 Good morning. Greetings and welcome to BC103 New Testament survey. I hope each of you all had a refreshing holiday and a blessed time with your family. So we welcome you back to the spring semester 2023. So before we could begin, let's start the session with a word of prayer. Dear God, we thank you. We praise you. We love you. We honor you. We glorify your name, Lord. Father, we surrender ourselves and the whole year into your hand, Lord. We pray that your hand of grace and mercy will respond to each one of us, Lord. And you will lead us and guide us, Father, through the year, Lord. Father, we also pray that as we set aside this time and study on the New Testament survey, we pray and we ask, Lord, that you will give us the understanding of Father, understanding of your word and your spirit, Lord. Father, we pray that you will lead and guide us by your Holy Spirit, Father. Thank you, Lord. In Jesus' precious name, we pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you so much. I hope each of you all would have downloaded the notes which has been uploaded on the stream. New Testament survey. The PDF soft copy has been uploaded on the stream. Request you all to please download and make use of the notes. So let's begin. So I'm just going through the course overview, what we would be covering in this course, what has been expected from this course, New Testament survey. So this course is designed to give the students an overall view of the New Testament books and each book of New Testament with an introduction of the author, the date of writing of the book. Along with that, we will also be looking into the purpose of why this book was written, along with the theme, keywords, chapters of the main chapters or key verses from that book we would be looking into. We also see an outline of the book in the view of Jesus Christ has been stated in each book. So the study will help each of us to understand the covenant that we have with God, which God has made with man about the salvation after Jesus Christ came in and about the covenant of grace. So this study also will help each of us to understand the life and the ministry of Jesus Christ and how we can apply that in our life. So we will be looking into the first two sessions today and tomorrow. We will be going through the introduction of the New Testament after what happened after the book of Malachi and how did the New Testament begin. What happened into the gap period? We will be looking that into today's session that is introduction to the New Testament. And tomorrow we will be studying on the four Gospels, four Gospels of Jesus Christ while the Gospel was needed. Why was the story told and retold again? And then from the next class onwards, each class we will be studying on each book like the Gospel of Matthew, Gospel of Mark, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and then goes on with the other book still, the book of Revelation. So we also have a recommended reading from Jensen's survey of the New Testament by Jensen and a history of the Bible lands in the interbiblical period. So request each of y'all to please you can download these books or you can also visit our library for the students on campus. Y'all can visit our library, take these books and get into a deep study on these chapters. With that we will move on to the introduction of the New Testament before we could begin. Would you like to share anything? What is your idea of studying New Testament survey? The way we study the Old Testament survey, it would not be like, you know, worse to worse study or chapter to chapter study. It would be an overview of each book for us to understand what is it, what has been said in each book for a better understanding. Okay. Y'all have any questions? Okay. And also I would request y'all even before we could begin with this course, I would request y'all to give me some suggestions that we can opt to make this course interesting. For example, you can say that, you know, you need some video recording or you want the course to be presented to you in the form of a PowerPoint presentation to keep it very interesting. Interactive. Okay. So other than this, okay, video clipping or a PPT, is there any other way to keep this course interesting? Request y'all to please put a note to me on the Google stream so that, you know, I'll go through your recommendation and see how best we could make this course interesting to you. Okay. So it's the same applies for the online and the on campus and also to the e-learning students, y'all can post your comments on the discussion board and we will look into it later and see what best we can apply it to this course. I see there's a comment. Okay, check it. Thanks, check it. Well, let's get into the introduction of the New Testament. So our Old Testament that y'all ended an Old Testament survey ends with the book of Malachi. So the Old Testament ends with God's final message through the