Mid term

Question 1

What is the New Testament?

Answer 1

A definition based on John 20:30-31:
³⁰ Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. ³¹ But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.

“The New Testament is a collection of ‘documents of faith’ written originally to enhance the faith of earliest Jesus communities, who believed that Jesus was the Messiah, Son of God.”

Question 2

What’s in the New Testament?

Answer 2

There are 27 New Testament Books

4 - Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke John

1 - Acts of the Apostles

13 - Pauline Epistles: Romans, 1 Corinthians, 11 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, II Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, II Timothy, Titus, Philemon

8 - General Epistles: Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, II Peter, John 1, John 2, John 3 and Jude

1 - Apocalypse: Revelation

Question 3

Canonical order of the Gospels and Epistles and Revelation

Answer 3

Canonical Order of Gospels:

Matthew, Mark, Luke, John Acts, Romans Can Go Eat Popcorn, Catered by Thes, Tim, Titus and Please Help James Peter John III Juice Raspberries.

• Matthew, Mark, Luke, John
• Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians,
  Philippians
• Colossians, 1 &2 Thessalonians, 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus,
  Philemon
• Hebrews, James, 1 &2 Peter, 1, 2 & 3 John, Jude,
  Revelations

Question 4

Chronological order

Answer 4

Chronological Order of Gospels:

Epistles of Paul: c. 50-60 C.E. (Thessalonians thought to be the first book)

Synoptic Gospels: Acts: c.70 – 85 C.E. (Matthew, Mark, Luke)

General Epistles: c.80 to 100 C.E. (Hebrew,
1 and 2 Peter, James, Jude, John 1,2,3)

Gospel and Epistles of John: 90 to 95 C.E. (??)

Apocalypse of John: 95 to 100 C.E.

Question 5

Exegesis - LGHA

Answer 5

Exegesis - Language, Grammar and Historical background and Authorial intention i.e what is the original’s author’s message and how did the audience hear it.

Question 6

Hermeneutics

Answer 6

Hermeneutics - Bridging the gap between the 1st and the 21st centuries. The principles of interpretation guiding one’s approach to the New Testament as a reader making sense of the ancient document for current understanding.

Question 7

Textual Criticism - closest to what the author wrote

Answer 7

Textual Criticism - Science of studying ancient manuscripts to determine the authentic text of the bible.most textual critics use what is called the eclectic method, which involves comparing the various readings of any given passage and trying to determine which is closest to what the author wrote.

Question 8

Form and Source Criticism - what is the genre, what is the prehistory of the unit and how did the story change as it was passed down.

Answer 8

Form and Source Criticism - Looking for patterns, order, where did the information come from.

A field of biblical studies that see the Bible as a collection of traditional stories and sayings (or “units”), which were circulated orally and eventually strung together and preserved in writing. Form criticism attempts to determine literary patterns in Scripture, isolate units of text, and trace each unit to its “origin” in oral tradition. The form-critic separates a Bible story from its literary context and asks, “What is this unit’s literary genre? What is the pre-history of this unit? How did the story change as it was passed down orally?”

Question 9

Redaction Criticism

Answer 9

Redaction Criticism - Editing or changing some of the text. How did the gospel author change (edit, redact) forms and sources and what messages are implied in such changes?

Question 10

Rhetorical Criticism

Answer 10

Rhetorical Criticism - Answers the question what is in the text as an effort in persuasion

Question 11

Social Scientific Criticism

Answer 11

Social Scientific Criticism - Answers the question what lies behind the text socially and culturally.

Question 12

Literary Criticism - how is the text organized and what message is embedded

Answer 12

Literary Criticism - How is the text organized as a literary product (e.g., character, plot, development) and what message is embedded in its literary construct?

Words are what they are exactly. How they are written.

Question 13

Philosophy

Answer 13

Philosophy - focused on attaining well-being and right (or ethical) lifestyles (Agosto’s ppt 2 slide 8)

Question 14

Platonists

Answer 14

Platonist - represent ideal types.

The philosophy or doctrines of Plato or his followers who believe ideas are above the material plane.

Question 15

Stoics – nature / pain

endure pain - ruled by fate or providence

Answer 15

Stoics - Nature and pain
They can endure pain without showing their feelings or emotions.

Stoics made no attempt to avoid pain. They believed that everything is ruled by Fate or Providence, which they also identified with God.

