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Religious Studies: Christianity > 1D: Formation of Canon and Inspiration > Flashcards

1D: Formation of Canon and Inspiration Flashcards

1
Q

Apocrypha

A

‘hidden books’ - collection of books found in between OT and NT. Protestants do not see these as canonical but may be accepted as useful

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2
Q

Deuterocanonical

A

belongs to the ‘second canon’. Catholic and Orthodox churches accept these as equally inspired

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3
Q

Tanakh

A

Jewish canon which contains 3 sections: Law (Torah), Prophets (Nevi’im), and Writings (Kethuvim)

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4
Q

Septuagint

A

Greek translation of the Jewish scripture, complied in 4th century BCE. includes Hebrew works of the Tanakh and later Greek words

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5
Q

Vulgate

A

Latin translation of OT and NT created by St Jerome in 4th century

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6
Q

Muratorian Canon

A

oldest known list of 22 books out of the 27 in the NT

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7
Q

Theopneustos

A

‘god breathed’
Greek term used in 2 Tim 3:16

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8
Q

Divine Dictation Model

A

objective model
- implies god speaks directly through the writer: literally “god breathed”
- writer simply writes down what god says
- recognises different types of literature in the Bible
- eg god dictated some poetry which is meant to be understood as poetry, not taken as literal

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9
Q

Plenary Verbal Inspiration

A

a more modern version of divine dictation model
- emerged in 19th century in response to challenges against the Bible presented by scientific discoveries
- minority view
- many who take it will believe the whole text is meant to be read literally

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10
Q

Induction

A

another name for new orthodoxy
- the Bible induces an inspiration in the reader, they are moved by their experience of Jesus (the word of god)

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11
Q

Salvation History

A

subjective view
- a human record of history that sees god acting in it to save humanity
- inspiration is not directly through words but through experience
- god acts in the world and people recorded their experiences

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12
Q

Doctrine of Accommodation

A

Calvin’s theory that god adapted to human understanding by simplifying some ideas in the Bible

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13
Q

Fundamentalist

A

Christians who believe that the Bible should be understood literally (linked with most OBJECTIVE understanding of inspiration)

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14
Q

Liberal

A

Christians who believe that an enlightenment worldview makes it unlikely that many supernatural elements of the Bible are historically true (linked with SUBJECTIVE understanding of inspiration)

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15
Q

Conservative

A

Christians who believe that the Bible is inspired through divine guidance.
- this school of thought tends to defend belief in key beliefs such as the virgin birth and bodily resurrection of Jesus

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16
Q

What do all Christians believe in regards to who wrote the Bible?

A

human authors who were inspired by god to write what they did.
- the bible has Gods authority and reveals what god is like and how people can live the good life which they believe god intends for then

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17
Q

How many Biblical authors are there?

A

40
- includes a fisherman, tax collector, doctor and a king
- all wrote in different times with different styles, languages and purposes
- but all are believed to be inspired by their experience of God

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18
Q

When was the Old Testament written?

A

Between 1500BCE-800BCE

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19
Q

What is the Old Testament?

A

Hebrew canon
- Jewish scriptures
- what Jesus saw as canon
- divided into 3: Law, Prophets, Writings

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20
Q

What is the Septuagint and what did it contain?

A
  • Greek translation of Hebrew scriptures
  • made for Jews and others living outside of Palestine
  • contained all books of the Hebrew Bible and 7 extra books (Apocrypha)
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21
Q

Why was the OT canon accepted by the early church?

A

Because it was used by Jesus

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22
Q

Which part of the NT was written first?

A

Letters of the Apostle Paul

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23
Q

Why did Paul’s letters not stay with only the people he wrote to?

A

other believers wanted copies of his teachings

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24
Q

When was the canon for the NT decided?

A

300CE

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25
Q

When was there a first ‘Bible’ book?

A

331CE decided by Emperor Constantine

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26
Q

What is the Vulgate and why does it exist?

