The purpose of the lecture today is

今天的讲课内容是要让大家意识到
to get you to see what you may think of as a historical text

你认为的真实可信的史料
as actually not a very reliable historical text.

也许并不那么真实可信
This is not to say anything about your faith;

这不是去质疑大家的信仰
it's not to say anything about how

也不是关于如何从宗教
you might use this text religiously or theologically.

或神学的角度去看待这些史料
In other words, it is not my intention to

换句话说我的目的并非去质疑圣经
attack the reliability of the Bible for theological reading or

作为一本神学或信仰的读物的可靠性
for faith, or your personal beliefs about the Bible.

或质疑你个人对其的信念
What we will do is demonstrate a difference today between

而今天我们要做的是去论证
reading this text theologically as scripture,

作为一部神学圣典
and reading it as historical source,

和做为史料的差异