OT Exam 3: Lectures Non Book Flashcards
Who were the prophets?
Messengers between God and People
Bring God’s word to the people
Sometimes bring the people’s word to God
Types of Prophets
Former Prophets:
Jewish Cannon considered Josh, Judges, 1&2Sam, 1&2kings
Latter Prophets: what we consider prophets except Daniel
Pre-literary: Abraham, Moses, Nathan, Elijah, Elisha - no book named for them…
Literary: latter prophets
Pre-Exilic: before 722 & before 587
Post-Exilic: after 722 and after 587
Pre Exilic Prophets(10)
Isaiah 1-39, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah
Exilic or Post Exilic Prophets(6)
Isaiah 44-66, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi
Prophets Message
1- People have sinned
2 - Sin is grievous
3 - God’s judgement is coming
4 - Even amid judgement- not all is hopeless.
Isaiah Key Themes
1) Zion is God’s home: another name for Jerusalem
2) God works through anointed rulers and world empires
Assyria - 50x
King - 91x
Isaiah Strategy
Three Books
First Isaiah(1-39) Isaiah of Jerusalem /Proto-Isaiah
8th century
Assyrians/Judgement
Second Isaiah(40-55) Isaiah of Exile /Deutero-Isaiah
mid 6th century
Babylon/Hope
Third Isaiah(56-66) Isaiah of the Return/Trito-Isaiah
Persia/deals with struggles from return
Who is Heschel?
Jewish interpreter
Friend of Martin Luther
Gods suffering is different than human suffering
We are not alone in our suffering but God is right with us in suffering.
Terry Fretheim
Middle Ground
Similarities of God and human suffering
God suffers because of people’s rejection
God suffers with people who suffer
God carries for people on their behalf
Walter Bruggemann
God and humans suffer alike
Difference for scholars(6)
Passion
Wrath
Fidelity
Mutability
Metaphor
Texts
God and Humanity are not the same
Heschel
God and humanity are the similar
Bruggeman
God and humans have some similarities and some differences
Fretheim
Passion
God is not passionate - overwhelmed or embittered. - H
God is of great passions but doesn’t go overboard. - F
Wholly overboard in passion, potentially wide and dangerous. - B
Wrath
Gods anger is never regarded by the prophets as inscrutable or unaccountable. -H
Gods wrath entirely contingent upon responsive to human wickedness. In service for life for the ultimate good of others. -F
One never knows if Yahweh is a loose cannon - unaccountable and ominous. - B
Faithfulness - fidelity
Even in moments of indignation. ‘Gods remains alive’- H
Precisely in order to be faithful, God must Judge. - f
Yahweh’s failure to adhere to Covenant, complete absence and lack faithful. - b
Mutability - can God change?
Revelation means, God isn’t making himself known but Gods will known. Gods will may change, but Gods essences. - H
On the one hand - God will be steadfast, love, saving will, faithful to promises.. on the other hand - God will move with the world. God is both mutable and immutable… topic under discussion. - F
Yaweh redecides in the midst of crisis, hot to be Yahweh and who to be as Yahweh. - B
Anthropomorphisms - human metaphors..
Projecting human qualities into God is blasphemy and prophets only use these to show the true deity of God. - H
No real or essential relationship between the metaphor and God. The images used for God really do say something about God but they do break down at some point - F
Yahew negativity, failure,
Jeremiah 12:7-15
What drove God too this affliction and Gods mourning because of Israel’s desertion. Explaining Gods behavior - H
Acknowledges both Gods hate and abandonment.. affirming the hate but out of love for a long term future. F
Lord withdraws fidelity and truly leaves Israel’s. - B
How do approach scholars on Gods Passion..
Avoid harm to people
Avoid overemphasizing or exaggerating biblical images about anger or wrath.
Silencing people who feel harmed by God.
Do no harm to the Bible
Gods love is always mentioned near depictions of Gods wrath.
Amos ends on a hopeful note
Balanced chapters.. of Hope and judgement
Even on a macro level - God is not incapacitated by his suffering or wrath and can act with compassion.
Three examples of invisible whiteness
1) language requirements for field of study
2) contextual interpretation
3) scholar meetings are by and large white men… white perspectives of the Pentateuch.. vs the Pentateuch
Three scientific focus of euro biblical studies
Oldest respective journal is
Journal of the Old Testament Science
Scientific assumptions - test hypothesis, exacting judgements
Skeptical about the supernatural - opposed to main claim of the text…
History preference
Source Criticism - authorship importance? Not in Near Ancient world
Started to matter - Greek/Romans
Copywriting matters now - value
Ad fontes - to the source… not just the words but who wrote the word and what was their source..
