please

Evan found
An anonymous user posted He was tracked to and found on September 8, 2009 in New Orleans by @vanishteam, a group participating in the challenge to find him . The post included an inline reference.

 * The next several edits by this user convert the Experiment section from present to past tense.

title: Evan Ratliff


text:
User:Buddyfrench

Hi I am new to Wikiversity and I am interested in Computer Science.

title: User:Buddyfrench


text:
Intermediate Swedish 2

Lessons
This course is a continuation to the Intermediate Swedish 1 course. Lesson 1: Lesson 2: Lesson 3: Lesson 4: Lesson 5:
 * Botany
 * Grammar terminology
 * Regular verbs
 * Irregular verbs
 * Writing letters

Answers
Intermediate Swedish 2 Answers

Test
The test covers the contents of this course: Test (Quiz)

Contuinuation Course
Intermediate Swedish 3

title: Intermediate Swedish 2


text:
User:Springfield Seminary

Springfield Christian Bible Seminary Inc. ( Springfield Seminary )

At its inception the focus was to establish a Seminary which would universally equip the greater Springfield area Church Leaders, Preachers, Ministers, Deacons and Sunday School Teachers with confidence in spread  the Gospel of Jesus Christ to win Souls and  promotion of Christian Fellowship through study and training. We have also supported Christian mission, both home and abroad, to inspire spiritual leadership to churches while being sensitive to social concern and community issues. This concept was established at our beginning and has carried on for nearly forty (40) years. The Springfield Seminary was organized in September 1969 under the direction of its Founder Reverend Herman A. Epps in New Haven Ct. That same year a branch was established in Springfield Ma. called "The Pitiful Kings" with the Reverend Roy Lee of Willing Worker's Freewill Baptist Church of Burr Street as the President and Reverend Marcell Daugherty of Friendship Baptist  Vice President. In 1975 Reverend King Cole of Mt. Calvary Baptist Church became President with Reverend  Nathanial Dumus of Mt.Zion  as Vice President. In 1978 the Headquarter of then Springfield Bible Seminary was located at the Christian Hill Baptist Church 54 Bowdoin St. with the Reverend Dr. Nathaniel Bailey of Christian Hill Baptist Church as it’s President and Reverend Dr. James Sowell Jr. as Vice President. In 1981 Reverend Dr. James Sowell Jr. became President with Reverend Dr. Nathaniel Bailey as Vice President and Incorporated in 1984 as the Springfield Christian Bible Seminary Association Inc. In September 1985 the Springfield Christian Bible Seminary was recognized as an affiliated Institution with Wheaton College, Wheaton Illinois. American Bible College New York, NY. , Indiana Christian University, Indiana. and Accredited with AAAT of Rocky Mt. North Carolina. As the Springfield Christian Bible Seminary student enrollment continued to increase it has relocated to several venue such as Friendship Baptist Church, and until recently the Church in the Acres. In 1986 the Reverend Dr. James Sowell Jr. appointed Reverend Dr. Judge Lee as Vice President and in 1996 Reverend Dr Louis Johnson was appointed Vice President until 2008. In early 2009 the Board of Trustees conduct an intensive evaluation of the Springfield Christian Bible Seminary's' Statement of Expectation & Purposes by electing to establish the Seminary as a legitimate mechanism in Christian/Religious Education in Western Mass by 2012 registering with Commonwealth of Massachusetts Board of Higher Education and the New England Association of Schools and Colleges. March 2009 an Alumni and Supporter Reverend Dr. E. Quinn Brevard was appointed President/CEO with these goals in mind. He is the Senior Bishop of the Fountain of Life Outreach Ministries inc. and President of the International Fellowship of Charismatic Churches and Ministries Worldwide inc. with ministries in nearly thirty (30) countries around the world. Already, in preparation for 2010 the Seminary's curriculum was redesigned to be more sensitive to the needs of today's adult learners, through the Springfield Seminary’s new Saturday One Year Certificate Programs. In respects to our new partnership with the Holyoke Community College this geographical change makes it easier for all neighboring communities to participate in studying the word of God with confidence.

The Springfield Seminary wish to honor and continue to celebrate all our local Pastors, Ministers, Educators, Churches and Colleges  annually for the work they do in serving  those in need as well as  educating citizens throughout our community.

title: User:Springfield Seminary


text:
User:CQ/Test

Charley

Could not connect to Facebook Chat at this time.

deletionism test 3:34pmCharley

Magazine article title: Will Wikiversity extend the Wikipedia policy and process or develop its own?

who Evan?

nobody's been in touch with Evan. 3:35pmCormac

no, Mike (Mu301) 3:35pmCharley

oh yeah.

We talked about as it happened

I told him my intentions 3:35pmCormac

so what exactly are you experimenting with? :-):-) 3:35pmCharley

He just followed proceedure

Computational Sociology and Meme Phaging

B)B) 3:36pmCormac

well, i mean specifically 3:38pmCharley

The idea is to try to predict outcomes from a pervasive Internet phenomena from a variety f stances.

I'm working with the Espians now, also.

And working on getting a job at Wired 3:41pmCormac

ok, but i find it hard to see what you're trying to figure out - policy is not fixed in wikis - but in process - people do not simply apply policy (they should be critical) - and you're explaining what you're doing to Mike... I'm confused 3:41pmCharley

..also developing a meme catching application: http://tent.espians.com/.search?q=%3CEvan_Ratliff%3E&submit=+Search+

Wikiversity is the academic stance... studying Wikipedia at close range.

Wired is looking at the whole Internet.

Esp is developing some tools for next year.

