Final Exam Flashcards
According to the authors, what criteria guided the church in discerning which books belonged in the NT canon?
The major criteria guiding the church’s discernment of New Testament canonicity were apostolicity, orthodoxy, antiquity, and ecclesiastical usage.
Why is the debate over the dating of the Muratorian Canon significant for our understanding the canonization process?
If the Muratorian Canon was composed in the late second century we have evidence that some Christians had a concept of a New Testament canon at this early stage, recognizing at least 22 New Testament books as firmly canonical.
Explain the difference between a “formal equivalence” approach to Bible translation and a “dynamic equivalence” approach. List two English versions that exemplify a formal equivalence approach and two that exemplify a dynamic equivalence approach.
“Formal equivalence” translations, such as the NASB, KJV, and ESV, take a more word-for-word approach to rendering Greek into English, whereas “dynamic equivalence” translations such as the GNT, the Living Bible, and the Message take a thought-for-thought approach.
Is the early church fathers’ use of the term “inspiration” prescriptive for us today? Explain why or why not.
The early church fathers’ use of “inspiration” terminology is not prescriptive for us today, because they did not use the term in a precise way, but rather employed it to refer to the Holy Spirit’s general participation in their ministries.
According to the authors, what factors made the early 1st century ideally suited for the coming of Jesus?
The following factors made the early first century an ideal time for Jesus’ coming: the Roman peace, Roman roads, the widespread use of the Greek language, and Jewish messianic expectations.
Explain the differences between Epicureanism and Stoicism.
Epicureanism stressed pleasure and happiness as the chief good, whereas Stoicism taught the dutiful acceptance of fate.
The authors say that messianic expectations were not uniform during the Second Temple period. Explain how this was so.
There were differing views as to where the Messiah would be born and what exactly he would do, and some Jews expected more than one Messiah.
List the four major Jewish sects in the first century.
The four main Jewish sects in the first century were the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Essenes, and the Zealots.
Describe the chief characteristics of the “first quest” for the historical Jesus.
The “first quest” for the historical Jesus took place between the late 1700s and the early 1900s. Most of its participants rejected the possibility of miracles and questioned the historical reliability of the Gospels’ portrayal of Jesus. Later participants typically described Jesus in terms that reflected liberal Protestant theology.
The authors speak of a period when many scholars abandoned the quest for the historical Jesus. Why did many of these scholars feel that it wasn’t necessary to establish facts about the historical Jesus?
During the period of the “abandoned quest” (1900s-1950s) many scholars adopted a theological position that based Christian life on the “Christ of faith” (i.e. Christ as the early Christians believed him to be) rather than the “Jesus of history.”
The authors conclude that Jesus probably began his public ministry in AD 29.Why?
Luke 3:1-2 says John the Baptist began his ministry in the fifteenth year of Tiberius, which can be calculated to be either AD 28 or 29, and Jesus ministry probably began a few months after John’s. The authors also argue that Jesus’ comment in John 2:20 is best interpreted to mean that the inner sanctuary of Herod’s temple had been completed 46 years earlier. Since the completion of the inner sanctuary can be dated as 18/17 BC, this would put the time of Jesus’ speaking as AD 30, and the beginning of his ministry as AD 29.
List the main arguments supporting the hypothesis of Markan priority.
Arguments supporting Markan priority include that Mark is the shortest Gospel even though his individual episodes tend to be longer and more detailed than parallel episodes in Matthew and Luke, Mark has frequent Aramaic expressions, its Greek is less refined, it has more difficult readings, Matthew and Luke seldom agree against Mark in wording and order, and it’s usually easier to show why Matthew and Luke may have changed something in Mark than to show why Mark would have changed Matthew or Luke.
Who do the authors think wrote the Gospel of Matthew and why do they take this position?
The authors think the apostle Matthew wrote the Gospel of Matthew, because the title ascribing it to Matthew is fairly early, the early church fathers unanimously ascribe it to Matthew, and internal details such as the naming of Matthew in 9:9, use of the precise term for currency in 22:19, and the inclusion of an episode about paying taxes in 17:24-27 fit the supposition that the author was a tax collector.
What evidence do the authors cite in support of the view that Matthew presents Jesus as the new Moses?
Matthew includes an account of Herod’s attempt to kill Jesus, which parallels Pharaoh’s killing of Hebrew children at the time of Moses’ birth, Mt 2:20b parallels Ex 4:19, Matthew shows Jesus giving his new teaching from a mountain, he shows Jesus giving bread to a crowd, similar to Moses giving manna, and the five major sections of the Gospel may be intended to parallel the five books of Moses.
What does Matthew teach about the significance of Jesus’ death?
Matthew presents Jesus’ death as a sacrificial, linking it to Isaiah 53, he shows how Jesus spoke of his death as a ransom (20:28) and a way of establishing a covenant and forgiving sins (26:28).
