Sources of Wisdom and Authority Flashcards
Name the two parts of the Bible
- Old Testament
- New Testament
Which language was the Old Testament originally written in?
Hebrew aramaic
Which additional texts do Catholic and Orthodox Bibles contain?
Septuagint
Which time period was the Old Testament?
Moses to 400 BC
BC meaning
Before Christ
AD meaning
After Christ
Which time period was the New Testament?
50 to 150 AD - 50 years after Jesus’ ascension
Which language was the first copy of the New Testament?
Greek
What does the New Testament contain?
History, stories and teachings of Jesus
Define ‘authority’
Power/right to give orders/make decisions/enforce obedience
What are the biggest sources of authority for Christians?
The Bible, the Church and Jesus
Why do some Christians believe the Bible has authority
Because it contains the exact words of God, for some Christians, not the exact words but still contains words of God
Why is the Bible an important source of authority?
- Provides guidance, it provides ethical guidelines - source of morality
- Comfort
- Instructions for worship
- Teaches about meaning and purpose of life
- Record of historical events
How do Evangelical Protestants view the importance of the Bible as a source of authority?
- Bible is inspired by word of God - authoritative in the lives of Christians
- Evangelical’s believe the Bible’s author was guided by the Holy Spirit to accurately record God’s message (2 Timothy 3:16)
- Inerrancy: it’s without error
- Sola Scripture: the bible alone is the primary source of authority in teaching and guiding beliefs
- ‘All scripture is inspired in God and profitable for teachings’ - God literally inspired the humans to write it, he was working through them and told them what to write - no mistakes, complete word of god
How do Catholics view the importance of the Bible as a source of authority?
God inspired the Bible, but, humans wrote it down, so there may have been forms of error, the pope is important because he is divinely chosen and therefore is needed as he can interpret the bible and eliminate any mistakes
Catechism
Relates to mistakes religious instructions which the catholic church gave
Apostolic tradition
Tradition that stems from Jesus’ apostles - Jesus commanded them to preach the gospel
Apostolic succession
When Jesus died, he gave authority to Peter, who gave authority to the Pope
How do Neo-orthodox view the importance of the Bible as a source of authority?
- Modern forms of studying the Bible - tells us that it’s not true word of God as there’s lots of errors and including historical and scientific errors
- Contains words of God - reveals himself in the flesh of Jesus, God is trying to reach humanity,
Explain Barth’s Neo-orthodox views on the importance of the Bible as a source of authority
- Barth understands that God is trying to reach humans through Jesus, so he can forgive us for our sins, when we experience this presence, the bible has authority
- Barth argued the bible has supreme authority but NOT the literal word
Name the two proposals made by liberalists on the importance of the Bible as a source of authority
- The Social Gospel Movement
- Process Theology
Explain how the Social Gospel Movement views the Bible’s importance as a source of authority
They believed, rather than debating the Bible’s inspiration and authority, and where it came from, instead, put the words within the bible into practice to end the social issues - we can live better lives
Who proposed The Social Gospel Movement?
Protestant intellectuals at the end of the nineteenth century
What issues were taking place at the time when The Social Gospel Movement was founded?
Nineteenth century - war, racism, crime and poverty
Explain how liberalists use process theology to understand the importance of the bible as a source of authority
- Type of Christianity which full takes on board views that there are differences between what science tells us and what the Bible does
- God is not the creator – he’s ‘in’ the universe
- He is not omnipotent, he’s impotent
- He ‘persuaded’ things in it creation
- Bible is simply a ‘human document’ which has too many errors in it for it to have authority
Which scholar posed process theology?