Question 16

Epicureans – pleasure and friendship

simple pleasures

Answer 16

Epicureans - pleasure is the ultimate good; the only question was how to attain it; rejecting overindulgence partly because of its addictive nature, they pursued the simplest pleasures: One should live prudently, honorable, and cheerfully and treats others justly. because to do otherwise would bring pain upon oneself.

Question 17

Cynics – freedom from societal norms

Answer 17

Cynics - Stressing self-sufficiency and harmony with nature. The Cynics took animal behavior as their model. A typical Cynic sage lived an itinerant (nomadic) life, carrying only a bag, a staff, and a cloak, and slept on the ground or in public buildings; begging was often the Cynic’s means of support
 

Question 18

Imperial Domination in Israel before the 1st century CE

Answer 18

Imperial Domination in Israel before 1st Century:

Babylon: 597 BCE

Persia: 539 -333 BCE

Macedonia (Alexander the Great, the Ptolemies, the
Seleucids): 333 - 323 BCE

Hellenistic: 198 - 168 BCE

Romans: 63 - 37 C.E. (see Professor Agosto’s chart of influences; Pregeant, 29; 32-33).

Question 19

Who were the Maccabees and the Hasmoneans, and how did they relate to these outside forces? (Review Agosto notes; Pregeant, 38-40.)

Answer 19

Who were the Maccabees and the Hasmoneans:

In 198 B.C. when Antiochus III defeated the Egyptians and incorporated Judea into his empire. Initially, he continued to allow the Jews autonomy, but after a stinging defeat at the hands of the Romans, he began a program of Hellenization that threatened to force the Jews to abandon their monotheism for the Greeks’ paganism. Antiochus’ son, Antiochus IV, in 176 B.C. resumed his father’s original policy without excepting the Jews. and he outlawed central tenets of Judaism such as the Sabbath and circumcision, and defile the holy Temple by erecting an altar to the god Zeus, allowing the sacrifice of pigs, and opening the shrine to non-Jews.

Though many Jews had been seduced by the virtues of Hellenism, the extreme measures adopted by Antiochus helped unite the people. When a Greek official tried to force a priest named Mattathias to make a sacrifice to a pagan god, the Jew murdered the man. Predictably, Antiochus began reprisals, but in 167 BCE the Jews rose up behind Mattathias and his five sons and fought for their liberation.

The family of Mattathias became known as the Maccabees, from the Hebrew word for “hammer,” because they were said to strike hammer blows against their enemies. Jews refer to the Maccabees, but the family is more commonly known as the Hasmoneans.

Question 20

Understand the nature of the main Jewish groups in first century Palestine (the Roman name for the territory formerly known as Israel and now comprised of various Jewish provinces, including Judea and Galilee): Sadducees, Pharisees, Essenes. What was their locus of authority (temple, synagogue, Qumran)? (Agosto notes; Pregeant, 41-44)

Answer 20

Who were the Main Jewish Groups?

Sadducee: Accommodation to empire: Temple locus of authority

Pharisees: Quiet Resistance to empire with application of law: Synagogue – locus of authority. They tried to be faithful to the Torah under the Rome Empire order

Essenes: Withdrawal from corrupt society: Qumran – greatest example of community “escape”. We are not going to cooperate and be more faithful to the law of the Torah and they took to the hill. Qumran they were the one faithful community who will usher in the faithfulness of God.

Question 21

Key aspects of Jewish life and History of Ancient World

Answer 21

Jewish Life and History of Ancient World:

• Exodus
• Judges
• Messianic Expectations
• The Prophets

Question 22

Major events in the 70CE,

Answer 22

Major Events in the year 70 C.E.

• Mark First Gospel written,
• Roman destruction of the Temple,
• End of 4-year war.

Question 23

What is a Gospel?

Answer 23

A Gospel is:

Good news Mark 1:1
Good news is euangelion
A New Beginning of the good news and it is about Jesus Christ of Nazareth, Son of God.

Matthew, Mark Luke, and John, The New Testament Gospels put into narrative form the events, sayings, and teachings related to Jesus of Nazareth, proclaimed as bringing a new situation for the world – The kingdom of God “Mark 1: 14-15

The Gospels are thus a subgenre of ancient religious biography.

The original audience had to understand the Gospels in terms of what they already knew. Biography is as close as anything to the literary genre of what the “Gospel” is and intends to do.