prophet Malachi and God communication directly to men took a pause for some 400 years. Just give me a minute. Okay. And hence this period from the book of Malachi to the start of the New Testament, we see there was a silent period about 400 years and there were many changes that took place during this time. So we see that as we go through, we see that God was actually working even during the silent period of 400 years. We see that God has set a stage for himself to bring Jesus Christ, the person Jesus Christ into this world. So we see that there's a revelation that would, you know, that we receive in the New Covenant based on what God's grace through faith worked each of us in bringing Jesus Christ into this world and dying for each of us on the cross. So we will first look at the changes that took place in Judah starting with, there were certain changes that took place during this 400 years. What are the changes there? Especially there were three changes that was through the political change, the culture and the religion. So even before I could begin, let me share the PowerPoint. Is it viewable to everyone? You're able to see? Just help out Nikhil so that he can see. Everyone, everyone can see the PowerPoint, right? Okay. We'll move on to the next slide, introduction to the New Testament world. And yeah, the political changes that we are talking about. So we see that in 400 BC, there was a Persian empire that ruled Judah. And then 334 BC, we see there was a Greek empire or the Alexandrian period. And then 324 BC, we see Egyptian empire rule take over the nation. And then in 204 BC, we see the Syrian empire took over the nation. And in 165 BC, we see the rule of Maccabean. And in 63 BC, we see the Roman Empire. Roman Empire was actually during the time of Jesus. So as we study this each empire, let's look into the, let me change the slide. Okay, let's look at the Persian Empire. So the Persian period was from 536 to 333 BC. So the United Medo-Persian Empire conquered the fear as Syrian and became the primary world power. So under the King Cyrus of Persia, many of the Israelites were encouraged to go back to Palestine and rebuild their temple. So this is the temple that was used in the time of Jesus days. So Cyrus philosophy was to conquer a people and then give them back their religious freedom to encourage long-term loyalty to him and his kingdom. So a significant thing that happened during this period is that the synagogue system was established under the leadership of Ezra to promote the reading and study of the Old Testament. That is the Torah among the Jews, both in Palestine and in exile. So when we get to the New Testament period, we see the existence of the synagogue would be a vital for the spread of the gospel. So in many cities that became a springboard for Paul's church planting ministry. Another significant thing that happened during this period was the huge bearing on the understanding of the New Testament was a serious resentment and a rivalry that developed between these two groups. Who are those two groups? They were rivalry among each other, the Jews and the Samaritans. Yes. So the Samaritans were some of the main opposition to rebuild of the world under the leadership of Nehemiah. So this nation had this urge to continue to increase up to the time of Jesus to the point that each group despised the other. So with that, we will move on to the next empire. So before I could move on, you can see the map. You see that orange color, the whole of this area was under the rule of the Persian empire. So with that, we will move on to the next. This is the Greek empire. So from the Persian of the Greeks, I picked over and you see again the orange color till where the Greek empire was spread through. Well, the Greek period was from 333 BC to 323 BC. It is also known as the Alexandrian period. So under the leadership of Alexander the Great, perhaps the greatest military leader of all time. The world was brought under the control of the Greek empire in just a few short years and we see that Alexander subjected most of the world from Greece to India. Legend added that when he entered the Palestinian, he was shown the predictions of Daniel about the kingdom of the world. And so the impress that he became very benevolent to the Jews. Perhaps the most significant thing that happened under the Greek period is that of the unification of the world under Greek language. There was one language that was used. So lesser they extend the Greek culture, this would eventually prove extreme beneficial for the spread of the gospel. Particularly as we know of it under the ministry of Paul. So most of the New Testament because of this common language because Greek was a common language those days. So most of the New Testament books would have been written in this language, which was the universal language in the time of Jesus. So with that we will move on to the next empire. That's the Egyptian