A

official text of Western Christianity created by Jerome who lived and studied in Palestine

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27
Q

Who were Wycliffe and Tyndale?

A
  • Wycliffe was an English political figure who translated scriptures into common language. his body was dug up and burned
  • Tyndale was an English scholar who believed people had the write to read the Bible in their own native language. he translated the NT from Greek to English, which was the first English NT. he was betrayed and executed before he could translate the OT
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28
Q

Why were there disputes about whether or not the Bible should be available in the languages of the ‘common people’?

A

it challenged the churches authority and it became a crime to possess or circulate non Latin copies of the Bible

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29
Q

What are the books of the OT?

A
  • Law
  • Jewish history
  • wisdom/poetry
  • major and minor prophets
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30
Q

What are the contents of the Law?

A
  • Torah
  • creation stories
  • laws of Judaism and explanations of them
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31
Q

Who is the authorship of the Law?

A

Moses

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32
Q

What are the contents of the Jewish history?

A

history of Jewish people

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33
Q

Who is the authorship of the Jewish history?

A

Jewish people, various prophets and leaders

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34
Q

What are the contents of wisdom/poetry?

A

praise and prayer

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35
Q

Who is the authorship of wisdom/poetry?

A

traditionally David (Psalms), Solomon, prophets and leaders

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36
Q

What are the contents of prophets?

A

predictions of future events and messages from god

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37
Q

Who is the authorship of prophets?

A

prophets (spokespeople of god)

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38
Q

Time period of OT

A

before Jesus’ time. from around 8th century BCE to late 1st century CE

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39
Q

What are the books of the NT?

A
  • Gospels
  • Apostolic history
  • Pauline epistles
  • general epistles
  • Apocalypse
40
Q

What are the contents of the gospels?

A

stories and teachings of Jesus

41
Q

Who is the authorship of the gospels?

A

traditionally Matthew, Mark, Luke and John

42
Q

What is the time period of the gospels?

A

68-110CE

43
Q

What is the authority of inclusion for the gospels?

A

accepted by many in the early church, written by those who were close to Jesus

44
Q

What are the contents of Acts?

A

early Church history, what the disciples did next

45
Q

Who is the authorship of Acts?

A

traditionally an apostle, likely the same author as Luke

46
Q

What time period is Acts?

A

95-100CE

47
Q

What is the authority of inclusion for Acts?

A

Apostolic origin

48
Q

What are the contents of Paul’s letters?

A

letters to churches and individuals about matters of faith and practice

49
Q

Who is the authorship of Paul’s letters?

A

traditionally Paul, but some seems to show a different style?

50
Q

What is the time period of Paul’s letters?

A

40-70CE (some of the first)

51
Q

Who is the authorship of the general epistles?

A

unclear, most likely not who they claim to be

52
Q

Time period of the general epistles

A

50-110CE

53
Q

What is the authority of inclusion for the general epistles?

A

Apostolic origin, widely circulated

54
Q

What are the contents of the Revelation?

A

strange stories of visions and the end time

55
Q

Who is the authorship of the Revelation?

A

claims John, probably not the gospel John

56
Q

What is the time period of the Revelation?

A

95CE

57
Q

What is the authority of inclusion for the revelation?

A

very widely circulated

58
Q

What were the only written scriptures during the early church?

A

Jewish scriptures

59
Q

In what 2 ways is the Tanakh not the same as the christian OT?

A
  1. Jews do not consider it to be ‘old’ as it is seen in god’s revelation to israel
  2. not all Christian OTs are the same, all Jews agree on the books in the Hebrew scriptures. not arranged in the same order
60
Q

Why is it called the Tanakh?

A

an acronym from the 3 parts - Torah, Nevi’im and Kethuvim

61
Q

What was the earliest part of the Jewish scripture that was accepted?

A

Torah
- shared orally for centuries and then written down just prior to/during exile

62
Q

Why was the Torah written down at the point it was?

