Fourth Quarter Theology Exam Flashcards
Describe special/instantaneous creation. (Part 1)
God made all things, visible and invisible
Monogenism
Describe special/instantaneous creation. (Part 2)
Age of universe, world, and man; 6,000 to 10,000 years old
Morality is definite
Describe developmental creation/theistic evolution. (Part 1)
God made all things, visible and invisible, over a period of time.
Allows for the possibility of the Big Bang and human evolution
Age of the universe: 6,000 to 20 billion years
Describe developmental creation/theistic evolution. (Part 2)
Life on Earth: 6,000 to 4 billion years
Man: 6,000 to 30,000 years
Morality is definite
With an eternal divine and loving being as Creator (as in the case of special/instantaneous and developmental evolution)…
Creation has a purpose. (Reason for existence)
Both good and bad become springboards to where the Loving Creator created us for.
There are eternal truths - God and ourselves. Freedom/morality is not determined by chance but by an Eternal and Loving Father.
Describe atheistic evolution. (Part 1)
Universe created itself.
Time alone is needed for all things to become what they are.
Describe atheistic evolution. (Part 2)
There is no reason why there is something rather than nothing.
Morality is evolving.
What is science (according to theology)?
The study of the handiwork of God
How is order in the universe possible?
The order in the universe (from the minutest to the cosmic) is possible only if there is an Intelligent Mind behind it.
Describe intelligent/human beings.
Intelligent/human beings are not mere bodies and matter. The immortal soul is the Divine Breath and Mark. Actions produced through thinking, judging, and willing affect the person’s body and soul.
Where is moral order from?
Moral order from the Creator and Father who knows all things and created all things with a loving purpose is eternally unchanging.
Who were the Pharisees?
A Jewish sect that believed in keeping separate from the Gentiles and emphasized the external signs of separation from the Gentiles, hence why they hated Jesus since He preached a religion that was inclusive to all peoples
Name some of the practices the Pharisees did.
Their practices of external cultural separation included but was not limited to exaggerating the details of Jewish national dress, wearing phylacteries (boxes containing verses of Scripture) on their foreheads, and fringes that the Law of Moses ordered in Numbers 15: 38.
Describe even more of the Pharisees’ behaviors.
They stringently abided by the Law of Moses and added many traditional interpretations and regulations of their own. The Pharisees we’re also forerunners of the rabbis and made practice of the faith possible in places far from the cities by applying the written Torah to daily life.
Who were the Sadducees?
The Sadducees were a Jewish sect that believed in accommodating Judaism to modern life and possessed most of the positions of power in priesthood.
What were the beliefs of the Sadducees?
They did not believe in the Resurrection [resurrection of the body?] and opposed the existence of angels and spirits.
Describe even more of the Sadducees.
Having composed much of the Sanhedrin (the council responsible for making decisions regarding the day-to-day governance of Judah), the Sadducees were the party of political power and rejected everything except the Torah, including the Pharisees’ traditional interpretations of and additions to the Law.
Who were the Essenes?
The Essenes were a group of religious Judeans who protested the combining of the kingship and the high priesthood by the Maccabees.
Where did the Essenes go to and why?
Believing that the Temple had become corrupt under the Sadducees, they moved from Jerusalem to Qumran (located in the desert beside the Dead Sea), where they established a small community and wrote what would be known today as the Dead Sea Scrolls.
What were the Dead Sea Scrolls?
Discovered in the 1940s, the Dead Sea Scrolls revealed the Essenes as a community that saw themselves as pure and righteous in comparison to the tainted Sadducees and Pharisees. It has been been theorized that Saint John the Baptist was an Essene.
Who were the Samaritans?
Residing in a region between Judae and Galilee that was named Samaria, the Samaritans were a mixed population of Israelite stragglers, Assyrian exiles, and possibly poor Judean farmers. They worshipped God in a different way from the Jews.
How were the Samaritans different from the Jews?