Empire. Again you see the orange color orange color that is spread. Yes, they were ruled by the Egyptians. So the Egyptian period which started in 323 BC to 204 AD. So under leadership of Amos, Egyptian king took control of the Palestinian. So they would remain in control for over 100 years and they were very kind to Jews and it was not uncommon for a steady stream of Jews to move freely from Palestine to Egypt. So it was under the leadership that Alexander became a major learning center. Alexandria became the major learning center at the location of the greatest library in the world. So we see that he promoted a strong emphasis on learning and education on a wide range of topics including the religion. So it was through his initiative, the Septuagint was produced, which was a Greek version of the Old Testament. So this is significant because the Septuagint written in the most common language in the world became the Bible of Jesus, Paul and the early church. So what we also see is it was accessible to people of non-Jewish origin. This was the Bible of the land for five years until the Latin Vulgate come across. Did we understand? With that we will move on to the next period. What is this Syrian Empire? Okay, later Ottomans took over the Syria. Okay, so Syrian, we see the orange color again. You see wherever the color spread, this was the Syrian Empire. So during the Syrian Empire, as the Egyptians hold on things grew weaker and the other powers grew stronger, including the Romans. So the Seleucides or the Syrians were seeking to exercise their own freedom from dominance and desired control of Palestine to serve as a buffer zone to the rest of the world's power. So the Syrians had a tremendous hatred over the Jewish people and under the leadership of Antiochus Epiphanes killed many of the priests. So changed the name of Jerusalem to Antioch dedicated the temple to Jupiter outlawed the Jewish observance, including the Passover. When Antiochus declared himself to be God and he set up an altar to Jupiter in the temple. And he also went a step ahead. He offered pigs blood on the offering table. So the Jews saw this as an abomination of desolation to which Daniel had referred in the book of Daniel chapter 12. We also see something very unfortunate that went away too far in, you know, all these activities provoked the Jewish people and it arose, there rose a wraith among them. So a man named Medatheus. Yeah, it's a little difficult to pronounce these words. Okay, so it is Medatheus, Medatheus Maccabees. Okay, E and his four sons came against these people and you know, they started to become the freedom fighter for the Jews. So with that, we will move on to the next called the Maccabin period. So during the Maccabin period, we see most of the Israel, okay, most of the Egypt and Israel been taken over by the Maccabin. So Israel under the Maccabees rule. So the rule was from 165 BC to 63 BC. So Medatheus Maccabin began his quest for freedom by killing the priest of Jupiter who destroyed the temple. So who had been functioning in the temple and he then fled to the hills and organized about 10,000 volunteers to serve as an army of farmers. Even though they were outnumbered 5 to 1 and we armed with much inferior weapons. Somehow they overcame the Syrians and drove them out with a heroic act of bravery. So we see Judas Maccabin went to Jerusalem, cleansed the temple and the city and brought a restoration of worship. So the temple was restored back to the Jewish culture, to the Jewish type of worship. So it took, but all these effort took several years for them to complete and take control of the land and to accomplish the leadership of the Maccabin family. So unfortunately after the death of the original Maccabin leader, their successes that is their nephew and their grandchildren from those four sons were actually corrupted politically and the nation declined spiritually over time. So with that we will move on to the next. So we are just trying to give you an overview what happened in Israel, how the period changed, how the times changed from the book of Malachi even before the New Testament could start. So during that 400 years what happened? Okay, so now we are into the Roman period which took place from 63 BC to 476 AD. Eventually the Romans grew in strength to the point that they were accomplishing their vision for world domination. So one of the needs of the empire was clear and safe avenues of transport for goods and supply lines. So they hired Pompey to clear the Mediterranean of pirates. In the course of his efforts, he landed in Palestine and saw the internal warning among the Maccabines and seized the opportunity to take Capitib to Rome. So from the point of Rome began their domination of Palestine. So this is where we find the situation where Jesus was born. So during the Roman period is where Jesus was born. So the Jews hated the Romans and the Romans had very little respect