Collaboration has a lot of ups and downs

We're studying what the barriers and impetuses for collaboration are.

http://openkollab.com

It's very complex, i suppose 3:47pmCharley

Anyway. I've taken community-building to other places both online and face-to-face. 3:47pmCormac

hmm, i'm not shy of complexity - but I'd need to know what your motivations are - or maybe I'm just confused 3:49pmCharley

My intentions are to discover what makes people rally around a cause, stand up for their friends, work together for positive change, etc...

When I saw the crap at v: I became a militant community builder 3:49pmCormac

ok, so how do those motivations relate to this experiment? 3:50pmCharley

I don't know yet. 3:50pmCormac

ok, I suppose that's where I'm confused then :-):-) 3:50pmCharley

That's why it's an experiment. 3:50pmCormac

hmm, but surely you have some idea 3:51pmCharley

I have some crude guesses.. 3:51pmCormac

i don't think we go into anything completely blind 3:51pmCharley

I'm not working alone though.

do you know tav?

He's the chief espian

3:52pmCormac
 * 1) esp logs everything

no, I don't know him. What I mean is: what are you hoping this meme/experiment will tell you about your interests in community-building etc? 3:52pmCharley

so this process will be exposed

I'm looking to build community that will survive cataclysms,,,

Relationships that are impervious to treason

When the "sh*t hits the fan" who will your friends be?

It's part game but a bigger part vital reality.

...and serious business. 3:56pmCormac

definitely interesting to do between online and f2f environments..

ok, but I suppose what got me confused from the beginning was you saying this was an experiment about "deletionism". How does this relate? 3:56pmCharley

ah... the question is...

Will you choose the WMF policy over your friendships?

which is stronger loyalty or law? 3:58pmCormac

so what friendships are you looking at here? between you and mike? or..? 3:58pmCharley

You and JWS, Me and JWS, JWS and Moulter, etc.

Looking at SB_Johnny, Historybuff,...

all of the original core vs. the current core 3:59pmCormac

ok... though, I suppose there are very many gradations of friendship - esp. online 3:59pmCharley

sure

to me, WV or WMF policy is just a bunch of crap.

I value the friends I've made online and will scrap all of that work

Can Jimbo be friends with CQ? 4:01pmCormac

hmm, you don't see policy as something which can actually support community-building? And undermine nastiness?

of course he can - I've met him a bunch of times ;-);-) 4:01pmCharley

not really.. not yet. 4:02pmCormac

maybe you should think about an essay that would serve the kind of social function you look for - put it up on WV 4:03pmCharley

I have some on Meta 4:03pmCormac

yeah, I was going to say there are a ton there :-):-) 4:03pmCharley

Meta holds the whole thing together anyway :):)

It would sure be cool if you shoed up at #wikiversity

showed

It would sure be cool if you shoed up at #wikiversity 4:05pmCormac

methinks there are many more things holding wmf together than you give credit for :-):-)

(sorry if you got that twice) 4:05pmCharley

have you been to strategy.wikimedia.org yet? 4:05pmCormac

hmm, i'm kinda bit tired atm - thinking of bed - didn't get much sleep last night

i've visited but not poked around much

oh - battery about to die too 4:06pmCharley

I'm an outsider to most of wmf, but i've been bold there.

OK Cormac

Maybe I'll see you in #wikiversity !!!

Later bro! 4:07pmCormac

if you put your thoughts on-wiki, I could have a look and comment - i'd love to

well, like i say, i try and keep away - though i might pop in v. occasionally :-):-) 4:08pmCharley

B)B) 4:08pmCormac

heh - thanks - and great talking with you Charley!

yep - you're the man :-):-) 4:09pmCharley

You're the man!

title: User:CQ/Test


text:
User:Mu301/Learning blog/2009-08

August 2009

 * Time to give this learning blog thing another try. There have been many delays, but things are finally in place for me to move forward on the SkyCam project.  That will be a high priority for this coming semester.  There is also the citizen science project to observe the eclipse of epsilon Aurigae that I'll be working on during the next two years, both on and off wiki.  --mikeu talk 00:03, 24 August 2009 (UTC)

 * Very interesting results from a citizen science project called Galaxy Zoo. --mikeu talk 17:30, 29 August 2009 (UTC)

 * Galaxy Zoo Hunters Help Astronomers Discover Rare 'Green Pea' Galaxies

 * Galaxy Zoo Green Peas: Discovery of A Class of Compact Extremely Star-Forming Galaxies

title: User:Mu301/Learning blog/2009-08


text:
User talk:Andy isonline

Networking Regenesis
Hi, I've noticed you are listed as one of active participants in the topic: Computer networks page. If you are still active we are holding discussions as to how we wish to clean up the topic and move it forward. Please see the Topic_talk:Computer_networks page and add your thoughts there.

title: User talk:Andy isonline


text:
User talk:Asem kittaneh

Networking Regenesis
Hi, I've noticed you are listed as one of active participants in the topic: Computer networks page. If you are still active we are holding discussions as to how we wish to clean up the topic and move it forward. Please see the Topic_talk:Computer_networks page and add your thoughts there.

title: User talk:Asem kittaneh


text:
Biblical Studies (NT)/I. Authorship and Historical Setting

NEW TESTAMENT

Lesson 2

 THE GOSPELS  I. Authorship and Historical Setting

Introduction
The four gospels each give an account of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, and many of his teachings are reproduced within them. Together, they form the core of the best-selling book of all time and are arguably the most influential works ever written, yet we know very little about their authors. Indeed, the traditional accreditation of authorship for the gospels and especially the dates of writing have increasingly come into question in the last hundred years, and especially since World War II, and scholars have offered varying hypotheses on the subject. It is not within our purpose here to discuss these theories in depth, because the first priority of students of the New Testament must be to acquire a working knowledge of the text itself. Having done so, they will then be in a position to move on to the intricacies of theological discussion, but to do so without first becoming acquainted with the text is a capital mistake which can only lead to erroneous conclusions. Nevertheless, issues on which scholarship is at variance, as in the case of the dating of the Gospels, will be noted where appropriate.