The Samaritans only consider the five books of Moses as Scripture and worship on Mount Gerizom instead of at the Temple of Jerusalem because they believe the mountain has a better claim to holiness than Mount Zion since it had been a worship site long before King David.
How did Jesus shock His contemporaries?
Jesus shocked His contemporaries when He spoke to the Samaritans as human beings because the Jews viewed the Samaritans as heretics who defied God’s word as spoken through His prophets.
What was Judea’s political environment in the first century that made it an appropriate time for the Incarnation to happen?
Judea was under the Roman empire, which had built a lot of roads and encompassed major portions of Afro-Eurasia, which meant that God’s word could be brought to multiple peoples.
What are the four Gospels?
The four Gospels are the most complete and reliable record of the life of Christ.
How many chapters are in Mark?
16 chapters
How many chapters are in Matthew?
28 chapters
How many chapters are in Luke?
24 chapters
How many chapters are in John?
21 chapters
What are the two things the word “Gospel” may be referring to? (Name the first thing.)
Gospels as in inanimate things:
Written works containing the life of the Saviour
Composed on 1st century AD
Written on scrolls
What are the two things the word “Gospel” may be referring to? (Name the second thing.)
The Gospels as animate things (writers):
Evangelists wrote about the life of the Saviour
There are only four
What does “Evangelion” mean?
It is a Greek word; “angelion”means “message from God”; “ev-“ means good [Greek prefix]
“Evangelion” this means “good message from God”
“Ist-“ denotes a person
Was Mark written first?
Mark was written first though there are assumptions that it is Matthew beacuse Matthew’s own seems like a continuation from the Old Testament because it is very Jewish
Matthew’s Gospel is the most Jewish among the four Gospels
Was Matthew written for Jews?
Yes, Matthew was written for a Jewish audience
Those who knew a lot about the Old Testament, so no need for explanation of Jewish traditions and customs)
Who was Mark written for?
The pagans
Who was Luke written for?
The non-Jewish/Gentiles
Who was John written for?
A wide audience
Anyone, supposedly
Why is it that those who believed that there was a beginning of the universe also believe that the Incarnation is more likely to happen?
This is so because if God can create the world, then what’s stopping Him from becoming one of those creations? In comparison to creating the universe, becoming human becomes a much more reasonable and plausible achievement.
Why is there discrepancy in the Gospels?
This discrepancy allows to get a fuller picture of one story and offers different perspectives.
How was the Messiah’s Coming known among the Jews?
His coming was predicted by projets like Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Micah
They described who this prophet would be and the times that the Messiah would come
Describe more details on the prophecies on Christ.
Isaiah and Micah have very specific details of the conditions of the world in the time of the Incarnation.
What are the conditions that the Messiah should come from, according to the Old Testament prophets?
Come from Judah
Be a descendant of King David
Be born of a virgin (Isaiah)
The latest miraculous birth before Jesus’s coming would be John the Baptist, born of Elizabeth
What are the important dates in the Life of Christ? (Part 1)
Anunciation (only in Luke)/Incarnation (only Matthew has a record of the Magi and Kong Herod; Luke has shepherds, not Magi)
Infancy (both present in Matthew and Luke); Joseph dreaming occurred in Matthew
8 days (brought to the Temple to complete Mary’s ritual predication after childbirth in obedience to the Law of Moses)
What are the important dates in the Life of Christ?
12 years (lost in the Temple; Luke has this record) 30 years (baptized by John the Baptist; right after the last story of Luke; beginning of His ministry) 33 years (His passion; according to John, the annual Passover occurred thrice before Christ's death)
Does Luke end with Mark’s first story?
Yes.
Describe John’s writing.
John is not a synoptic Gospe because he’s very theological and poetic.
Describe Matthew’s writing.
Matthew is very personal.
Describe Mark’s writing.
Mark is very historical.
How does Luke appeal to his audience?
In his version of Christ’s genealogy, Luke includes Adam. Non-Jewish people know that the first man according to the Jews is Adam, so when they read this, they learn that Jesus is their brother.