from the Jews. They saw them as difficult people who were nearly impossible to rule over because of their narrow monastic views. So the greatest benefit for the gospel was to create a universal society of law. So to this through their rule, they could establish a kingdom of peace and to establish a system of roads that made the worldwide travel much easier, safer than it was before. So because the Romans made this roadway travel, everything safe, it was much easier. Later for the gospel could be carried to the entire world. So with that, you know, we complete all six Empire. Okay, that is for the next class. So we discussed on the Persian Empire, Alexandrian, Egyptian Empire, Syrian, Maccabean rule and also the Roman Empire. So these were the political changes that took place in that 400th silent period. So we will also look at the political setting at the time of Jesus Christ. When Jesus was born, what was the political setting? How was the time? How was the people? What was the political setting during his time? So we see that the world was under the dominance of the Roman Empire. So Palestine was under Roman rule and Roman appointed leaders. So the Romans placed kings and Tatraks over the Jews. So Antipater was given the initial position of Tatraks of Palestine about 47 B.C. and served in that position for about 10 years. So he was succeeded by the following leaders. So I've listed few leaders here. Okay, let's go one by one. Okay, so we see Herod the Great. We have heard, right? When we are reading the Gospel, all four Gospel and also the Book of Acts, we hear about Herod the Great. He was one of the Tatraks. So let's see what happened during his time. So he ruled, Herod the Great ruled from 37 B.C. to 4 B.C. So this is the period that Herod was the Tatraks or the King of Judah when Jesus was born and he was a very paranoid leader who was afraid of being disposed by freedom fighters. Like, you know, were the four freedom fighters, right? The Maccabean and their four sons. Okay, so all the other rivals were against these Tatraks. So initially, he married a Maccabean woman to ensure a safe relationship with the Maccabeans. So but he never trusted his wife thinking that she might sell in, you know, with the other Maccabeans. And what he did was he allowed her to be killed. So his method of killing of the potential rivals continued during this rule. And we also see that he was the one who informed to kill all the newly born babies. Okay, during that time. So with that, we will also move on to the next Herod. So Herod has three sons. Okay, Herod had three sons. So after the death of Herod, there was much turmoil over the issue of who will succeed position. So he had three sons. Who are the three sons? First one was Archilus. Second was Philip. Third was Antipas. So Archilus ruled from 480 to 680. So he was given rule over the southern area including Judah. And this included the city of Bethlehem. So he was a short-lived ruler who was known for his brutality toward both the Jews and the Samaritans. There were two groups, right, those days. So he ruled among them and he was a very brutal leader. It was because he was over the region which included Bethlehem, the Joseph, Jesus, the father that the mind to move to Nazareth during and after returning from Egypt rather than back to Bethlehem. So it was this person under the rule of Archilus is where, you know, the angel gave a dream to Joseph and Joseph had to move from one place to the other to safeguard the child. So Archilus fell into ill favor with the Romans and his own brothers and was disposed after a very short reign. So after that we see the second son Philip ruled from 4 BC to 34 AD. So we see that Philip was given rule over the northern area. It is also stated in the Gospel of Luke chapter 3. So he was a relatable and peaceful leader. He was well liked by subjects. He eventually married Salome, the daughter of Herodias who was responsible for the death of John the Baptist. So you all remember, right, John the Baptist. Okay. So he married Herod's daughter Philip. Okay. With that we will move on to the third son who was named Antipas. Antipas from 4 BC to 39 AD. So Antipas also called as Herod was given the rule over the east side of Jordan. Again, this has been noted in the book of Luke chapter 3. We see that. Of all the Herod sons, he played the most prominent role in biblical history because this region included Galilee and Peria. So the area where both John the Baptist and Jesus did most of their ministry. And he was the one who was responsible for the death of John the Baptist. When people reported of Jesus' ministry to him as possibly John risen from the dead, which is stated in most of the Gospels like Matthew, Mark and Luke. He was interested in meeting Jesus and he was also reported that a later point to be interested in killing Jesus. He was the Herod who tried Jesus and wanted to see miracles from Jesus. When