A

because exile was a time when Jews lost access to the temple as the centre of their faith and practice, so they would have needed written accounts to help to remember and to teach their religion in a distant land. there was no focus for shared worship, they clung into what they remembered

63
Q

What was the next section to be agreed upon and when was this?

A

Nevi’im - prophets
- shortly after the Torah

64
Q

What was the final section to be agreed upon?

A

Kethuvim

65
Q

How is Luke’s gospel relevant?

A

Luke 24v44 suggest the Hebrew canon was not complete by the time of Jesus

66
Q

How is the Jewish scripture described elsewhere in the NT? What does this suggest?

A

the ‘Law and Prophet’
- suggest the writings were not automatically accepted as scripture at the time

67
Q

What is the significance of Josephus’ comment on the Tanakh?

A

suggests there were 4 books

68
Q

Why is it best not to refer to the Tanakh as the old testament?

A

if referring to it in a purely Jewish context then it is inaccurate to do so
- only Christians see Hebrew writings as the ‘old’ testament

69
Q

How were the decisions made?

A
  1. books had to of survived
  2. had to be keeping with the Torah: to support and not contradict it
  3. had to be used by Jewish people to support their faith and practice
70
Q

What is the Septuagint?

A

Greek translation of Hebrew scriptures made during 3rd century BCE by 70 scribes
- used by Jews who had become dispersed after exile and who were Greek speaking
- contained 7 additional writings which are not accepted in the Torah or the protestant OT

71
Q

How and why do the OT in different Christian bibles contain different books from each other and from the Jewish scripture?

A

comes down to whether or not the 7 extra books included in the Septuagint are accepted
- the RC and Orthodox churches don’t accept them, making 73 books in those bibles

72
Q

Why was the canon needed?

A
  1. to stop heresy
  2. to help new churches/Christians
  3. to limit the creation of divisions within the Church
73
Q

What was the basis for selection of canon?

A
  • a clear connection with the apostles
  • supporting faith and practice in the churches
  • conform to faith in Jesus
  • ‘apostolic father’ accepted Jewish writings
74
Q

2 translations of the quote from 2 Timothy 3:16

A
  1. “all scripture is God breathed”
  2. “all scripture is given by inspiration of God”
75
Q

What does ‘inspiration’ relate to in this context?

A

the word of God, the gist of God’s message
- relates to the writing of the Bible
- has a similar root to ‘respiration’ = breathing = ‘god breathed’

76
Q

Why does it matter how the Bible came to be written and whether it came from god?

A

if it has come from god then it can be seen as canon. also provides comfort if it came from god. shows the Bible is subjective

77
Q

What is Calvin’s doctrine of accommodation?

A
  • God chooses to become intelligible to human experience by limiting himself to human understanding
  • like how a mother might use ‘baby talk’ to her baby
  • god has to lower himself to communicate with mankind
  • helps to explain away any apparent contradictions either internally (between different bits of the text) or externally (between the text and scientific/historical facts) which can be a problem for objective models
78
Q

Divine Dictation Model

A
  • objective
  • likely supported by Fundamentalists
  • god speaks directly through the writer
  • literally ‘god breathed’
  • direct words of god, god dictated to the writers like whispering in the ear
  • Philo of Alexandria (Jewish philosopher); writers as passive instruments for god. in a state of ‘prophetic ecstasy’
  • Athenagorus: metaphor of a flautist blowing into a flute
  • human writers only had a passive role
  • means the Bible is entirely inerrant and infallible
  • not necessarily meant to be read LITERALLY - god dictated poems, stories etc and should be read according to genre
  • compare to Islamic view of the qur’an: dictated to the prophet
  • not accepted by most Christians traditionally
  • modern revival is known as plenary verbal inspiration
  • plenary = complete so this view says all of the words were inspired from god
  • associated with some modern Fundamentalist groups
  • emerged in 19th century as a response to challenges against the Bible presented by scientific discoveries such as the age of the earth and theory of evolution
  • holds that the entire bible comes directly from god
  • still a minority view, many who take it will see the whole text is mean to be read literally
  • entirely rejected by most academic scholars
79
Q