Matthew
Although the first gospel does not name its author, it has been accepted as the work of the apostle, Matthew, since the very earliest days of the church. Papias (ca. 70-155 A.D.), one of the apostle John’s students, gave Matthew credit for its authorship. Although there is a prediction of the destruction of the temple in this gospel, there is no indication that it had already occurred. This being the case, it would have been written prior to 70 A.D. Traditionally it has been placed mid-century, between 50 and 60 A.D.

Some scholars have used the prediction of the temple's destruction to argue for a later date, in the belief that no one can predict future events. On this basis, the Gospel must have been written after 70 A.D. Others note that there is no known external reference to the Gospel before the early second century, which leaves the possibility open for a later date of writing. Regardless, we can safely place the date of writing in the second half of the first century, and in the absence of evidence to the contrary, it is not unreasonable to accept the traditional position which gives credit for authorship to Matthew.

(There will be more about Matthew in the lesson entitled The Twelve Apostles.)

Mark
The second gospel has been attributed to Jesus' disciple, John Mark, since the earliest days of the church. Papias (ca. 70-155 A.D.) wrote of Mark, “One object was in his thoughts: to omit nothing that he had heard and to make no false statements.” If Mark did write this gospel, much of the information within it was probably furnished by the apostle Peter, who was a good friend and, as an apostle and one of Jesus' inner circle, would have had additional information beyond what Mark knew from his own experience.

The early church writers Eusebius, Epiphanius, and Jerome say that Mark died in Egypt in 64 A.D., which means that his gospel must have been written before that date. It has typically been placed towards the end of his life, between 56 and 64 A.D. However, Mark, like Matthew, quotes Jesus as predicting the "abomination of desolation" (Mk 13:14), i.e. the desecration of the temple. As with Matthew, some argue that this event could not have been foreseen, and in consequence Mark's gospel must have been written after 70 A.D. This would also necessitate that someone other than Mark actually wrote this gospel, as Mark would have been dead by this time. The passage does not make an explicit connection to the temple of New Testament times, however, and many interpreters see the passage as an end-times prophecy. Regardless, a date within the latter half of the first century is generally accepted.

Peter, in his first epistle, refers to Mark as his son, which may mean that Mark was a convert of his and/or that Peter was his mentor. Either way, such a description indicates a close relationship. In reality, Mark was the son of a woman of Jerusalem whose name was Mary. Their house was a meeting place for the disciples in Jerusalem and was the first place that Peter went when the angel released him from prison (Acts 12:12). Mark was a cousin of Barnabas, and since Barnabas was of the tribe of Levi from which were drawn the priests of Israel, it is likely that Mark was also, being related. It is commonly thought that he was talking about himself when he described the incident of the young man who was so eager to escape from the scene of Jesus’ arrest: “A certain young man followed him, having a linen cloth thrown around his naked body. And the young men laid hold of him, and he left the linen cloth and fled from them naked” (Mk 14:51-52).

In about 44 A.D., about fifteen years after Jesus is said to have ascended to heaven, Mark set out with Paul and Barnabas from Antioch on their first missionary journey. However, he did not complete the journey and this is thought to have caused a rift between him and Paul, for when he wanted to go with Paul on his second missionary journey about four years later, Paul refused to take him. As a result, Mark went with Barnabas to Cyprus instead. This occurrence did not drive a permanent wedge between Mark and Paul however, for we hear of Mark some twelve years later in Rome with Paul (Col 4:10). Again, just before he was executed, Paul asked Timothy to bring Mark to be with him (2 Tim 4:11).

Luke
The Gospel of Luke, like the other gospels, is named for the person who, according to tradition, is its author. We do not know to what extent Luke was an eyewitness of the events described in his gospel, yet the introduction indicates that he was in a position to be well-informed about them (Lk 1:3-4). In addition to his gospel, Luke is credited with writing the book of Acts, and both documents are addressed to a certain Theophilus. Nothing is known of this person, though his name suggests a Roman background.

Together, the Gospel of Luke and Acts form a two-part history of the early church. Since Acts ends during the period of Paul's house arrest in Rome, yet does not mention Paul's subsequent imprisonment and death, we have reason to believe that it was written between 62 and 66 A.D. The Gospel of Luke, as "the former account," [Acts 1:1] would have to have been written no later than that. There are a number of theories with regard to the date of authorship, however, with some seeing an earlier date, and others suggesting a later date. (For more information, see the Wikipedia article on the Gospel of Luke). But as with the other gospels, it is reasonably safe to assume a date within the second half of the first century.

As far as we know, Luke is the only non-Jewish writer in the Bible. Not much is known of his life. He is only mentioned three times in the New Testament. The first time is in Colossians 4:14, where Paul coined the phrase, “Luke, the beloved physician,” with which he is so often identified. Paul again refers to him in his letter to Philemon, where he calls him one of his “fellow laborers” (v.24). Again, during Paul’s last days in prison in Rome before his martyrdom, at a time when it was becoming very uncomfortable in Rome for Christians, and at a time when Paul’s “fellow laborers” had deserted him, Paul wrote to Timothy, “Only Luke is with me” (2 Tim 4:11). In all three passages, Mark is also mentioned, indicating that Mark and Luke were fellow workers in the Christian ministry and well-acquainted. Luke’s use of the pronoun “we” in certain parts of Acts indicates that he traveled with Paul from Troas to Philippi during Paul’s second missionary journey. He then spent six years as a leader in the Philippian church before rejoining Paul at the close of his third missionary journey. He stayed with Paul throughout Paul’s imprisonment in Caesarea and Rome and until Paul’s eventual martyrdom in about 66 A.D.