Griffin
Explain how Catholics view the Bible’s importance as a source of authority
- God’s holy spirit is main author of bible but humans used their own FW to write it
- Catholic view would be always argue the Bible has authority and even the human contributions to it should be studied and interpreted
- Whatever in the Bible is still willed by God, so still must be followed regardless of errors
- ‘Woe is me, my mother that you bare me’ Jeremiah 15:10
Definition of ‘verbal plenary inspiration’
God inspired all scripture from Genesis to revelation
Which denominations follow ‘verbal plenary inspiration’
Catholics and Evangelical Protestants
List key evaluation points of Conservative Catholic’s view on the authority of the Bible
- W = Human autonomy may have been involved which could have led to personal opinion
- S = The pope has infallible authority, so he can identify mistakes and interpret the bible
- S = Bible can be interpreted by Pope and make it relevant to a modern society
- W = Catholics are rejecting how the Pope interprets the bible - it is questionable as to whether the pope is actually divinely chosen
List key evaluation points of Evangelical Protestant’s view on the authority of the Bible
- W = Literal word of God, but there is evidence to some parts of the bible is inaccurate e.g., Genesis 1-3 is incompatible with science e.g., Big Bang
- S = Firm/absolute knowledge of what you need to believe in - everyone knows what expected of them
- W = Incompatible with modern society since it is so firm and absolute (objective)
List key evaluation points of Neo-orthodox view on the authority of the Bible
- S = By reading Bible, you can get direct connection with God ‘scripture is a veichle by which God may be experienced’
- W = Why should we follow the Bible if it is not the literal word of God?
- W = If bible contains contradictions this means that it is not 100% valid - no proof to any events that happened
List key evaluation points of Liberalist view on the authority of the Bible
- S = You change the message of the bible to meet the needs of society - gets rid of issues that conservative Christians face
- W = If you change the message, you can change the meaning - then it is just like any other book
List some criticisms of the Bible
- Outdated - written a long time ago
- Issues with translations - Jesus spoke Aramaic - no original Aramaic bible
- Contradictions ‘eye for eye’ and ‘turn the other cheek’
- OT portrays God as evil
- Scientific errors
Why is there an issue of translation with the Bible?
Jesus spoke Aramaic, there is no original Aramaic Bible, the first Bible was in Greek
List the types of literature in the Bible
Types of literature in the Bible
* Proverbs (wise sayings and poetry)
* Biblical poetry
* Song of Songs (erratic poetry)
* Commandments of God
* Narrative of historical events
* Prophecy
How many denominations of Christianity are there?
45000
Since which century have there been differences in beliefs and practices of Christianity?
1st century
List the similarities between Protestants and Catholics
- Both believe in attaining salvation
- Both believe in Bible and think Jesus is the central figure
List the differences between Protestants and Catholics
- Catholics believe Bible and Church is equally authoritative - protestants believe it is Bible alone
- Catholics believe in 7 sacraments - Protestants only recognise 2 - marriage and sacraments
- Catholicism recognises a hierarchy (clergy) - Protestants have no authority hierarchy
- Catholics believe in purgatory (state of purification after death) - Protestants don’t
Purgatory
State of purification after death
According to Catholics, Once the Bible gained it’s fixed form, where things taken out/added into it?
No
According to Catholics, how was the Gospel written down?
Gospel was passed in oral form (Apostoles), eventually written down - was all inspired by God
Who passed the Gospel in oral form?
The Apostoles
Explain why Catholics regard the Bible as being in ‘living form’
It’s a living form and may be added to by new insights e.g., science - the pope keeps the bible in living form - he has equal authority with Bible - Pope is keeping Apostolic tradition living
Magisterium
Popes and Bishops
What role do the Magesterium play with the Bible?
Overseeing the passing on, and interpretation
Why must the Pope be obeyed?
The pope receives authority from God and an interpretation of both the bible and tradition is authentic
Who led the Protestant reformation?
Martin Luther
What did Luther criticise about the Pope?
Luther criticised Catholics saying the Pope has so much authority, he believed sola scripture - Bible = sole source of authority
Why did Luther suggest that the Bible should be translated into English?
So that Christians can read it
What did Luther argue about Priests?
- Believed behaviour of priests was wrong, e.g., running more than one church but not attending them
- Thought Christians don’t need priests to have relationship with God as we all stand equal before God - Priesthood of all believers - everyone can gain special connection with God yourself
- Thought that if you’re part of Church (Priest), you should be able to get married (was not allowed)
Jesus is the ‘___ ___ ___’
‘Son of God’
Define ‘Incarnate’
‘In flesh’
Jesus referred to himself as the ‘____ ___ ____’
‘Son of man’
What did John Dickson say about Jesus’ existence?
