Final

Question 1

How did Christianity influence society with regard to the value of life

Answer 1

life was not precious in pagan cultures: infant sacrifice, infanticide, wealthy families would not allow girl babies to live

Christians opposed infanticide, and took in abandoned children

how Christians treated the dispossessed: outlawed branding of prisoners/slaves, separated male and female prisoners, condemned suicide

Question 2

How did Christianity influence society with regard to sexual morals

Answer 2

promiscuity was so common that marriage hardly existed

homosexuality activity was common, especially with young boys

prohibition of child molestation is a christian invention

privacy of sex has christian roots

Question 3

How did Christianity influence society with regard to education

Answer 3

first to educate girls

advocated for universal education for all

set up first public school system in Germany

Braille, sign language created by Christians

universities began as church schools

Question 4

EVIDENCE FOR SUPERNATURAL NATURE OF THE BIBLE

Answer 4

It’s unity (lack of contradictions despite many authors over a long period)

preservation from persecution

accurate transmission via manuscripts

fulfilled prophecy

Question 5

TRANSMISSION OF THE BIBLE. MANUSCRIPT EVIDENCE

Answer 5

NT has about 20,000 lines and 40 are in doubt

Illiad has 15,600 lines and 764 in doubt

Mahabarata has 250,000 lines and 26,000 in doubt

Question 6

How do we choose between different “readings” of a passage in the few cases where there is a difference in manuscripts?

Answer 6

External: older reading, widest geographical distribution, supported by the most manuscript families, the reading that best explains the others

Transciptional: more difficult, shorter, less polished. Intrinsic: fits style of author, context, author’s background

Question 7

How can we figure out that a different reading is an error?

Answer 7

Knowing how errors come about

When copying from another manuscript: skipping words or lines, putting in synonyms, inserting words from a parallel passage

When hearing someone read it aloud and copying: mishearing one word for another

Question 8

Did Israel consider the canon closed?

Answer 8

Yes

there was wide agreement that the prophetic voice was silent

There is no debate about it in the gospels

no one asked Jesus about it

It was a settled issue

Question 9

when was the canon finalized within the church

Answer 9

late 4th century

Question 10

What can we conclude were the criteria for choosing what was canonical and what was not?

Answer 10

written by a true prophet or apostle?

was the writer miraculously confirmed?

does the message agree with existing revelation

are the predictions accurate?

did the message come with the power of God

did the people of God accept it?

Question 11

What are the main points of the case against the apocrypha, which the Catholic Church considers scriptural?

Answer 11

NT never refers to an apocryphal book as authoritative or canonical

no council of the entire church in the first four centuries favored it

Question 12

Which empire mentioned in the Bible was said not to exist a century ago?

Answer 12

the Hittite empire

Question 13

What is the significance of discovering the Code of Hammurabi, Lachish letters (la KISH), Ebla?

Answer 13

COH: many scholars denied that Moses could have written Penteteuch bc such a detailed and sophisticated moral code was not possible

LL: tells of Nebuchadnezzar besieging Jerusalem, supports the historicity of the capture and exile

Ebla: show political and economic situtation in 2580-2250 BC

Question 14

How has Luke’s accuracy been proven?

Answer 14

recorded events in 32 countries and provinces, 54 cities, 9 islands

never made a single error in his use of political titles or location of boundaries

Question 15

Why does J. W. Montgomery believe that the Bible can be accepted as evidence even though it can’t be cross examined?

Answer 15

the extreme opposition to the Gospels at the time of their writing provides a real world cross examination

had critics of Christianity found an mistakes or falsehoods, they would have made damaging attacks early on

Question 16

What is the ancient documents rule?

Answer 16

provides an exception to the hearsay rule because an old document cannot be cross-examined yet it can be admitted as having evidentiary value

Question 17

What is transmissional reliability, internal reliability, and external reliability?

Answer 17

tr: their texts have been transmitted accurately from the time of writing to our own day
ir: they claim to be primary source document and ring true as such
er: their authorship and dates are backed up by solid extrinsic testimony

Question 18

What is the minimal facts argument as proposed by Gary Habermas?

Answer 18

Argue from what virtually all scholars of every belief agree upon–even those hostile to Christianity

Show the resurrection is the best explanation for what virtually every scholar agrees upon

Question 19

Why does Habermas think the minimal facts approach is necessary

Answer 19

It takes a lot to prove the veracity of the Bible, and, we routinely accept the historical accounts of ancient authors while dismissing their religious beliefs as fanciful

There is nothing to stop a modern reader from accepting the Bible as essentially historical, yet discounting the important spiritual content, such as the incarnation and resurrection

Question 20

The Minimal Fact agreed upon by virtually every scholar:

Answer 20

1. Jesus died by crucifixion.
2. Jesus’ disciples believed that He rose and appeared to them.
3. Paul, who had been persecuting the church, was suddenly changed.
4. James, the skeptical brother of Jesus, suddenly changed.

5 could be the empty tomb but there is not agreement on that

Question 21

What extra-biblical sources do we have for the life of Jesus?

Answer 21

Suetonius
Tacitus
Pliny
the Talmud
Josephus

Question 22

What in the gospels makes the account of the empty tomb believable?

Answer 22

Christianity would not have survived

The accounts are early in the history of Christianity thus not an embellishment

No rival account

no veneration of a tomb

women are prominently featured

theological themes are absent {showing it is simple history, before the theology was added, such as in the writings of Paul}

there are some difficulties harmonizing the gospels {showing they are not contrived}

the accounts are integral to the gospels {thus not a later embellishment}

IT IS NOT A DOCTRINE THAT WOULD BE MADE UP by or for Greeks or Jews because it did not fit their views.]

Question 23

What use of literature does Montgomery suggest?

Answer 23

you can write stories that teach Christian truth and themes

Question 24

God cannot be three and one

Answer 24

3 persons in 1 Godhead

important distinction

Question 25

Christ cannot be both God and man

Answer 25

Christ laid aside the use of his divine attributes to live as a normal human

Question 26

we cannot be free and responsible if God knows beforehand what we will do

Answer 26

knowing what someone will do before they do it is not forcing them to do it

Question 27

He cannot be omnipotent if He cannot, for example, lie, make square circle or married bachelor, make Himself not exist, not make a fourth member of the Trinity

Answer 27

to be omnipotent, God does not have to be able to do what is against His nature

Question 28

What is the problem in the “predication about God issue”?

Answer 28

Christianity claims that God can be described in words

the descriptions of God are very different than our descriptions of other things

Question 29

Principles for resolving conflicts within the Bible

Answer 29

selective reporting (every author selects what is relevant to their purpose)

paraphrasing

Bible is written in non-technical terms

variation due to translation

stylistic differences btw authors

accuracy depends on context

Question 30

What are the main biblical arguments for the deity of Christ?

Answer 30

Jesus claimed to be divine

Jesus claimed to be one with the Father

Seeing Jesus is seeing the Father

Jesus accepts worship

Jesus is glorified

Jesus is the Source of Life