Test 2 Flashcards
Biblical Theology within categories of Systematic Theology
- Systematic Theology creates a framework for the interpretation of the Bible
Pro and Con of Biblical Theology within categories of Systematic Theology
pro- potential to learn something
con- terms used are not found in text (aka extrabiblical)
Allegorical Method
symbolic representation; story w/in story
Typology
OT persons, events, and institutions point to NT persons, events, and institutions (always move from OT to NT)
How was typology viewed in the 20th century?
Extension of literal sense of historical events, akin to promise and fulfillment
Great Ideas or Themes
Filter biblical writers to distill (purify) from biblical material timeless ideas, pure, and unmixed w/ foreign things; Old Testament needed much filtering
Pros of Great Ideas or Themes
- select central theme (holds all of scripture together)
- structure within historical dimension
- summarizes and unifies disparate (differing) traditions
Con of Great Ideas and Themes
distortion of whole, either by dividing what belongs together or joining what doesn’t belong together
History of Redemption (Heilsgeschichte)
- tradition-historical trajectory spanning both testaments
- special history intertwined w/ but distinct from ordinary history
Pros of History of Redemption
- deals w/ particularity and the dynamic movement of history as an essential feature of BT
- intrinsically Christian to see Jesus’ coming as fulfillment of promises made to Israel
Cons of History of Redemption
- difficult to define
- 1 direction from OT to NT
- theological continuity between testaments usually behind biblical text
Literary approaches
- Bible as “literature”
- Focus on “story” bypasses problem of historical research
- Language is realm in which events occur
Pros of literary approaches
- serious handling of text
- sophisticated treatment of sense (meaning) and referent
Cons of literary approaches
- unclear contributions or results (new approach that needs more testing)
- reading Bible as “classic” or “fiction”
Sociological Perspective on BT
- addresses socio-cultural forces exerted on specific historical communities (synagogues, Church), whose impact left lasting mark on shaping of religious texts
- emphasis on functional role of Bible to share and critique the continuing life of Christian community
What is liberation theology?
- Marxism + Bible
- Situation interpretation of Bible w/in actual historical struggles of communities
- primary attention is poverty, oppression, and justice
- Because God favors proletariat, revolt against bourgeoisie is justifiable violence
What are the cons of the sociological perspective?
fusing spiritual and profane realms of life w/out distinction
What are the 8 tasks of BT?
- Theological reflection on OT and NT
- Describes the OT witness to God’s redemptive will in context of Israel’s history
- Describes the NT witness to God’s redemption thru. Jesus Christ in Early Church context
- Describe theological functions of great revelatory events in Israel’s history
- Describes carefully both continuity and discontinuity between Testaments
- Take seriously historical forms of Biblical witness
- Move from Biblical witness to the substance of witness
- Provide bridge for 2 way traffic between Biblical exegesis and ST
How are the testaments united?
God’s redemption- same God, 1 plan
How are the two testaments unique?
OT- history of Israel
NT- Jesus Christ, early church
What question does the task of describing continuity and discontinuity ask?
To what extent has an OT tradition been picked up by NT?
- has it been continued as is?
- has it been reshaped/transformed?
- has it been broken off?
What is the NT not in relation to the OT?
- NOT last chapter of story
What are the discontinuities between OT and NT?
- Tradents (keeper of the tradition)- synagogue (OT) or church (NT)
- Focus- directly Is, indirectly nations (OT); directly nations, indirectly Is (NT)
What is BT? (two words)
DESCRIPTIVE DISCIPLINE
What is the problem of Canon?
How testaments arose is different from how they combined.
How were the two testaments combined?
- The NT assumes Jewish scriptures to be authoritative for church.
- Church joined its new writings to Jewish scriptures and laid claim on OT as witness to Jesus
- They did not rewrite the OT books nor christianize them.
What is the difference between the two testaments?
Time: OT is 1,000 years, NT is less than 100 years
What is the canonical process?