Jesus did not perform miracles for him, he abused him and sent him back to Pilate for the sentence. Okay. So are we able to understand? I'm not moving too fast. I just wanted to give you a clear picture of different leaders under whom, you know, there was a rule. Okay. With that, we will move on after the Herod and Herod's three sons rule. Now we are going moving on to the next political leader was named as Agrippa. King Agrippa. We have heard him right in the book of Acts. Okay. King Agrippa, the first. He ruled from 37 AD to 44 AD. So Agrippa first was the grandson of Herod the Great. So he was a very indulgent and vain man who in an effort to find favor with the Jews became a persecutor of Christianity. So he was responsible for the death of James, the first son of the 12, the first one among the 12 to be martyred, which we see in the book of Acts chapter 12. So Agrippa, unusual, agonizing to death is recorded in the book of Acts. So it seems to be the judgment of God on this blasphemous attempt to worshiping as God. Okay. With that, we will move on to the second leader called as Agrippa the second who ruled from 48 AD to 70 AD. So Agrippa second was the son of Agrippa. Agrippa first and eventually came to power sometime after the death of Agrippa first. So since he was only 17 when his father died, he was known to have lived in a depraved relationship with his sister, Bernice. So he seemed to have had a good understanding of Jewish affairs and was consulted by the Rome on religious matters. He was one of the one of the ruler who heard Paul's case after his arrest by the Jews. We see in the book of Acts. So as not Paul already appealed to Rome, he may have released him, but he was the last of the Herodian Dynasties. So with that we complete the leaders and we'll also move on to the other political leaders who were very relevant in the New Testament time. So in addition to all these kings and Tatraks that we studied right now who placed in the Palestine and the rule of Judah. We also can look out the other political leaders who were the governors and procurators who served regionally. For the purpose of our study, we will only look at the procurators in relation to Judah who were specifically mentioned in the New Testament. So who are these three leaders? So the three leaders that we would like to look in today in this class is the Pontius Pilate. You'll remember his name, isn't it? Pontius Pilate, Antonius Felix and Proceus Festus. So Pontius Pilate ruled from 26 to 3680. I'm just giving you these leaders names and leaders work so that we can understand later part what was these people, how was they ruled. So Pilate was a procurator during the most significant time of the biblical history. Being the one who tried Jesus and ultimately consented him to his crucification. And we see that in most of the Gospels right about him. We also see more in detail in the Gospel of Luke about Pontius Pilate. And the next leader I would like to mention in today's class was Antonius Felix who ruled from 52 AD to 59 AD. So Felix was the procurator of Judah when Paul was being persecuted by the Jews. We see that in the book of Acts chapter 23. So he was a corrupt leader who was more interested to collect bribes and he was very injustice. And left Paul in prison for two years through the rest of his tyranny because he expected a bribe from Paul. And when Paul did not give heed to his request, he left him in the prison itself for two years that is almost 24 months. And then we will look on to the other political leader was Proceus Festus who ruled from 59 AD to 61 AD. So Festus succeeded Felix and was left with Paul's case hanging in the balance. So Festus was more interested in making inroads to the Jews rather than justice. So Paul's only hope for a failed trial was to appeal the Roman government. So he appealed them. He requested them to move to Rome so that Jews had no political influence over him. So with that we are done with the leaders and now we can look into some of the religious and cultural background that served during the time of New Testament. So we looked at the Kings, leaders, political leaders and the Tate Racks. Now we are moving on to the religious, the social and religious background that served during that time. Some of these names you would have heard like Synagogue, Sanhedrin. Have you all heard when you are reading the four Gospels and the Book of Acts? Synagogue, Sanhedrin, Priest, Scribes, then Pharisees, Sadducees, Herodians, Zealots, Galileans. Do you all know what are there? So let me give you a brief. I thought if I brief you all now it will be easy for us to understand as we study the Gospel and the other books. Okay, I'll just take you all through quickly. I'm sure most of you all know what is synagogue is, right? So just that we need to understand when was this synagogue started and what is this synagogue? His synagogue, a temple place of worship. What is