Divine Guidance Model

A
  • middle position
  • likely supported by conservatives
  • recognises human element
  • view of the main churches: RC, Orthodox, Protestant
  • god seen as directing and guiding the writers of the entire bible through the holy spirit
  • Origen: authors are not merely passive but fully aware of their part in the process of inspiration
  • god passed on the message but the writers conveyed this in their own words and for their own communities
  • ancient world: author would give a general message and let the scribe decide how best to communicate it
80
Q

Salvation History

A
  • subjective
  • likely supported by Liberals
  • human record of history that sees god acting in it to save humanity
  • inspiration is through experience: god acts in the world and people recorded their experiences
  • writers recorded their experiences or those of others, and saw these experiences through the ‘eyes of faith’
  • means it is possible for the bible to have errors (as it is human made)
81
Q

Neo Orthodoxy

A
  • subjective
  • likely supported by liberals
  • focuses on how inspiration COMES FROM the bible (what do the readers experience)
  • Karl Barth points out it is jesus who is the true word of god, not the bible
  • teaches that inspiration is not a quality of the text, but of a readers experience with the text
  • the Bible induces an inspiration in the reader: they are moved by their experience of Jesus (word of god)
  • Theopedia: “the Bible is an instrument to communicate and witness to the true word, jesus”
82
Q

Strengths of divine dictation

A
  • gives automatic authority
  • infallibility of the Bible
  • straight forward understanding of the role of scripture
83
Q

Weaknesses of divine dictation

A
  • stylistic differences between books seem to have no explanation
  • apparent contradictions are difficult to explain
  • issues of translation become more difficult
84
Q

Strengths of divine guidance

A
  • still seen as having divine authority
  • accounts for stylistic differences
  • fits with how scribes worked in the ancient world
  • fits with approach to the formulation of the canon
85
Q

Weaknesses of divine guidance

A
  • some may say it doesn’t allow for automatic divine authority
  • could reflect human fallibility
86
Q

Strengths of salvation history

A
  • still has room for divine authority
  • fits with the approach to the formulation of canon
87
Q

Weaknesses of salvation history

A
  • problem of verifying religious experiences: subjective interpretation
88
Q

Strengths of Neo Orthodoxy

A
  • emphases divine authority
  • fits with what many Christians say they experience when they read the bible prayerfully
  • sits with post enlightenment understanding of the world of human experience yet still recognises spiritual experience
  • a more complex understanding of inspiration and authority than other views
89
Q

What is Calvin’s doctrine of accommodation?

A
  • theory that God accommodated human understanding by simplifying some ideas in the Bible
90
Q

Quote from Calvin about god’s transcendence

A

“God is above and beyond our language”

91
Q

Did Calvin believe there were errors of science and history in the Bible?

A

no but he accepted that there were things which looked like errors

92
Q

How did Calvin account for apparent errors?

A

argued that these are places where god has “accommodated” the language used in the Bible in order to understand something very complex in a way that humans can understand: like explaining something to a toddler

93
Q

What does Genesis 1:16 say about the lights in the sky?

A

God made two lights in the sky: the greater one (sun) to rule the day and the lesser one (moon) to rule the night

94
Q

Why might the Genesis 1:16 seem to be a scientific error?

A

there are other lights, such as stars and planets, in the sky which are bigger than the moon

95
Q

How does Calvin account for the scientific error in Genesis?

A

argues that there’s no need to complicate and give additional information which may cause confusion and take away the focus of the main messages

96
Q

How have some contemporary theologians used this idea of accommodation?

A

to address what they do see as errors in the bible

Religious Studies: Christianity (25 decks)

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