However, as a “sub-subgenre,” they were unique in ancient literature about heroic religious figures.

Question 24

Euangelion

Answer 24

Euangelion - a literary form which describes, celebrates and interprets a historic event that introduces a new situation for the world like the Birth of Emperor.

Similarly, like the birth of Jesus and like the dawn of ‘new beginnings as stated in Mark 1:1

Question 25

Review the characteristics of “ancient biography” and how this genre applies to the New Testament Gospel genre

Answer 25

What are characteristics of Ancient Biography?

Ancient Biography - was a prose narrative that recounted an individual’s life (gr. bios), often in a chronological framework.

They focused on a person’s character rather than in what happened.

They often included sayings and anecdotes to show a person’s “essence;” “character development” was not a focus but impact of his or her life.

The principal purposes of bio – “lives” – were instruction, exhortation, and propaganda (promotion of ideas and an agenda, not historical facts

Notes: Gospel is promoting and sharing a story sharing the character of Jesus. Lots more time is spent on the death of Jesus. Typical Ancient bio tells how honorable a death was for a person and yet for Jesus, it was not so honorable Jesus was not among the elite and yet ancient bios were written for the elite only.

Question 26

How and why was “oral tradition” created and preserved?

Answer 26

Oral tradition is the spreading of information by word of mouth.

Question 27

Understand the nature of the period of the oral tradition between the life and ministry of Jesus and the writing of the first Gospel (including approximate dates).

Answer 27

Period of Oral Tradition - How the teachings of stories about Jesus were preserved between the death of Jesus (c.30 CE) and the first written Gospel (c.70 CE) – some 40 years, in different geographic regions.

Different types of materials that were collected and preserved (“forms”): Sayings (aphorisms, directives), stories (miracle, healing, exorcisms, controversies), parables (short and long, esp. about the “kingdom”), sermons, passion narratives (the most consistent set of stories in the Gospels), resurrection accounts.

These were also organized around different community needs: Worship, Teaching, Preaching/Evangelism, Discipline, and shared by apostles, converts, travelers, preachers for four decades.

Whatever was memorable and necessary was adapted, adopted, preserved, transmitted, over time, both in terms of sayings/stories and collections

The needs of the Jesus-believing communities dictated use, development, and sharing of the “pericopes” about Jesus as did the settings for meetings, such as ritual meals and baptism.

Question 28

What kinds of materials were preserved, for what purposes and who was doing it?

Answer 28

What kind of materials were preserved?

• Epistles of Paul c50 - 60
• Synoptic gospels Acts 70 - 85
• General Epistles 80 - 100
• Gospel of John and Epistles of John 90 - 95
• The Apocalypse of John 95 - 100

Various materials that were preserved are

• Stories about Jesus - legends
• Sayings of Jesus on a particular theme
• Miracle Stories
• The Parables

The followers of Jesus transmitted and preserved the material

Worship facilitated the memory of Jesus Christ. How they practiced the last meal, how they did Baptism. How they referenced the teaching of ethics and parables, applying the disciplines.

The majority of the words in the Bible of what Jesus said is not verbatim. Over time words change. Don’t look for what Jesus said but what did the people understand and learn.

This was a good word for those who just went through a Great War. How they got there depends on the different communities. Mark was responding and addressing his community. And Matthew was responding to and addressing his community and so was Luke and John

Question 29

What is the basic “outline” of the life of Jesus? (Agosto notes – ppt 3 slide 5-6)

Answer 29

Basic Outline of the Life of Jesus:

• The Ministry of John the Baptist
• The Baptism of Jesus (This is my son)
• The Temptation in the Desert (Pattern for life)
• Ministry in Galilee (Healing and Miracles)
• Proclamation of the Kingdom (Indeed and parable)
• Ethics of the Kingdom (Love Forgiveness Discipleship,
• Sacrifice, and Renunciation)
• Turning point decision to go to Jerusalem
• In Jerusalem Teaching and challenging to the temple
  elite
• Arrest Trial crucifixion
• Resurrection accounts
• Commissioning/Sending of Disciples

Question 30

The “Synoptic Problem”

Answer 30

Synoptic Problem:

Trying to solve the account of the literary relationship of the Synoptic Gospels – aka the two-document hypothesis. Synoptic Problem reflects differences attributable to Sources. Very similar yet many differences.