- Reception and acknowledge of certain religious traditions as authoritative in faith community
- Literary and textual stabilization: focus on theological forces at work affects how modern reader understands biblical material
- Canonical criticism: Canon as context; final form of text; omit nothing deal w/ what we have
Overview of Israel’s History
- story of faith
- historical sequence (Genesis through Esther)
- commentary (Psalms, Wisdom, Prophets)
OT as witness
- theological intention
- bearing witness to divine reality that has entered time and space
OT text as source
- “vehicle” of cultural expression
- Israel’s societal life
Israel’s History
- reflects on inner (insider’s perspective) and outer (neutral, phenomenological) dimension
- involves both divine and human agency
- oscillating between past, present, and future
- depicted foreground (selection of material) and background (periphery of gospel- God’s redemptive plan)
Define phenomenological
what extra-biblical sources would reveal about same biblical event; confirmation of history
What are the two ways to study history?
Diachronic: longitudinal, development over time, comparable to video
Synchronic: cross-sectional, point in time, comparable to photograph, Childs prefers this approach
Why does Child’s prefer the synchronic method?
- final form of text that we have
- reveals depth of text
- does not flatten text
What is “in the beginning” the beginning of?
- of God’s creative activity
- of human history
- NOT God
What is assimilation?
- integration, merging, borrowing, incorporating
- Biblical scholars assume creation account in Genesis 1-2 is borrowed by Israel from ANE (pagan, polytheistic), nothing original
What is the response to assimilation?
- churchgoer would say Israel borrowed nothing and everything came from God
- Probably somewhere in the middle, Israel does not live in a vacuum
- von Rad doesn’t think you should look elsewhere to study scripture, look in text
What is von Rad’s credo?
- Views Exodus as the primary event in Israel’s history because it is mentioned more than creation.
- The exodus is where Israel’s faith in and relationship with God began
- The reason creation was created was to give more information about the God of the exodus
What is the hexateuch?
Pentateuch + Joshua
What is interesting about Genesis 1:26-27?
“image” and “likeness” are synonyms used in the same sentence. It’s redundant. Redundancy stresses that we are LIKE God but are NOT God.
What are the interpretations of Gen. 1:26-27?
- physical: human beings have posture, walk upright
- mental: personality, intelligence, creativity, moral capacity, self-aware
- spiritual: soul
- all over the above
What is unity in plurality?
- God is three in one (unity in plurality).
- Humans 2 genders in one race (unity in plurality).
What are the theological teachings of creation?
- monotheism: 1 God
- God is creator, but he is separate from creation
- process of creation was orderly and not chaotic
- creation was inherently good
- mankind is climax of creation
- God desires an intimate relationship w/ mankind
Tracking the theme of creation
- Psalter: God praised as creator of His ppl
- Prophets: Isaiah and Jeremiah anticipated day when creation would return to garden
- Wisdom: Walther Zimmerli derive theology by reflecting on God as Creator, creation teaches us about God
What is the overview from eden to Babylon?
- von Rad: emphasis on separation of God and man because of sin
- Westermann: focus on vertical dimension
What are the different focal points of Genesis?
- Christians focus on chapter 3
- Jews focus on chapter 6
- von Rad focuses on chapter 11
Is the term “the fall” justified?
- term never appears in Genesis 3 (nonbiblical term)
- Brevard Childs says no, part of Systematic theology not biblical theology
- Hebrew text: Adam never subject of verb fall; adam rarely appears in rest of OT
- Michael Travers: understanding of Genesis 3 derives from Milton’s paradise lost
Evidence within text of possible doublet of creation
Different names for God (Elohim, Yahweh), actions of God, order of events, purpose of accounts
Ways to reconcile creation doublet:
- source criticism (P and J)
- emphasis difference: transcendence and immanence
- poetical presentation vs prosaic presentation
- two ways to express same thing
- von Rad: Gen 1 is creation, Gen 2 intro to Gen 3, points to what is coming
Term “original sin”
- Bible has no say on original sin
- From systematic theology
What are the interpretations of the “Sons of God” and “Daughters of Men”?
- co-mingling for two lines: SoG are the godly line of Seth and DoM are the ungodly line of Cain
- co-mingling of angels and humans
Every other time “SoG” appears refers to supernatural beings (angels)
What are the three cycles of the patriarchal traditions?
- Abraham cycle
- Jacob cycle
- Joseph stories
What are the promises in progress?
- I will make you a great nation.
- promise of land
Is Joseph a patriarch?
- yes, appears in Gen. 12:50
- no, not a part of triadic formula
- Messianic line runs through Judah
How do patriarchs function w/in different parts of scripture?
