NT Midterm

Question 1

oxyrhynchus

Answer 1

City when paper trash was excavated. Many letters of Paul and other papers of the time were found there.

Question 2

Papyrus/Papyri

Answer 2

Writing material made from fibers of the papyrus plant

Question 3

66-70 CE

Answer 3

Jewish Revolt and Fall of Temple

Question 4

kainē diathēkē

Answer 4

New Testament; “new covenant” (see 2 Corinthians 3: 1-6); or newly ratified agreement; believed to have been written between ca. 50-120 CE

comprised of 27 books (including gospels, epistles, acts, and apocalyptic literature);
* Paul’s letters (ca 50s CE);
* gospels (70 CE and later)
* Acts (ca 90-120 CE)
* Revelation (ca. 95+ CE)

Question 5

Genres

Answer 5

gospels, letters, acts, and apocalyptic literature

Question 6

Amanuensis

Answer 6

professional scribe

these scribes were often slaves, who were trained in scribal work and were hired to make money for their enslavers

Question 7

epistles/epistolography

Answer 7

letters/art of writing letters

all NT letters are occasional: christians often assume the letters are a systematic theology; on the contrary, they are actually occasional—written for a particular community in a particular context at a particular moment.

Question 8

Parts of a Letter

Answer 8

Prescript:
* superscriptio (the letter writer),
* adscriptio (who the letter is to),
* salutation (greetings)

Thanksgiving
Body
Ending

Question 9

paideia

Answer 9

Ancient Greek model of education that prioritizes study of rhetoric

Question 10

superscriptio

Answer 10

who the letter is by

Question 11

progymnasmata

Answer 11

educational model of the ancient world in which middle and high school training focuses exclusively on rhetoric; students copy letters and speeches from established rhetoricians like aristotle or quintillian; were eventually evaluated on a speech they themselves wrote

Question 12

rhetoric: ēthos, pathos, logos

Answer 12

Ways of forming an argument or convincing:
logos: reason
Pathos: emotions
Ethos: self-presentation; how the writer establishes their authority so that the listener/reader will trust and be persuaded by them

Question 13

7 Letters of Paul

Answer 13

1 Thessalonians, Philemon, Galatians, Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Philippians

Question 14

disputed and perhaps pseudepigraphical letters of Paul

Answer 14

1-2 Timothy, Titus, 2 Thessalonians, Colossians, Ephesians

Question 15

Acts of Paul and Thecla

Answer 15

The Acts of Paul and Thecla is an apocryphal text describing Paul the Apostle’s influence on a young virgin named Thecla.

Question 16

Lectio Difficilior

Answer 16

Chose the harder reading- the correct translation was typically “emotionally or spiritually or stricter” Harder reading

Question 17

Synoptic problem

Answer 17

the question of the specific literary relationship among the three synoptic gospels: Mark, Matthew, Luke

Question 18

Gospel

Answer 18

good news

the life of Jesus/teachings of Jesus
death and resurrection of Jesus

A genre of literature that is emerging and in flux at the time that these books were written

Not exclusively a Christian genre; however, within the Christian canon, gospels may be found within the NT canon (M, M, L, J) and outside the NT canon (Gospel of Thomas, Mary, Philip, etc.).

Question 19

Gospel of Lots of Mary

Answer 19

Coptic writing dating to the fifth or sixth century used for divination or bibliomancy

Question 20

Q

Answer 20

The Q source (also called The Sayings Gospel, Q Gospel, Q document(s), or Q; from German: Quelle, meaning “source”) is a hypothetical written collection of primarily Jesus’ sayings (λόγια : logia). Q is part of the common material found in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke but not in the Gospel of Mark. According to this hypothesis, this material was drawn from the early Church’s oral gospel traditions.[1][2][3]

Question 21

Nag Hammadi

Answer 21

collection of early Christian and Gnostic texts discovered near the Upper Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi in 1945.

Question 22

Gospel of Thomas

Answer 22

The Gospel of Thomas (also known as the Coptic Gospel of Thomas) is an extra-canonical[1] sayings gospel. It was discovered near Nag Hammadi, Egypt, in December 1945 among a group of books known as the Nag Hammadi library.

Question 23

Gnostic

Answer 23

the belief that human beings contain a piece of God (the highest good or a divine spark) within themselves, which has fallen from the immaterial world into the bodies of humans.

“seeking knowlege”

Question 24

Syncretism/ multiplicity

Answer 24

Multiplicity is the fact that the story and teachings of Jesus is repeated each time in each gospel

Question 25

Tatian’s Diatessaron

Answer 25

A proposed solution to the synoptic problem. Tatian’s idea is to just put all (mix) the gospels together instead of focusing on which gospel informed the other(s)

Question 26

apocrypha

Answer 26

Non-canonical texts (example: Gospel of Thomas)

Question 27

Anagignoskomena

Answer 27

“worth reading” Books selected for the cannon

Question 28

Ioudaios (e-you dy ous/ e-you dy oi)

Answer 28

Jews/Jewish/Judeans Variants based on ethnicity or religion or location

TH: Begins with the vowel “i” - NOT the consonant “L”: Ioudaios (-oi)

Question 29

Ethne

Answer 29

origin of the word ethnic; there are lots of meanings: nation, people, religious practice, group formation (inclusion/exclusion)
Ethne might be used to reference Jews vs Gentiles or Romans vs Barbarians

Question 30

Pharisees

Answer 30

Middle class, they focus on interpreting scriptures; immortality of the soul; belief in angels; open to additional interpretations; enjoy going to local synagogues, rabbi’s teach in synagogues, to debate (NOT the temple)