How does Matthew appeal to his audience?
If I am a Jew and Jesus comes from Abraham and the line of David according to Matthew’s genealogy, I will be more convinced that Jesus is the Messiah.
Why are discrepancies good in the Gospels?
They allow for more perspectives, create unique experiences of Christ’s life, and reflect the purpose/intent of the Evangelists.
What is a “public ministry”?
Public means the masses
Ministry means service
So, this means that Jesus is serving the masses
What is Christ’s first miracle?
The Wedding at Cana; the turning of water to wine
What is the first event of Christ’s ministry?
Christ’s baptism in the Jordan by John the Baptist
What is the symbol of Matthew and why?
St. Matthew is represented by a winged man because the Gospel starts with Joseph’s genealogy from Abraham; it represents Jesus’s Incarnation and so Christ’s human nature.
What is the symbol of Luke and why?
Luke’s symbol is a winged ox or bull. His Gospel begins with the duties of Zacharias in the Temple; it represents Jesus’s sacrifice in His Passion and Crucifixion, as well as Christ being the High Priest.
What is the symbol of Mark and why?
Mark’s symbol is a lion because Mark’s Gospel begins with John the Baptist preaching like a lion.
What is the symbol of John and why?
John’s symbol is an eagle. This is so because the eagle soars high above. It is said that the eagle could look into the Sun, and such perspective and mysticism fills John’s Gospel.
What is the most important verse in the Bible?
John 3:16;
Where is the Temptation of Jesus recorded?
Make 1: 12-13; Luke 4: 1-13; Matthew 4: 1-11
What are the two interpretations of “Jesus was tempted”? (Interpretation 1)
Jesus fell into sin
What are the two interpretations of “Jesus was tempted”? (Interpretation 2)
Jesus was invited to sin but did not.
What was the argument that Jesus was tempted used for?
It was wrongfully used by certain scholars to say that Jesus fell into sin and was this not the Son of God
What version of the Bible is recommended?
The RSV (Revised Standard Version) is recommended because it has a more defined interpretation.
What is the context of Christ’s Temptation?
Jesus just got baptized and is preparing for His ministry
What was the first temptation?
To turn stone into bread
What is the purpose of Christ being in the desert?
To show his dependence and trust in God
What does the first temptation tell us?
The devil know where to attack. Our temptations come from when we’re weak from our passions. Temptations come according to our passions.
What was Christ’s response to the first temptation?
“Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
What is the context for the second temptation?
Jesus is taken to the peak of the Temple, where there are many peoples in the markets outside the Temple buying sacrifices and gathering.
What is the purpose of the second temptation?
To test if we would rather prioritize praise and glory above God Himself
What is Christ’s response to the second temptation?
“Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” (Deuteronomy 6: 16)
What was the response from the father of the possessed boy?
“I do believe; help me in my unbelief.”
What is the second temptation?
The devil states that if Jesus were truly the Son of God, then He should jump off the Temple and be saved by angels because that’s what’s written in the Scriptures (Psalm 91)
What is the third temptation?
The devil presents Christ with all the riches and glories of the world and tell Him that it will all be His if He worships the devil
What is Christ’s response to the third temptation?
“Get away, Satan! Worship God alone and serve only Him.” (Commandment 1)
What is the purpose of third temptation?
To tell us not to be victim to our passions, like Hugh Hefner was when he built the Playboy franchise
Who is a contrast to Hugh Hefner, who lived his life based on his passions with no regard to others?
Saint Theresa of Avila- lived out God’s will; Solo Dios Basta (Only God suffices); she prioritized God above her own passions
What is the most important verse in the Bible?
“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)
What is an important verse in the Bible?
“God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him won’t perish but will have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
What is another important verse in the Bible?
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1)
What does “synoptic” mean?
“Synoptic” means similar eye, or looking at something from similar perspectives
What are the synoptic Gospels and why?
Matthew, Mark, and Luke, which describe events from a similar point of view or are similar in the way they tell the story and the contents of that story (but with different perspective of course)