Luke's gospel and Acts together constitute about a quarter of the New Testament, and in terms of length, Luke's contribution is the largest of any of the New Testament authors, including Paul.

The Synoptic Problem
The first three gospels are often studied as a group, apart from John. This is because the accounts of Matthew, Mark, and Luke have many similarities. For this reason, they are called the Synoptic Gospels. (Synoptic means “from the same point of view.”) The similarity of their contents gives rise to the question, “Who wrote first, and how much did they borrow from each other?” The problem of determining the order in which they were written, how much each one influenced the others, and what sources they all had in common is called the Synoptic Problem.

Mark is the shortest of the three, and Mathew and Luke together contain almost everything included in Mark's gospel, though Matthew and Luke leave out different material, and each includes additional material unique to their own gospels. This has led some scholars to propose that Mark wrote first, and that the others took his gospel and added additional material to it. This is a distinct possibility, but it must be remembered that the opposite could also be true. Mark could have taken one or both of the other two gospels and edited them to suit his own purposes, creating a shorter account in the process, or all three may have used other sources which we no longer have.

If we accept the traditional position that these gospels were written by Matthew, Mark, and Luke, we may also conclude that Matthew, as an apostle, and Mark, as a disciple, were eyewitnesses to at least some of what they wrote. We do not know whether Luke was an eyewitness or not, but we know from Acts that he was acquainted with people who were. He opens his gospel by saying that he was in a position to know the facts, and he mentions that others had already written accounts of Jesus' life and ministry prior to his own:

 * Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile an account of the things accomplished among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus, that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed. (Lk 1:1-4)

It may be that Matthew and Mark were among those earlier accounts, but there is no way for us to know beyond a shadow of a doubt the order in which the three synoptics were written.

John
Early church writers were unanimous in giving credit to the apostle John for the authorship of the gospel which bears his name. This was not questioned until modern times, when a few scholars have raised the possibility that the author might have been another John who lived in Ephesus in the first century, among other things. However, the gospel itself testifies that the author was extremely close to Jesus, for it says, “Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following, who also had leaned on his breast at the supper… This is the disciple who testifies of these things, and wrote these things” (Jn 21:20,24). These words, coupled with the testimony of the early writers, weigh the evidence in favor of the apostle John. Also, as noted above, the content of John's gospel is substantially different than that of the other three gospels, which may indicate that the author was privy to events and dialogue of which they had no knowledge. If we accept the evidence for John the Apostle's authorship, the date of writing must be prior to 100 A.D., given John's death in the last few years of the century, but the exact date of writing is a subject of ongoing discussion.

(John will be discussed further in the lesson entitled The Twelve Apostles.)

The Emphasis of Each Gospel
While the gospels all tell the story of Jesus, each one has its own particular emphasis. The special emphasis of Matthew is that Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah who came in fulfillment of prophecy. Matthew repeatedly quotes from the Hebrew scriptures (the Old Testament of the Christian Bible) to illustrate this. As the first book in the New Testament, Matthew serves as a link between the Hebrew scriptures and the New Testament. Matthew's gospel opens with a genealogy of Jesus which goes back to Abraham. Matthew’s frequent references to the Hebrew scriptures powerfully illustrate the words of Jesus, who said, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill” (Mt 5:17).

Mark emphasizes the superhuman, miraculous power of Jesus. Where Matthew records Jesus’ discourses quite fully, Mark concentrates more on how Jesus demonstrated his deity by his divine powers. Mark’s gospel seems designed to appeal to the Roman mindset. As rulers of the greatest empire in the world until that time, the Romans would naturally have gloried in the idea of power and influence, in activity rather than in passivity. Jesus, while a humble servant of all, is portrayed as a man of action and power.

Luke emphasizes the humanity of Jesus, which is fitting for one who was both a Greek and a physician. He gives particular attention to Jesus’ kindness toward the weak, the suffering, and the outcast. Luke was a well-educated man who understood the Greek obsession with reason, beauty, and education. His account is well-suited to appeal to the lofty philosophical ideals of the Greek culture.

John’s gospel stands in contrast to that of Luke, for John dwells on the divinity of Christ, rather than his humanity. John reveals Christ to be the incarnate “Word,” that which existed before all things were made, and through whom all things were made. John is less concerned with what Jesus did and more concerned with who he was. His purpose was to establish that Jesus was the divine incarnation, not just a holy or gifted person. John was closer to Jesus, and possibly spent more time with him during his ministry years, than anyone else.

The existence of four gospels more than satisfies the requirement of the Law of Moses that "by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established" (Deut 19:15). While each gospel has its own particular emphasis, all four portray Jesus as the son of God. Matthew and Luke specifically mention that Mary was a virgin when Jesus was born, “for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit” (Mt 1:20). This being the case, Jesus would have been the son of God in a physical sense, as well as in a spiritual sense. Mark opens his gospel with these words: “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the son of God” (Mk 1:1). John, in the first chapter of his gospel, quotes John the Baptist, who says, “I have seen and testified that this is the son of God” (Jn 1:34). Therefore, while each of the gospels has its own particular emphasis, they share an underlying premise that Jesus was the son of God.

The Historical Setting
The gospels are set in the land of Palestine, which is roughly equivalent to modern-day Israel, plus the West Bank and Gaza. In the time of Jesus, it was at the eastern extreme of the Roman Empire and included (from north to south) the regions of Galilee, Samaria, Judea, and Idumea. The city of Jerusalem, located in the Judean hills, was the center of Jewish culture and religion. The Decapolis and Perea were to the east of the Jordan River. The Decapolis (a Greek word meaning ten cities) was, as the name suggests, a federation of cities marked by Hellenistic organization and culture. (Hellenistic means having to do with the culture of ancient Greece.) Today, these regions are in northwestern Jordan.