After the fall of the temple their sect became the basis for Rabbinic Judaism

Question 31

synagogues

Answer 31

local places of learning so that they would not have to travel to the temple

Question 32

Sadducees

Answer 32

Priests and Elders tied to religious and political power structure and leadership “(they “lost their jobs” after the temple demolishing); There concerns were with the actual work of the temple. and would include the high priest. High priest is a hereditary role. They run the business of the temple, they have political relationship/tension with the king

Question 33

Qumran

Answer 33

Sect/Splinter group from the Sadduceess who secluded themselves in the desert because they are concerned about corruption in the temple. They preserved and wrote a lot of texts including the dead sea scrolls

Question 34

Philo

Answer 34

a jewish philosopher, poet, beautiful writer of Greek, Hellenized Jew, very into “Greek stuff”, but still a religious Jew

Question 35

Flavius Joesphus

Answer 35

Jewish historian who is captured and gets Roman citizenship; acts as a translator for Rome; created a lot of important texts; jewish advocate in Rome; best known for writing The Jewish War

Question 36

Essences

Answer 36

presented by Josephus/Philo (similar to the Qumran community)

Question 37

Ritual Purity/Moral Purity

Answer 37

ritual purity has no moral implications and therefore does not indicate whether one is “good” or “bad”; ritual impurities are not an indication of sin but the result of living in the world

moral purity is an assessment of whether a person/object/act is “good” or “bad”; has implications of sin; ex: adultery, not caring for orphans and widows

Question 38

Mishnah

Answer 38

collection of interpretation of Rabbinic Texts written at the 2nd century CE interpreting texts from the first century CE

Question 39

Midrash

Answer 39

reading style of the literature- a mode of biblical interpretation/metaphors, allegorical reading, particular Jewish theological way of reading the text

Examples: Satan as the serpent and Jesus as Adam; Hagar as Old Covenant and Sarah as New Covenant

Question 40

Apocalyptic

Answer 40

Revealing; from apocalypsis (gr.): unveiling (thus, revelation: something is revealed);

as a genre:
* there is a divine message revealed to a human mediator
* there is someone who is receiving a vision that is then explained and shared
* revelation is example of apocalyptic literature
* genre is popular 300 BCE - 100 CE: it’s a period when everything is in upheaval

Parts of End of the World Genre:
Vision, Judgment, Spiritual Beings, The Day of the Lord, the message revealed

Question 41

Eschatology

Answer 41

The Ending of the world; ending of things as we know or understand them

Also: study of the ending of things: the end of the world, the current order, etc
* eschaton: the end
* there is eschatological imagery in the gospels

Question 42

The Day of the Lord

Answer 42

A day or period of Judgment that shows up in apocalyptic or eschatological literature

The War Scrolls and the HB books of Joel and Amos offer depictions of The Day of the Lord:
* an imagined time in which God smites the enemies and wipes them from the face of the earth; the good triumph and are saved
* things are so corrupt that we need divine intervention
* these warnings are directed toward israel, who has sinned and needs redemption

Question 43

Son of God/Son of Man

Answer 43

Human-like figure or character on the human-divine spectrum that usually shows up in Apocalypic or Eschatologcal literature

Also a reference to Jesus

Question 44

70 CE

Answer 44

the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans

Question 45

salutation

Answer 45

Part of a Letter/Greeting

Question 46

Markian priority

Answer 46

The agreement (about 97-98% of scholars) that of the gospels Mark was written first and was used as a source for the other gospels

Question 47

rhetoric

Answer 47

Aristotle (Gr.) : says rhetoric is art of persuasion; use rhetoric to persuade or convince someone of something

Marcus Quintillian (Roman): the knowledge of how to speak well.

Question 48

judicial/forensic form of rhetoric

Answer 48

weighing in on past events and building an opinion about it; looks at something in the past and makes judgement about it

Question 49

deliberative form of rhetoric

Answer 49

appeals to future decision-making making; a way to sway folks about how to move in the future; deliberation is not for past

Question 50

epideictic form of rhetoric

Answer 50

trying to weigh in on something that is happening right now: it is urgent to make an intervention right now. You need to either continue doing what you’re doing OR make a new move NOW!

Question 51

The Farrer hypothesis

Answer 51

The Farrer hypothesis (also called the L/M hypothesis, the Farrer–Goulder hypothesis and the Farrer–Goulder–Goodacre hypothesis) is a possible solution to the synoptic problem. The theory is that the Gospel of Mark was written first, followed by the Gospel of Matthew and then by the Gospel of Luke. It maintains the Markan Priority but does NOT presume the use or existence of Q, since it can not be confirmed Q even existed.

Question 52

Grenfell and Hunt

Answer 52

“Discovered” Oxyrinchus documents

Question 53

Ausgangstext

Answer 53

Text which the entire tradition originates from the initial text

Question 54

Hasmonean Dynasty

Answer 54

The Hasmonean Dynasty was ushered in following the Maccabean Revolt (163/4 BCE), which defeated the Greeks and restored Israel to autonomous rule. The Hasmoneans ruled for approximately one century but the dynasty was brought to an end in 63/4 BCE by the rise of the Herodian Dynasty (Herod the Great, under the greater influence of the Roman Empire).

Question 55

Ekklēsia

Answer 55

root of ecclesiology, thus church; is a political term that can refer to an assembly or deliberative body; derived from athenian democracy

Question 56

Bar Kokhba revolt

Answer 56

The Bar Kokhba revolt was a large-scale armed rebellion initiated by the Jews of Judea, led by Simon bar Kokhba, against the Roman Empire in 132 CE. Lasting until 135 or early 136, it was the third and final escalation of the Jewish–Roman wars.

Following the failure of the Bar Kokhba revolt, the center of Jewish society shifted from Judea to Galilee. The Jews were also subjected to a series of religious edicts by the Romans, including an edict that barred all Jews from entering Jerusalem.