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