In the time of Christ, all of these regions were a part of the Roman Empire, which stretched from Spain and Morocco in the west to Palestine in the east. In the three centuries preceding Christ, Rome’s expansion from a regional power into a major world empire had been sure and steady. With the defeat of the occupying North African power of Carthage in 264 B.C., virtually the whole of the Italian peninsula came under Rome’s control. From this time on, the empire grew in leaps and bounds, with General Pompey taking over the areas at the eastern end of the Mediterranean, including Palestine, in 63 B.C. The Westminster Historical Atlas to the Bible (Westminster, 1956) says, “The Roman power was then acknowledged in a series of provinces, protectorates, and client states which ringed the Mediterranean and made it indeed what the Romans liked to call it, ‘Mare Nostrum’ (Our Sea).”

The Romans were often content to rule indirectly through a local ruler, such as Herod the Great, who pledged his allegiance to Rome. The basic division for administrative purposes however was the province, which was ruled directly by Rome through an appointed governor. Judea and Samaria, which together formed one Roman province, are an example. After Herod the Great died in 4 B.C., Judea and Samaria fell into the hands of his son, Archelaus, who proved to be so brutal and incompetent that the Romans removed him from power and instituted direct rule in 6 A.D.

While Rome provided the power that ruled the empire, Greece was the greatest cultural influence. It had a richer cultural heritage than Rome which made it a natural source of stimulation for the intellectuals of the time. The Greek language was the international language, much as English is today. This is why the New Testament was written in Greek, rather than Aramaic (the language of Palestine) or Latin (the language of Rome).

Test Your Knowledge
{It is likely that all four gospels were written within which of the following time periods: - 0-40 A.D. + 40-100 A.D. - 100-150 A.D. - 150-200 A.D.
 * type=""}

{As far as we know, he was the only non-Jewish writer in the New Testament: - Matthew - Mark + Luke - John
 * type=""}

{The gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke are known as: - The Coptic Gospels - The Palestinian Gospels - The Greek Gospels + The Synoptic Gospels
 * type=""}

{According to the Law of Moses, how many witnesses are required to establish a matter? - None - One + Two or three - Four
 * type=""}

{Which of the following statements is true? + All of the gospels portray Jesus as the Son of God. - Only John portrays Jesus as the Son of God. - It is a myth that the gospels portray Jesus as the Son of God. - The Son of God is an Old Testament idea which does not appear in the New Testament.
 * type=""}

{During Jesus’ time, Palestine was a part of: - The Egyptian Empire - The Babylonian Empire + The Roman Empire - The Persian Empire
 * type=""}

{The New Testament was originally written in: - King James English - Aramaic - Latin + Greek
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Biblical Studies (NT)/II. Jesus

NEW TESTAMENT

Lesson 3

 THE GOSPELS ''' II. Jesus '''

'NOTE: This lesson seeks only to accurately represent the Gospel portrayal of Jesus. It is not intended as a religious or doctrinal statement, and students should form their own opinions as to the nature and reliability of the Gospel accounts.'

The Birth of Jesus
In the year 4 or 5 B.C., the Romans held a census. Being of the house and lineage of David, it was necessary for Joseph and Mary, who was ready to give birth at any time, to go to Bethlehem to register. On arrival in Bethlehem, there was no room for them at the inn, so the pair took shelter in a barn, and this is where Jesus was born. For a crib, they had to lay the infant Jesus in a manger (a trough or box used for feeding horses and cattle). Luke says that on the day Jesus was born, an angel appeared to shepherds in the fields, saying, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the City of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Lk 2:10-11).

It may seem like a contradiction to speak of Christ being born four years Before Christ (B.C.), but there is a logical explanation. When Jesus was born, dates in the Roman Empire were reckoned from the founding of the city of Rome. Later on, after Christianity had become the official religion of the Roman world, the emperor Justinian commissioned a monk named Dionysius Exiguus to make a new calendar which was reckoned from the time of the birth of Christ. This calendar was made in 526 A.D. Unfortunately, long after the Christian calendar was made, it was found that Dionysius had made an error in his calculations and placed the birth of Christ several years later than the actual event. So, according to our present calendar, the most likely date of Christ’s birth is actually 4 or 5 B.C.

Jesus’ Childhood
Not much is recorded concerning Jesus’ childhood. After eight days he was circumcised, according to Jewish law. He was presented in the temple after the time of his mother’s purification - forty days - and the customary offering was made. As mentioned earlier, the family fled to Egypt while he was still a baby, but were soon able to return when Herod the Great died. Luke writes, “The Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon him” (Lk 2:40).

The next we hear of Jesus is the visit to Jerusalem with his parents at the age of twelve. After his parents realized that he was missing, they went to look for him. They found him in the temple discussing with the teachers: “All who heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers” (Lk 2:47). Of the next eighteen years, all that the Bible tells us is that “Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men” (Lk 2:52).

Nazareth, where Joseph and Mary lived and where Jesus grew up, is in Galilee, about fifteen miles east of the southern tip of the Sea of Galilee and about twenty miles from the Mediterranean coast. The everyday language of Galilee was Aramaic, but due to the Roman occupation, there were many non-Jewish people in the area, and Greek was common also. Jesus would also have been exposed to Hebrew, as it was the language of the scriptures and was regularly heard in the synagogue.