No historian found evidence for his existence
True or false: Greek, Roman, and Jewish sources are testimonies of Christianity
False
What did Greek, Roman, and Jewish sources argue about Jesus’ existence?
Says there was a religious teacher, named Jesus, born out of wedlock and crucified
After Jesus’ death, people saw him as the ___________________
Messiah
Mark 9:7
‘A voice came from the cloud: “this is my son, whom I love, listen to him”’
Matthew 28:18
‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me’
John 3:16
‘For God loved the world so much that he sent his one and only son, and he whoever shall follow him shall not perish but receive eternal life’
John 10:30
‘I and the father are one’
Explain the story of the Centurian Servant and how this links to Jesus as the Son of God
‘Go, let it be done for you as you have believed’ - Jesus healed the servant because the servant showed how much faith he has in Jesus as the Son of God. He has divine nature to be able to heal someone who is miles away from him.
Jesus is part of the __________
Trinity
What does the Nicene Creed pose about Jesus being the ‘son of God’?
Alll denominations made a letter which all denominations agree on - ‘I believe in one God, the father almighty…one lord Jesus Christ’. All denominations believe in Jesus as the only son from God through the Virgin Mary.
Why did Jesus rarely refer to himself as the ‘son of God’?
He didn’t want to be accused of blasphemy
What did Jesus refer to himself as?
‘Son of man’
What kind of title is ‘the son of man’?
Messianic title
Messianic title
Refers to Jesus’ mission as a messiah
How does Jesus being the ‘son of man’ emphasise his humanity? - link to Luke 9:58
Luke 9:58 ‘the son of man has no place to lay his head’ - shows how Jesus is struggling as a human, he was not wealthy and had a difficult life - similar to how we struggle - proves him as the son of man, because it shows how he has got human nature and the struggles as a messiah just to save us
Luke 9:58
‘The son of man has no place to lay his head’
What do most theologians argue about Jesus?
He is fully divine and fully human
Mark 1:43-45
‘See to that you don’t tell anyone’ (Mark 1:43-45) - he ensured nobody claimed him to be the messiah after healing the leaper, he wanted his actions to do the talking.
How was the messianic secret revealed?
At the crucifixion - ‘truly this man was the son of God’ (Mark 15:39)
Mark 15:39
‘Truly this man was the son of God’
What do liberalists argue about Jesus?
Argue he wasn’t God or divine, he was only a man
Why do liberalists argue that Jesus wasn’t God or divine, he was only a man?
- We can interpret the Bible in different ways e.g., Kings and Angels referred to son of God, it’s a metaphor, BUT everything in the NT suggests Jesus is God incarnate
- Jesus did things that contradicts science e.g., the miracles such as walking on water - the Bible is metaphors and stories
What do Adoptionists argue about Jesus as a human being?
Jesus born human, adopted by God who gave his authority
What does Arianism argue about Jesus as a human being?
Arius taught Jesus was not fully divine - was created by God to fulfil a purpose, SOG was given to him as a title - this view was confirmed wrong by Nicene Creed
What do the Cathars argue about Jesus as a human being?
Humans are inherently corrupt, the only good thing can be God, Jesus as a human cannot have been divine because a human is corrupt
What does unitarianism argue about Jesus as a human being?
God is ‘deistic’ (believes in God, but does not intervene in the world anymore) - once God created the world, he did not ‘act’ in the world - so he did not come as Jesus in the flesh - instead was a great prophet
Citation for ‘The Sermon on the Mount’
Matthew 5:38-48
What did Jesus command in Matthew 5:38-48
- ‘Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you’
- ‘Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth’
Conservative view of ‘The Sermon on the Mount’
(JESUS IS SOG) - what he has taught here must be followed
Liberal view of ‘The Sermon on the Mount’
(JESUS IS HUMAN) - we are free to evaluate his teachings - less likely to be taken literally