Original audience - and who were the authors, who wrote, to whom did they write, this gives enlightenment to what originally meant…
Apply enough rational thought, everything will come to the light.
Redaction Criticism
How were original authors vs. editors
History and authorship - focus it never came to what is this demanding of me.
Church is in love with culture - fundamentalists and those were not.
Not how to encounter or makes demands on our lives. Hypothetical editors/authors…
Biblical Theology - history
The acts of God in history
Skepticism ruled the day Never clear if God ever did anything…
Good things about redaction criticism
Deeper understanding of languages and text…
Beyond simplistic notions of authorship
Diversity in the Bible’s
Valuable lessons about biblical culture
Come to light with its own limitations
Negatives of historical emphasis..
Uber focused on history
Skepticism that incongruent with the text
Speculative
Demands of claims of the text
Status Quo- applying current culture to text instead of texts culture to modern culture
Trinetarian Approach
God three in one.. the OT tells about God the Father Jesus is taking about in the Gospels. The Holy Spirit is depicted in the epistles.
Marcion approach
Get rid of OT
God of OT is not living and focuses on justice and ruin
Jesus is the loving God - Luke and snippets of 10 books from Paul.
2 covenants
OT is one covenant with God andIsrael Jesus brings a new covenant with humanity
Pros - Jesus tells us about this covenant at the Lords Table
Cons - lots of covenants in OT
Allegorical approach
Symbolically look beyond themselves to a future reality.
Origin Scholar - sarah is virtue, philistine want virtue, can’t have access because you need Jesus…
Pros-
NT authors use allegory -
Parables - Isaiah, genesis
Cons
Not every text can invite readers to be allegory..
They are not self evident.
Devalues the OT text because you are looking for different meaning.
Progressive revalation
God does not reveal everything all at once.
Overtime God reveals divine self and bits and pieces.
Clearest revelation is NT incarnation.
Eichrodt- NT is top idea of God, OT medium ideas, old other religions bad
Yancey - points to Jesus
We cannot comprehend the complexity of God.
Limitations - old is not as trustworthy… Freeing slaves but then NT says to submitting to masters… Disconnect!!!
Does God reach the high point in the NT? We are little Christ?
More true with Q’uran, or Book of Mormon?
Implications - in this scheme - OT would not be necessary, just a record of a primitive way of thinking about God.
Faith in evolution not in God… humans are getting better and we are building it here on earth.
Do not assume older material is less important… and that God is all revealed on page 1
Dispensationalism
God relates to differently to humanity at different times.
Dispensation of Mosaic Law
Dispensation of Grace
Dispensation of Millenium reign
It is ok chapters in the over arching story?
Deuteronomic theology -
Too far to say God acts differently… not clear cut..
Grace is in the OT - forgiveness is not a NT idea…
NT not abundant in grace - hell, pain and gnashing of teeth(judgement).
Jonah - God is showing grace to Assyrians, Jonah is mad and wants the law.
Containers are overly simplistic..
OT would have little value because it is was from a by gone age.
Jesus at the center of the Old Testament
Brevard - JC is the subject matter of the OT…
Barth - OT witnesses to JC
Is this first and foremost? No
Messiah texts.. even calling evil kings messiah… ruling politically.
Jesus talked of spiritual kingdom…
Jews do not expect Jesus - unexpected
If we are focusing on Jesus - NT is better and unclear that OT would be a passing notice.
Jesus becomes the most important part of the Trinity…. But an acting thing when we emphasize Jesus.
African American Interpretation
Never had the luxury of toying with the Bible while doing nothing with us claims for a just society.
African American Interpretation
1) I want to interpret the Bible with a community who brings the Bible into conversation with pain.
2) Demanding and sacrificial text - no better example than the civil rights movement.
Turn the other cheek…
3) AA offers a refuge from attitudes European scholarship that have always bothered me.
4) I am blown away by their creativity, insight and knowledge of scriptures, and connections they make with the real needs of the real world.
5) AA experiences makes the Bible come to life in new ways.
Eulogy of bombing in Birmingham
Must not become bitter and must not retaliate.. loose faith in people ‘turn the other cheek’
Most misguided can learn to respect the dignity of all humanity
What to the Slave is the Fourth of July
Points out the irony and offense of asking him to speak.
Celebrating freedom in the context a country that practices slavery
Drawing a direct line between white Americans and slavery of American like Babylon and Zion
Psalms 137 -
The Middle Passage
Europeans bought slaves and shipped to americas and good were transported back to Europe
Slave ships were inhumane and conditions were abhorrent, shekels, whips, mussels..
Exile and lamentations
One day God will set things right…
The Bible connects with people who are struggling..