Phases of Jesus’ Ministry
Jesus’ ministry, from the time of his baptism until his ascension, can be divided into six basic phases:
 * a) Early Judean
 * b) Galilean
 * c) Later Judean
 * d) Perean
 * e) Passion Week
 * f) Post-Resurrection

For approximately eight months after his baptism, Jesus ministered in and around Jerusalem, a period which has come to be known as the Early Judean Ministry. Most of what we know about this time comes from the Gospel of John, as the Synoptic Gospels give very little attention to it. After this time, he journeyed back to Galilee to begin what has come to be known as the Galilean Ministry. The Synoptic Gospels give great attention to this period, with about half of Matthew and Mark and about six chapters of Luke being devoted to it. It probably lasted about two years. Following his departure from Galilee, Jesus spent several months in Judea (the Later Judean Ministry) and Perea (the Perean Ministry). Returning to Jerusalem for the final week before his crucifixion (Passion Week), he stayed in Bethany, a few miles to the southeast of the city. His crucifixion took place at Calvary, just outside Jerusalem’s city wall.

The post-Resurrection phase of Jesus’ ministry took place in the forty days between his resurrection and his ascension to heaven. After appearing to his disciples in Jerusalem after the Resurrection, Jesus went back to Galilee, where he sojourned with them in a pre-arranged meeting place. He then returned to Jerusalem one last time before his ascension, which took place just outside the city in or near the village of Bethany, on the Mount of Olives.

Jesus’ Baptism
The event which marked the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry was his baptism in the River Jordan by John the Baptist. This probably happened in 26 A.D. when Jesus was thirty years old. The location was a place not far from Jericho, at or near the spot where the waters divided for Joshua and the Israelites to cross into Canaan (i.e. Palestine). Matthew writes, “Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. And Jesus, when he had been baptized, came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased’” (Mt 3:13,16,17). This was, in a sense, Jesus’ inauguration. From this point forth, he publicly assumed the role of what is called in Hebrew, Messiah; in Greek, Christ; and in English, Anointed One.

The Temptation
After his baptism, Jesus went out into the barren mountain wilderness near Jericho for forty days where he fasted and was subjected to temptations by Satan. Satan’s efforts proved fruitless and he eventually left Jesus alone, whereupon angels came and ministered to Jesus. This event is significant theologically in that it shows that Jesus could be tempted. He remained resolute, however, even at a time when he was at his weakest, having fasted forty days in the wilderness. The passage also indicates that, in the Bible’s view, Satan is a real entity who is bold enough to challenge the Son of God himself. Had Jesus succumbed to temptation, his purpose for coming into the world would have been negated, for he would have been corrupted and, according to the law of Moses, would no longer have been an acceptable sacrifice.

The Sermon on the Mount
The main themes of Jesus’ teaching are outlined early on in the gospels in the Sermon on the Mount, which can be found in Chapters 5, 6, and 7 of Matthew. There is an abbreviated form of it in the sixth chapter of Luke, sometimes called the Sermon on the Plain. It is not known if it is from the same sermon or a different one which contained many similar themes. In it, Jesus emphasizes the need for purity and righteousness, even in the face of adversity. Those who remain faithful, even through tribulation, will be greatly blessed. He teaches that scripture is reliable, saying, “Till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law until all is fulfilled” (Mt 5:18).

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus expounds the most important and basic of the Mosaic laws, urging us to go beyond mere physical obedience and seek absolute moral and spiritual purity, assuring us that “he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened” (Mt 7:8). He gives us a model prayer, so that we might know how to pray. He stresses one of the most fundamental of Christian precepts, that of forgiveness, saying, “If you do not forgive people their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Mt 6:15). He reminds us to do good, “And your Father who sees in secret will himself reward you openly” (Mt 6:4). He concludes the sermon by comparing those who heed his teachings to wise men who build on a rock, and those who ignore his teachings to foolish men who build on sand.

The Transfiguration
Towards the end of his Galilean ministry, Jesus took Peter, along with the brothers, James and John, up onto a mountain by themselves. Once they had arrived at the spot Jesus desired, he began to pray. As the disciples looked at him, he was transformed so that “his face shone like the sun and his clothes became as white as the light” (Mt 17:2). Then Moses and Elijah appeared, talking with him about his approaching death in Jerusalem. The disciples were so afraid that Peter nervously suggested that they erect three tabernacles, one for each of the men in the vision, for in reality he did not know what to say or do. As he spoke, however, he was overshadowed by a cloud from which came a voice, saying, “This is my beloved Son. Hear him!” (Lk 9:35). At this, the disciples fell to their faces in fear, but Jesus touched them and told them not to be afraid. When they looked up, he was alone again and had regained his normal appearance.

The Triumphal Entry
At the end of March (Nisan in the Hebrew calendar), probably in 29 or 30 A.D., Jesus went up to Jerusalem with his disciples for a religious festival: the Passover. Before the week was out, Jesus would be arrested, undergo a mock trial, and be executed by crucifixion. All of the gospels, but particularly John, give considerable detail concerning this final week, which is a measure of its importance. When Jesus arrived in Jerusalem, he received a great welcome from the people, which belied the fate which awaited him in the coming days. Matthew writes, “A very great multitude spread their garments on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And when he came into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, ‘Who is this?’” (Mt 21:8,10).

The Olivet Discourse
On Tuesday of the Passover week, Jesus gave his famous “Olivet Discourse,” so called because it was given on the Mount of Olives. This is Jesus’ great end-times discourse in which he speaks of the great tribulation to come at the end of the age. He warns of false prophets who will arise in the last days and speaks of signs which will indicate that the end is near. He also speaks of a second coming of the Messiah, saying, “As the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be” (Mt 24:37). In the days of Noah, the world was full of immorality. Despite the warnings of Noah that a great flood was imminent, everyone continued about their business as though nothing were going to happen. Consequently, when the time came, they were thoroughly unprepared. So it will be, Jesus says, in the end times.

