Mid term Flashcards
(45 cards)
What is the New Testament?
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.”
What’s in the New Testament?
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
Canonical order of the Gospels and Epistles and Revelation
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
Chronological order
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.
Exegesis - LGHA
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.
Hermeneutics
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.
Textual Criticism - closest to what the author wrote
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.
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.
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?”
Redaction Criticism
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?
Rhetorical Criticism
Rhetorical Criticism - Answers the question what is in the text as an effort in persuasion
Social Scientific Criticism
Social Scientific Criticism - Answers the question what lies behind the text socially and culturally.
Literary Criticism - how is the text organized and what message is embedded
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.
Philosophy
Philosophy - focused on attaining well-being and right (or ethical) lifestyles (Agosto’s ppt 2 slide 8)
Platonists
Platonist - represent ideal types.
The philosophy or doctrines of Plato or his followers who believe ideas are above the material plane.
Stoics – nature / pain
endure pain - ruled by fate or providence
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.
Epicureans – pleasure and friendship
simple pleasures
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.
Cynics – freedom from societal norms
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
Imperial Domination in Israel before the 1st century CE
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).
Who were the Maccabees and the Hasmoneans, and how did they relate to these outside forces? (Review Agosto notes; Pregeant, 38-40.)
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.
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)
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.
Key aspects of Jewish life and History of Ancient World
Jewish Life and History of Ancient World:
- Exodus
- Judges
- Messianic Expectations
- The Prophets
Major events in the 70CE,
Major Events in the year 70 C.E.
- Mark First Gospel written,
- Roman destruction of the Temple,
- End of 4-year war.
What is a Gospel?
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.
Euangelion
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