1. Two Source document hypotheses – Mark as the first writer and Matthew and Luke followed him. Matthew and Luke used Mark’s writings independently.

There are questions concerning the unexplained materials that appear in Matthew and Luke Gospels but does not appear in the Gospel of Mark. Scholars think or assume that a second source was used by Matthew and Luke. The hypothetical document is called Q for Quelle

Most likely accepted by Scholars is the Four Sources Hypothesis: (1) Mark first Gospel and Matthew and Luke copy Mark, (2) Q, and (3) Matthew, (4) and Luke have their own source.

2. Another hypothesis is that Matthew as being the first writer followed by Luke. This hypothesis states that Mark copied from Matthew and Luke
3. Harmonization – try to make everything agree
4. MarKan priority, the hypothesis that the Gospel of Mark, (Mark is the oldest) was the first-written of the three Synoptic Gospels and was used as a source by the other two (Matthew and Luke) is a central element in discussion of the synoptic problem – the question of the documentary relationship among these three Gospels.

Question 31

Study the main features of Mark, including “sudden beginning,” “secrecy motif,” and “open ending”

Answer 31

Main Features of Mark:

“Sudden Beginning” – “Immediately” (Gr. euthus - 42 times in Mark, 35 in first nine chapters), Jesus acts – healings confrontation with opponents (e.g., 2:1-12).

“Secrecy Motif” (1:25, 34, 44; 3:12; 5:43; 7:36; 8:30; cf. 5:19; 16:7 – “go and tell”);

1: ²⁵ But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!”
1: ³⁴ And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.
1: ⁴⁴ saying to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”

Shortcomings of Disciples (see Mark 4:1-9, 10-20 – they really don’t understand).

Parable of the sower and seed.

“Open Ending” – Mark 16:1-8 [9-20] (abrupt ending at the empty tomb; resurrection “appearances” added later).

Question 32

Understand why the disciples are viewed so negatively in Mark (Carter, 59-61).

Answer 32

Why does Mark View Disciples Negatively:

Mark is so urgent. Why are the disciples asking questions because they didn’t know what was going on, Jesus had to keep explaining because the disciples were not getting. It.

They appear to be clueless. Jesus calms the sea, for example, but they ask the question “who is this that calms the sea.” But when Jesus asks Peter who does he say that Jesus is then Peter answers that question correctly. He responds you are the Messiah.

Question 33

Study the basic outline of the life of Jesus portrayed in the Gospel of Mark

Answer 33

Outline of Jesus Life in Mark’s Gospel:

Prologue:1:1 – The beginning of the Gospel about Jesus the Christ, the Son of God.

The credentials of Jesus: 1:2-13 –

The Testimony of John the Baptist, the Baptism, the “temptation” (preparatory testing).

The authority of Jesus – 1:14-5:43, over
Sin; Sabbath; demons; nature; death (see daughter of Jairus, 5:35-43

Opposition against Jesus (early and often – 2:1-12; 3:6; 3:22): 6:1 – 8:26 (bundled – “conflict stories”).

Confession of Peter and Announcement of Death: 8:27-10:31 (turning point) – 3 Messianic predictions – “martyr-messiah” (Horsley in Oxford Study Bible).

Last Journey to Jerusalem & the Cross: 10:32 – 13:37.

Passion, Resurrection: 14:1-16:8 [9-20 – a summary of appearances from the other gospels]; Theme of restoration – Peter (16:7; the “young man” – 14:51=16:5); Challenge to the audience – will you go?

Question 34

Study each feature of the phrase “teaching manual of the church” as a helpful way to understand the character of Matthew’s Gospel.

Answer 34

Matthew - Teaching Manual of Church

Organized around teaching material (e.g., sermon on the mount, parables of the kingdom).

Systematic presentation (e.g., Reenact Five Books of the Pentateuch in the fivefold structure of Matthew; Jesus is a “new Moses”).

Matthew is the only gospel that uses the term “church” (Gk. Ekklesia - Mt 16:18; 18:15-20).

Thus, Matthew’s Gospel has been called, “the Teaching Manual of the Church.”