The Last Supper
During Passover week, Jesus stayed outside of the city in Bethany, but came into Jerusalem to teach. Matthew writes, “The chief priests, the scribes, and the elders of the people assembled together at the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, and plotted that they might take Jesus by trickery and kill him” (Mt 26:3-4). They were soon to find the opportunity they needed when Judas Iscariot came to them and agreed to betray Jesus for thirty pieces of silver.

On Thursday evening of Passover week, the day before the crucifixion, Jesus ate the traditional Passover meal with his apostles. When they were sitting at supper, Jesus identified Judas as the one who would betray him. Jesus then instituted the sacrament of communion, in which bread and wine are consumed as a memorial of his sacrifice, the bread representing his body and the wine, his blood.

The Passover, which had been observed by the Jews since the Exodus more than a thousand years earlier, is highly symbolic in this context. When they were slaves in Egypt, the Jews were passed over by the angel of death because they put the blood of a sacrificial lamb on their door posts, as instructed by Moses. In this instance, Jesus himself is considered to be the sacrificial lamb whose blood allows his followers to escape spiritual death. Following the Passover meal, which has come to be known as the Last Supper, Jesus and the disciples went out to a place called Gethsemane, where they entered a garden: “Jesus knelt down and prayed, saying, ‘Father, if it is your will, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.’ And being in agony, he prayed more earnestly. And his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground” (Lk 22:42,44). This is known as the Agony in the Garden. While they were there, Judas led his enemies to him, accompanied by a large crowd carrying swords and clubs. They then led him away to the high priest for trial.

Jesus’ Trial and Crucifixion
Jesus first came before Annas at about midnight. Annas was Caiaphas’ father-in-law and his predecessor in the office of high priest, and he still retained a powerful influence. After questioning Jesus, Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas. At Caiaphas’ residence, Jesus came before the Sanhedrin: a council of seventy, made up of Pharisees, Sadducees, priests, scribes, and elders, all of whom were presided over by the high priest. They condemned Jesus on the charge of blasphemy, supported by false witnesses. However, they could not put Jesus to death without the permission of the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, and since Pilate was not Jewish, they knew that he would not be impressed with a charge of blasphemy. Therefore, they concocted a charge of treason against Caesar, with which they brought Jesus before him when morning came.

When Pilate learned that Jesus was from Galilee, he sent him to King Herod Antipas, whose jurisdiction was over Galilee and who was in Jerusalem at the time, presumably for the Passover feast. Herod mocked Jesus and sent him back to Pilate. However, after interviewing Jesus, Pilate was convinced of his innocence and would have set him free, were it not for the crowd, which was becoming unruly, raising fears of a riot. Matthew writes, “When Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, but rather that a tumult was rising, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, ‘I am innocent of the blood of this innocent person. You see to it.’ And all the people answered and said, ‘His blood be on us and on our children.’ Then he released Barabbas to them; but when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified” (Mt 27:24-26). Jesus was then taken and crucified along with two criminals, one on his left and one on his right. When evening had come, Joseph, a wealthy man from a town about twenty miles northwest of Jerusalem called Arimathea, came with Nicodemus and took Jesus’ body and laid it in his own tomb, which had never been used. A heavy stone was rolled in front of the entrance and at the request of the Jewish leaders, a guard was placed in front of it.

The Resurrection
The day after Jesus’ crucifixion was the Sabbath, when no one was allowed to perform any tasks, either for business or of a personal nature. But the following day, three female disciples - Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome - came to anoint Jesus’ body with oil and spices. When they arrived, an angel was waiting for them, who told them, “He is not here. He is risen as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. Go quickly and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead, and indeed he is going before you into Galilee; there you will see him” (Mt 28:6-7). Later, the apostle Paul would write to the disciples at Corinth: “Christ is risen from the dead and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all will be made alive” (1 Cor 15:20-22).

The Ascension
During the next forty days, Jesus appeared on several occasions to his disciples, first in Jerusalem, then in Galilee, and again in Jerusalem. Then after forty days, he ascended to heaven: “He led them out as far as Bethany, and he lifted up his hands and blessed them. And it came to pass, while he blessed them, that he was parted from them and carried up into heaven. And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God!” (Lk 24:50 53).

The Word of God
In the opening chapter of the Gospel of John, we read these words: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God... And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (Jn 1:1,14). As we continue to read the passage, it becomes apparent that the flesh in which the Word “dwelt among us” was that of Jesus. Though the Bible is often referred to as “the word,” this passage is clearly using the term in a different sense, for it says that the Word “was God.” This Word is therefore another term for the spirit of God. When John says that it “became flesh and dwelt among us,” he does not mean that God became flesh in a literal sense, but that God manifested himself in a physical body: the body of Jesus.

The Word, as it is used here, is also called the Name of God, or the Holy Name. In Revelation, the author describes a vision of Jesus and says, “He had a name written that no one knew except himself... and his name is called the Word of God” (Rev 19:12-13). This name will eventually be revealed, however, for John says that people “shall see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads” (Rev 22:4). Since the Name of God is clearly not a physical thing, it is reasonable to conclude that the phrase, "his name shall be written on their foreheads," is a figure of speech which is used to express a spiritual concept in concrete terms.

There is a mystery here, for the Gospel of John says that the Word was both with God, and was God. Most Christian sects explain this enigma with the doctrine of the Trinity, which says that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are three manifestations of God, distinct, yet in essence, one. If the Word was the spirit of God manifested to us through the body of Jesus, then Jesus may be considered an incarnation of God. Notwithstanding, in the New Testament the Son makes himself subordinate to the Father. The Trinity is a challenging concept which has often been a source of controversy. Nevertheless, belief in the Trinity has, for many centuries, been considered a mark of orthodoxy within many Christian churches.