it? Okay, so during the 400 silent years, what happened? Jews developed synagogue which most likely can be dragged back to Ezra. So these were social assemblies in nearly every city where the scriptures were read, thought and discussed by the people. So they were still only one temple but each city had a synagogue which had its own leaders or the elders. Okay, so these synagogues set a beautiful stage for later development of the local church to be developed during the Paul's time. So do we understand now the temple is separate, synagogue is separate. Okay, we had only one temple but different synagogues where the people used to assemble in one place, sit, gather together to read the Torah, teach and understand and discuss. Okay, and each synagogue had a leader. So with that we will move on to the Sanhedrin. So what is Sanhedrin? Is it same as synagogue? Let's see. So this was an official Jewish council or board that was established where early as Joseph Fath, you know Joseph Fath in the book of Second Chronicles we studied about King Joseph Fath, right? And to administer the affairs of the nation, it consisted 17 members plus the High Priest. So the Sanhedrin was a political setup, okay, which had leaders, which had leaders. So Sanhedrin consisted of 70 members plus one High Priest. So who are these 70 members? They had about 24 chief priests, 24 elders and 22 scribes. I repeated 24 chief priests, 22 scribes or lawyers and 24 elders. So plus one High Priest, okay. So these members of the Sanhedrin would give plenty of room by the to dictate the local affairs as long as they paid a homage to the Roman government. So we also see how Sanhedrin, the council took place during the time of Jesus. We see that Jesus stood before this council. So did some of the apostles also, we get to see that when we read the Gospel of Matthew, John acts, we see that Jesus stood before the council. Okay, that is nothing but the Sanhedrin where all the 70 members were present along with the High Priest. So the Sanhedrin had a limited authority under the Roman rule. That means they also had certain authority over the people to deal with the local affairs among the Jews. So they could sentence someone to death, but they could not carry out that sentence without the Roman government approval. Okay, then we will move on to the next one that is priest. Who are the priests? So the Jewish priesthood was ordained by God in the time of Moses. Okay, and that function still continued to Jesus times. But after the captivity from the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, the priest also served as a civil leader and prince. So the High Priest was the head of all the priests and in the absence of a king was a high priest, non-Roman, Jewish authority in the land and the official head of the Sanhedrin. Are we able to understand now? So the priest had a certain authority to rule and reign. Okay, so with that we will move on to the next one called scribes. So who are these scribes? We see that in the New Testament, the scribes were the students or the interpreters and the teachers of the scripture or the law. So they were held in very high esteem by the people or by Jews and may have found the origin as a group in time of Ezra. So they were experts in expounding the scripture and were very serious opponent of Christ. So the scribes were always trying to test Jesus. Scripture knowledge ought to catch him in his words. We see that when we read the Gospel of Matthew, isn't it? With that we will move on to Pharisees, the very common term which we get to hear when we study the Gospel Pharisees and Sadducees. Who are Pharisees and who are Sadducees? Let's look. So the Pharisees were a religious set, the rose during the time of Maccabees and they called as separatists by their enemies because they separated themselves from the ambitious political party in their nation. So the Pharisees had a hatred for Jesus because he exposed them what they were actually. So in one of the Gospel, maybe in the Gospel of Matthew, we see that Jesus says you are like the white tomb, you're white outside but full of death on the inside. All these affected the Pharisees and it created some kind of hatred towards Jesus. And now let's look at the Sadducees. The Sadducees were an aristocratic and a political party among the Jewish and we seen as the rivals of the Pharisees. So they were the liberals and modernist of the day who denied the supernatural. So they didn't believe in any of the supernatural existence of angels, miracles or the resurrection of the dead. And it is also interesting that the Sadducees and Pharisees who normally disliked each other but they were united in one thing. What was that? That was to get rid of Jesus. Both of them didn't like Jesus. With that we will move on to the Herodians. Who are these Herodians? The Herodians were the exclusive political party who took their name from Herod and derived the authority