Question 35

Five-Fold structure of Matthew
‘A’
Birth Narrative
First Discourse - Sermon on the Mount

Answer 35

(A) Matthew - First Structure:

Birth Narratives, with fulfillment of scripture, the preparatory ministry of John the Baptist, and the beginning ministry of Jesus: 1:1 – 4:25

First Discourse: The Sermon on the Mount The Ethics of the Kingdom: 5:1-7:29

• The Blessings of the Kingdom – 5:1-11
• Teaching on the Law – 5:17-48
• Teachings on piety – 6:1-18
• Teaching on righteousness – 7:1-27
• Summary of character of teaching – 7:28-29

Question 36

Five-Fold Structure of Matthew
‘B’
Messianic Words
Second Discourse on Mission and Discipleship

Answer 36

(B) Matthew - Second Structure:

Narrative of Messianic Words and Wonders (Miracles spread out in Mark; bundled here) – 8:1-9:38

Discourse on Mission and Discipleship (Disciples sent out like Jesus, viewed more positively than in Mark) – 10:1-42

Question 37

Five-Fold Structure of Matthew
‘C’

Narrative Opposition to Jesus 3rd and
Discourse on the Parables of the Kingdom

Answer 37

(C) Matthew - Third Structure:

Narrative on the Opposition to Jesus
more focus on Pharisees than in Mark, which has focussed on “scribes” and “chief priests”) – 11:1-12:50

Discourse on the Parables of the Kingdom (“the Kingdom of heaven is like . . .” – 13:1-52

Question 38

Five-Fold structure of Matthew
‘D’
Narrative of the Transfiguration and announcement
4th Discourse on the Church

Answer 38

(D) Matthew - Fourth Structure:

Narrative of the Transfiguration, announcements of death, -13:54-17:27 (center of each Gospel).

Discourse on the Church – 18:1-35 (esp. vv.15-20)

Question 39

Five-Fold structure of Matthew
‘E’
Narrative Controversy in Jerusalem
Discourse: Judgement

Answer 39

(E) Matthew - Fifth Structure:

Controversy in Jerusalem – 19:1-22:46
conflict stories and teachings

Discourse on Judgment – the Pharisees
In a transitional speech in chapter 23, Jesus denounces the scribes and Pharisees accusing them of hypocrisy and neglecting the weightier matters of the law, more future oriented, than the immediacy of Mark).

Conclusion: Passion Narrative, Crucifiction, Death, Resurrection, and Commission 2:1-28, 20

Question 40

What is the “fulfillment formula” in Matthew?

the “Beatitudes;” ) and why Matthew uses the term “church” in Mt. 16 and 18

Answer 40

What is “Fulfillment Formula”?

Significant aspects of Jesus Teaching
the beatitudes 5:1-11 pronounce blessings associated with God’s rule, partly contrasting with John’s emphasis on repentance, but the final beatitude envisions persecutions for Jesus followers

Question 41

Who is Theophilus and what does he want/need according to Luke?

Answer 41

Who is Theophilus?

Maybe Publisher of Luke’s work, a supporter of Luke -
Lover of God

Question 42

The two “programmatic” (agenda-setting) statements in Luke and Acts, and how they set the tone for the Gospel and then the Acts (Luke 4:16-21; Acts 1:8;

Answer 42

“Programmatic” Agenda Setting Statements in Luke and Acts:

The agenda sets the MOTIF or Tone.
Luke starts with Jesus and Acts starts with the Holy Spirit. Luke ends at Jerusalem and Acts ends at the world

Luke 4: 16-21 Jesus said at the Synagogue on the sabbath day, The spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to bring the good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight of the blind, to let the oppressed go free to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.

Acts 1:8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.

Question 43

What are the three “epochs” covered by Luke-Acts? How are these “epochs” related to the geographic expanse of Luke-Acts and why is this important to the author (“from Nazareth to Jerusalem to Rome”)?

Answer 43

What are the Three Epochs in Luke-Acts?

(1) The Epoch of Israel - First Testament Milieu,
- birth of John the Baptist: prophetic
- birth of Jesus:

(2) The Epoch of Jesus - Center of Time
- Centrality of Temple
- Turning point in human history

(3) The epoch of the church - spreading the good news
- Ascension
- Geographical Expansion
- First Gentiles
- Asia Minor
- Europe
- Rome

Question 44

Who are the two “heroes” of Luke’s Gospel (),

Answer 44

Who are the Two Main Heroes in Luke’s Gospel?

John the Baptist and Jesus

Question 45

Who are the two main “heroes” of the Book of Acts )?

Answer 45

Who are the Two Main Heroes in the Book of Acts?

Peter and Paul