Both Human and Divine
The paradoxical nature of Jesus, as both human and divine, is evident from the very beginning, in his conception. He is said to be born of a human mother, but conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit while his mother was yet a virgin. So while he was the son of Mary, he was also the son of God. Hence the two titles by which he is often described: “Son of Man” and “Son of God.” As the Son of Man, he grew to physical maturity and was subject to sickness and death like anyone else. But as the Son of God, he was without sin, ageless, divine, and had power over life and death.

Both the human and the divine sides of the Messianic nature are clearly taught in the Bible. His humanness is shown in the fact that apart from his supernatural conception, Mary carried Jesus through all the stages of a normal pregnancy and he was born in the normal way. He was even circumcised after eight days, as was the custom with the Jewish people. He grew in size and increased in worldly knowledge like other children, for Luke says, “Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men” (Lk 2:52).

From a strictly physical point of view, he appeared to be like any other man, and many people saw him as just a normal man. For example, the people of the area where he grew up were offended by his wisdom. They felt that he should act and speak just as they did, without making what they thought were pretensions to supernatural wisdom. They said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And his brothers James, Joses, Simon and Judas? And his sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this man get all these things? And they were offended by him” (Mt 13:54-57).

According to the Gospel of Luke, Jesus was a carpenter by trade. It was customary for the eldest son to learn his father’s trade, and this is what Jesus did, since from a human point of view, Joseph took the place of a father to him. Therefore, as a young man, he learned a trade and apparently worked for his living as any other man. As a human being, he was subject to pain, hunger, emotions, and death. For example, on the cross he complained of thirst (Jn 19:28). Isaiah described the Messiah as “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Is 53:3) -- words which are understood by Christians as finding their fulfillment in Jesus.

But the New Testament also teaches that Jesus was divine. Perhaps his most dramatic claim to deity is in a dispute with the Pharisees, who were trying to trick him with words and find reasons to accuse him. Jesus quotes from the book of Exodus, where God sends Moses on a mission to lead the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. Moses anticipates that the Israelites, living in a land of many gods, will want to know which one sent him. The Exodus account says, “God said to Moses, ‘I am who I am, so say to the children of Israel, I Am has sent me to you’” (Ex 3:14). Consequently, the words “I Am” were recognized in Israel as a divine name for God. In his discussion with the Pharisees, Jesus said, “‘Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and was glad.’ Then the Jews said to him, ‘You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?’ Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I Am’” (Jn 8:56-58). The effect of this on the Pharisees was so profound that they immediately tried to stone Jesus for blasphemy, but the Bible tells us that somehow he hid himself from their sight and left the temple grounds where they had been talking.

The Sacrificial Lamb
The climax of Jesus’ earthly ministry is the Crucifixion, where he sacrifices his life as an atonement for the sins of the world. This is both a sacrifice of the Father and of the Son, for the Bible says, “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life” (Jn 3:16). In another messianic prophecy, Isaiah says:
 * His visage was marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men. He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned, every one, to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. (Is 52:14, 53:3, 6, 7)

However, the Son of Man is also the Son of God, and he has power over life and death. Three days after his crucifixion, he rose from the dead and walked among his disciples for forty days, after which, he ascended to heaven. According to the New Testament, he will return at the end of this age and rule over the earth during a thousand years of peace (see the lessons on Revelation).

Test Your Knowledge
{When was the likely date of Jesus’ birth? - The year 0 - 1 AD + 4 or 5 BC - 4 or 5 AD
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{ Where was Jesus born? - Nazareth - Jerusalem - Bethel + Bethlehem
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{ Where did Jesus grow up? + Nazareth - Jerusalem - Bethel - Bethlehem { What was Jesus primary language? - Greek - Latin + Aramaic - Hebrew
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{ Which event marked the beginning of Jesus’ ministry as it is recorded in the gospels? - His bar mitzvah - His resurrection - His ascension + His baptism
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{ After his baptism, what did Jesus do? - Went back to Nazareth to celebrate with his family. + Fasted for forty days in the wilderness. - Offered a sacrificial lamb in the temple. - All of the above.
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{ Who are the three “inner circle” disciples who were present at the Transfiguration? + Peter, James, and John - Matthew, Mark, and Luke - Peter, Paul, and Mary - Judas, Andrew, and Philip
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{ Which annual Jewish festival took place at the time of Jesus’ crucifixion? - Rosh Hashanah + Passover - Yom Kippur - Hanukkah { Which of the twelve apostles betrayed Jesus? - Peter - James - John + Judas { At the “Last Supper,” which of the following did Jesus do? - Ate one last meal with the twelve apostles - Identified the apostle who would betray him - Instituted the Christian sacrament of communion + All of the above
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{ Which of the following was reluctant to give consent to Jesus’ crucifixion? + Pontius Pilate - Herod Antipas - The high priest - The Pharisees
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{ Who came to anoint Jesus’ body and discovered the empty tomb? - Mary Magdalene - Mary, mother of James - Salome + All of the above
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{ How many days were there between Christ’s resurrection and ascension? - 3 - 7 - 28 + 40
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{ The “Word of God” in John 1:1 is: - The second person of the Trinity which was incarnated in the human being Jesus of Nazareth - Also known as the “Name of God” - The Bible + a and b
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{ As far as we know, Jesus mostly spent his childhood: - Separated from other children + Growing up like any normal child - In the temple, being raised by the priests - In the wilderness without worldly comforts
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{ According to the New Testament, why did Jesus allow himself to be crucified? - He had no choice - It guaranteed his place in heaven after death + To make atonement for the sins of the world - To guarantee his fame and lasting influence
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title: Biblical Studies (NT)/II. Jesus