Test 1 Study Guide Flashcards
What are the two definitions of theology?
- study of religious faith, practice, and experience
- thinking about God
What does theology incorporate?
philosophy
What are the divisions of theology?
exegetical, historical, systematic, and practical
Define exegetical theology.
study of text and related subjects aiding its restoration, interpretation, and illustration
Define historical theology.
traces history of God’s people in the Bible and of the church since the time of Christ
Define systematic theology
arranges findings of exegetical and historical theology in a logical order under headings (doctrine) of theological study
What languages was the OT and NT written in?
OT- predominately Hebrew
NT- greek
When was the Septuagint written?
198 BC
When was the Latin Vulgate written?
4th Century AD
What are the Dead Sea Scrolls?
- found by Arab shepherd in Qumran
- controlled by Israeli gov’t
- contained the oldest copies of the OT manuscripts
What are the six characteristics of translation?
- preserves wording
- objective: precision
- always involves a change of language
- always an interpretation
- not always a word to word translation
- more or less literal
What are paraphrases?
- preserves meaning
- objective: clarity (sometimes sacrifices precision)
- always an interpretation
- not condensing or summarizing
How did we get chapter and verse divisions for the OT?
- verses came first then chapters
- Masoretes divided the scriptures into verses in 900 AD
- Archbishop Stephen Langton responsible for chapters in 1228
How did we get chapter and verse divisions for NT?
- chapters came first then verses
- Archbishop Stephen Langton responsible for chapters in 1228
- Stephanus divided NT into verses in 1555
What is an ‘autograph’?
means ‘self writing’ in greek; that which you have written in your own hand; original writing
What is significant about the relationship between the DSS (400 BC) and the MT (900 AD)?
They were 95% the same even though they were written 1300 years apart and the DSS was unknown at the time of MT.
What is a lectionary?
collection of scriptures organized for calendar year; “preaching plan”
What is the purpose of textual criticism?
to recover original reading
What specific characteristic did Dr. Parke give about textual critics?
they don’t elaborate.
Does spelling and wording impact meaning?
noooooooooooo :)
Define dittography
variations of spelling and wording, usually noted in footnotes
What are the five principles of Textual Criticism
- “The reading that is to be preferred” is shorter
- ”’ is difficult
- ”” fits the context
- ”” explains all other variations
- ”” comes from a better manuscript
Define Canon.
- List, standard, or measure
- collection of sacred writing
- List of authoritative books (books were authoritative before they were part of the list)
How can the OT Canon be divided into past, present, and future?
Past- Genesis to Esther (History)
Present- Job to Song of Solomon (daily living)
Future- Isaiah to Malachi (prophets)
How do we divide the NT Canon?
Life and ministry of Jesus- Matthew to John
Life and ministry of Jesus’ followers- Acts
Paul’s letters- 1st to churches, 2nd to individuals
Hebrews
General Epistles- James, 1-2 Peter, 1-3 John, Jude
Revelation
What was the Council of Jamnia?
- 90 AD
- Rabbis debated Jewish Bible
- Didn’t influence the church
- Almost included Ecclesiasticus
- Almost didn’t include Esther, Ezekiel, Song of Solomon, Ecclesiastes, and Proverbs
Which books of the NT were disputed?
- External criteria: things about the books (Hebrews- no idea who wrote it
- Internal criteria: things in the book (2nd and 3rd John- seemed too personal for us to read, 2nd Peter- don’t know if Peter really wrote it, Jude- quotes 2 books not seen as Scripture, James- “faith w/out works is dead”
- Catholicity- a book that enjoyed widespread acceptance for a long period of time
What is the Hermeneutical gap?
The context of the Bible takes place in a time and place that is very much different from the time and place of today. To understand the Bible, we must understand the context. We must first exegete the passage and then apply the passage.
hermeneutics
- art and science of interpretation
- interpretations vary, not facts
What are the various hermeneutical gaps we must work through?
language, time, geography, customs
Define exegesis
Greek, exe- out of, gesis- to lead
what are the 3 text criticisms?
Historical criticism- must look back to get meaning
New literary criticism- meaning comes from within text
New literary criticism- meaning comes from within the reader not the text
What are the two biblical criticisms?
Historical and literary
What are the historical criticisms?
Source, form, redaction
What are the literary criticisms?
reader-centered and text-centered
Higher Criticism
focus: meaning and method of composition (message)
Lower Criticism
focus: spelling and wording (syntax)
Form criticism?
- looks at pieces and parts of a book
- assumes pieces and parts were written individually
- focus: process of oral to written
- sitz in leben: “setting in life”
Redaction criticism
- “editor”
- sees individuals as editor (not creator, but oversees finished product
- “cut-n-pastor”
- no creativity, no personal input
Source criticism
- “writer”
- is creativity and personal input
- personality to it
utilizes sources
Literary criticism
concerned with product and/or reader of product
2 source theory
Matthew and Luke used Mark and an unknown source referred to as “Q” to write their gospels
4 source theory
- Matthew and Luke used Mark and Q
- Matthew used an unknown source called “M”
- Luke used an unknown source called “L”
Why do people think Moses didn’t write Pentateuch? What did this ultimately lead?
- use of different names of God: Elohim and Yahweh; two differing accounts of same event: doubling/doublets
- Darwin influenced the idea of multiple authors
- caused the Source Documentary Hypothesis (JEDP) embraced until 1970
Who created JEDP?
Julius Wellhausen and Karl Graff
“J source” (Gen, Ex, Lev, Num)
- Judah (southern kingdom)
- Jehovah (name used for God)
- document produced in SK between 950-850 BC
“E Source” (Gen, Ex, Lev, Num)
- Ephraim (northern kingdom)
- Elohim
- 850-750 BC
Combination of “J” and “E” (not a source)
- after 722 BC
- NK flees to SK and discover writing about same things