- Pentateuch: triadic formula
- Psalter: part of rehearsing of Israel’s formula
- Prophets: pre-exilic- very little mention; exilic- considerable attention of Abraham, especially promise of land; post-exilic: Abrahamic covenant
What biblical event is the “heart of Israel’s earliest tradition?”
Exodus
Why was the Exodus the central event in the OT?
- Spiritual birth
- Historical beginning
- Political start
What books announce a new, eschatological exodus?
Deutero Isaiah and Ezekiel
What are the differences between the two OT deliverances?
- First one is through water (Exodus)
- Second one is through wilderness (return from Babylon)
Theophany
appearance of God; manifestation of deity; auditory or visual
Tracking the theme of Theophany?
- Deuteronomy: no idols, explains second commandment
- Elijah cycle: Elijah is not equal Moses
- Psalter: “fixed convention to describe YHWH’s repeated appearances to Israel throughout its history”
- Prophets: eschatological “Day of the Lord”
Torah
law, instruction, teaching
Tracking the theme of Torah
- 2 Kings: reflects awesome authority of the Law
- Post-exilic era: law became written standard regularity the community
- Psalter: joyous celebration of Law; praised as gracious gift, means of salvation and well-being
- Wisdom: nothing
What does law directly correspond to?
relationship with God
What are the historical roots of Israel as the people of God?
- Abrahamic covenant: promise of posterity
- implicit in rest of “patriarchal traditions”
Family to nation: the facts
- resulting from act of divine favor, experience of redemption
- NOT metaphor or theological construct but empirical
- NOT political or geographical
- Israel became God’s people prior to monarchy and remained God’s people after fall of Jerusalem
What is the Sinaitic covenant?
“I will be your God, and you will be my people.”
What directions did Israel as the people of God move in?
- Israel given land- its inheritance, concrete sign of God’s grace to his people
- David- NOT monarchy- chosen symbol of election and special bond
- Mt Zion visible sign of Israel’s elected status
Tracking the theme of Israel as the people of God
- Pre-exilic: Israel’s election to priority of punishment
- Zion as sign of eschatological renewal; as center of blessing, attracting nations
- Exilic: suffering servant
- Post-exilic: restoration of people and return to the land
What are the tensions in Joshua?
- Book of Judges
- Joshua 2-11 reflects localized activity
- Joshua seems fragmentary
- Archaeological discrepancy: Jericho
- Single attack vs. gradual emergence
How is Joshua a witness to God?
God was the one who gave the land to Israel and defeated their enemies. It was a fulfillment of his promises.
When was Canaan promised to Israel?
- Curse of Canaan
- Promise of Canaan to Abraham
- Moses won’t lead people into land
How many military campaigns are there?
3 (central, southern, and northern)
What is the purpose of Joshua?
Glorify God by giving selective examples of marvelous ways that God led people to land he promised to patriarchs
Does the OT recycle the theme of conquest and settlement of land?
NOOOOOOOO
Was the land conquered?
- Yes, from God’s perspective (Promised is past tense)
- No, from Israel’s perspective (called to enjoy what God promised because they didn’t believe him nor obey him)
What is the saddest book in the OT?
Judges
What are the recurring themes of Judges?
- No king
- everyone did what was right in his own eyes
What phrases describe the time of the judges?
- political chaos
- moral decadence
Timeline of leadership
- National- Moses and Joshua (exodus-joshua)
- regional- Judges (Judges, ruth, 1 Sam 1-9)
- National- monarchy (1 Samuel 10- 2 chronicles 36)
What was a judge?
- picked by God
- temporary assignment
- military deliverer
What was a judge not?
- judicial authority (exceptions include Deborah and Samuel)
- dynasty
Amphictyony
loose association of neighboring tribes for common purpose (how Israel operated in time of Judges)
what is the cycle in judges?
- Sin of people
- wrath of God
- Oppression by enemy
- repentance by people
- Deliverance by Judge
What does the role of judge get overshadowed by?
Role of king
Who falls under “the shadow of David, the center and goal of this history”?
- Saul and Solomon
ANE Context of King
- kings regarded as divine figure, functioned mythically to effect well-being of kingdom
What is the corpus of themes in the United Kingdom?