from the Roman government. So they were pro-Roman in their emphasis and were not interested in any change in the political situation of the day. So they tend to view Christ as a revolutionary which explains how they interacted with each other. With that we will move on to the last two that is the Zealots and Galileans. So who are Zealots? I'm sure you all have watched, chosen, isn't it? And there you see a disciple who was a Zealot. Who was that? Simon the Zealot, right? And how zealous he was. He was always ready to fight. He was ready to use the weapon to go against anyone coming against the Jews, right? So Zealots were the Jewish nationalistic party and would be on the opposite political spectrum to the Herodians. So they wanted to be rid of the Roman rule over the Jews and were not opposed to using violent means to overthrow the Roman yoke. Okay, they were very zealous about Jews and they want to come against these Romans. With that we will go to the last one, Galileans. So this is a party that rose in the northern Palestine and consisted of the followers of Judah of Galilean. So he was also violently opposed to the Roman rule. The Galileans were quite radical in the expression of their views and were known for insisting riots and other violent clashes with the Roman authorities. So because of the Roman hard rule, there were certain people coming against these Roman authorities in different ways. And in order to turn a pilot, we also see Galileans were used during in order to turn pilot against Jesus. His enemies tried to link Jesus and his disciples with this party with the Galileans. Okay, so with that we close with the introduction of the New Testament. I hope briefly that you would have understood the different, the six empires that took place during that four silent period. And we also studied about the kings and the patriarchs and the tetrax and the political leaders who were during this period and during the time of Jesus. We also studied on the social culture that was there during this time. The background, the social, the religious and the cultural background during the time of Jesus. If you all have any questions to ask, if you all have not understood anything, you all can ask me. We have five more minutes, which we can discuss. Yes, Sean, Sadducees. Okay, so Sadducees were in political party among the Jews. Pharisees were not the political party, but the Sadducees were the political party among the Jews and they were seen as the rivals. They were against Pharisees. So they were the liberals and the modernist of the day who denied the supernatural. They didn't believe in the supernatural like the miracles or angelic visitation and the resurrection of the death. Okay, they didn't believe in all this, but they were the political party. Whereas the Pharisees were the religious set. You got it? They were the religious set during the time and they rose among the Maccabean period. And they were also greatest because they separated themselves from others saying that, you know, we have a higher standard because we are the religious leader. We know Torah, we read the scripture. So they held themselves in a higher standard and they separated themselves from the other Jews. So that's one of the reasons why Sadducees didn't like them. And Pharisees always considered Sadducees the political leader as bad, as sinners. Okay, and Pharisees held themselves higher saying that we are very religious, we are very holy people. You got it? Anything else? I will also post a general timeline for the events covered in the New Testament. For the on-campus student, I will post it, I'll give it to you all. For the online and for the e-learning, I will post it on the stream. For online, I'll post it on the stream and a Word doc format. So you can take a look of the timeline. And for e-learning, I will post it on the e-learning platform that you can take a look of the timeline of the New Testament. From the birth of Jesus to the writing of the Book of Revelations. Okay, so that it's a self-study. You can just go through the time period and the events that took place during that time. Or when each gospel was written, not that. Okay, so with that, we are done with today's session. And tomorrow we can look into the four gospels. So can I request one of the students from online to unmute and pray and end the session? Anyone? Oh, should I pick? Okay, Nina or Jack in. Anyone? Jacob. Yeah. Yes, Erin, please go ahead. Father, in the name of Jesus, thank you, Lord, Father, for the class today. Thank you for the teaching. Thank you for the impartation. Thank you, Father, for the first day of class. Thank you, Father, for the lending. We pray, give up the wisdom, knowledge, and understanding, and give all the grace to be able to continue that your presence, that your blessing, that your wisdom and knowledge will be passed on to us through your grace and through your mercy in Jesus' precious name we pray.