- Saul Traditions
- David traditions
- Solomon’s reign
mythopoetic
mythical, creative account contrasting something factual
How does Saul’s role emerge at first
more in line with judges rather than a king
Who established the monarchy
- people- request of disobedient people who disregarded Samuel’s warning
- God- Yahweh selects Saul whole Samuel then approves
Type in Established kingdom
Saul is rejected king who serves as foil for David, God’s true king
What tradition does David’s rival?
Moses
What are the notable features of David’s tradition?
- David’s choice of Jerusalem as capital, became new center of Israel’s religious tradition, city of God
- Nathan’s prophecy extended David’s kingship to his posterity, an eternal covenant
What does Chronicles do to the David traditions
- it idealizes David
- it shows him a lot of favor
- omits David’s sins with Bathsheba
Why does Chronicles idealize David?
- David’s role of leader of cult
- Messianic hope during from Nathan’s prophecy basis for applying mythopoetic language of royal psalms to reigning Israelite king
cult
any organized system of religion
What are the two characteristics of Solomon’s reign?
- Obedient King: man of peace fulfilling David’s desire to build a temple in Jerusalem
- Disobedient king: attributed to foreign wives, not mentioned by chronicler
What type of history is 1+2 Kings and 1+2 Chronicles?
- Spiritual history
- NOT political
Where does the criterion for evaluating kings come from?
It comes from the book of Deuteronomy.
Which kingdom took responsibility of the Temple?
Southern Kingdom
What is applied to the North Kingdom?
Divine judgements
What are the attributes of Chronicles?
- omission of Northern Kingdom
- Centralizes the role of David “to legitimate the cultic office of David as guardian of Israel’s messianic hope.”
What is there no unified presentation of?
The exile
What is the tension between 2 Kings 24:14 and Jeremiah 52:28-30?
2 Kings states that 10,000 people were taken captive. Jeremiah says that 3,023 people were taken captive.
How does 2 Chronicles view the exile?
2 Chronicles says the purpose of the Chronicles is to give the land time to recuperate from pollution. It is getting the sabbatical years back.
How many deportations were there to Babylon?
4
Was there any correspondence between those in exile and those left behind?
Some
What was life like for the exiles in Babylon?
They enjoyed some measure of freedom. Synagogues emerged. Despite the edict of Cyrus, many Jews stayed in Babylon.
What were the responses to the exile?
- Deep sense of deserved punishment for embracing foreign cults.
- Resentment among younger generations
- Issue: Coperate vs. Individual
Does the OT balance cooperate and individual?
- yes
- corporate: day of atonement and capital punishment
- individual: positive application, negative application, decalogue: 2nd person singular
What is lamentations?
A dreary picture of the raw emotions of the people of Israel during the exile
What conflict grew out of the exile?
- Jews vs. Samaritans
- Who bore the traditions of Israel
How long was the exile?
- 70 years, 1 year for every sabbatical year not observed
What are the two different overarching prophet traditions?
- stories about prophets
- collections of prophets own words
- often overlap
What does Childs say about the concept of prophetic ministry?
It has been applied retrospectively to figures who preceded the rise of prophetic phenomenon (examples Moses and Abraham)
Earlier prophets
Did more doing than speaking
Canonical prophets
Did more speaking than doing (exception Jonah)
What is a prophet?
- not necessarily a predictor
- speaks God’s word. God determines content and tense
What are the origins of prophecy?
- Not unique to Israel
- Indigenous to the ANE
What are the sociological theories in regard to prophets?
- “Protest-figure”: opposed to an expanded institutionalized form of life.
- There is a correlation between the Monarchy and Prophecy, their rise and demise
What is Child’s critique of the sociological theories on prophecy?
The Old Testament’s interests is largely theological not sociological.
What is the profile of a prophet according to Deuteronomy 18:14-22
- Raised by God
- Given God’s word directly
- Concerned w/ covenantal law
Period of the Prophets
End of the 11th century to the 1st half of the 5th century
The prophets foresaw Israel’s history, formatting it into a series of _____ and _____.
prophecies and fulfillments
Why do all the prophets sound the same?
- Same God
- Same laws
- Same sinners
What is the progression of the cessation of prophecy?
- Office of Prophecy is institutionalized as temple musicians in the time of David.
- Demise of prophecy
- Prophets as a phenomenon of the past
- Hope of reemergence of faithful prophetic voice
