Week 11: 71-80 Flashcards
Qumran
an archaeological site on the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea, which is considered by some (following the theory of of R. DeVaux) to be the remains of a settlement of Essene-related Jewish believers; the site is particularly important because of the numerous fragments of biblical and non-biblical writings discovered in near-by caves.
Reader-Response Criticism
a method for analyzing a literary text which focuses on the relationship between the text and its reader, paying attention to the literary clues in the text that guide the reader in drawing meaning from it.
Redaction Criticism
the discipline which studies the whole of a literary composition in its finished stage in order to determine the final author’s theological purpose and point of view as this is revealed in his collecting, arranging, and editing inherited traditional material (emendation criticism) and in composing new material for the whole work (composition criticism); the role of a redactor in the gospels is attested in Dei Verbum 19.
Rhetorical Critcism
an analysis of a text that attempts to demonstrate how the author of a text has used literary devices and techniques of persuasion common to the art of oratory to achieve aims and effects of the written work.
Sabbath
keeping the Sabbath dates from the period of Moses and carries two meanings: practical - to mark the end of the week and to prepare for new work; and religious - a day consecrated in covenant as belonging to God. The Sabbath is a day to recall God’s leading the people out of slavery to a place of rest, as well as a day of rest in imitation of God’s example in creation. After the exile, the Sabbath is the special and distinctive mark of being a Hebrew who is faithful: keeping the sabbath = fidelity to God, and its neglect = idolatry.
Sadducees
a largely priestly and wealthy aristocratic sect within Judaism originally descended from the priestly family of Zadok in the days of David and Solomon and important ruling party in Judaism during the period 150 BC - 70 AD; there were opposed to the Hasidim of the second-first century BC and known for their concern for the temple and its cult, their cooperation with foreign rulers (Greek and Roman) and support for the Hellenization of Judaism, as well as for their emphasis on the Torah over the Prophets and Writings. As opposed to the Pharisees, they did not believe in in resurrection, angles, or spirits (Acts 23:8)
Salvation History
while the term is used in a variety of ways, for many it designates the ongoing story of God’s redemptive activity unfolding in the course of human history beginning with creation and then the call of Abraham, culminating in the Paschal Mystery of Jesus Christ and reaching its fulfillment in the Parousia.
Sancta Mater Ecclesia
PBC’s “Instruction on the Historical Truth of the Gospels” (1964) which affirmed that three stages of tradition by with the teachings of Jesus have come down to the church: age of Jesus (Sitz-im-Leben Jesu), the age of the apostles (Sitz-im-Leben der Kirche) and the age of the evangelists (Sitz-im-Leben Evangelii); also highlights the role of the final redactors in the composition of the written gospels.
Sandhedrin
although of uncertain origins, this 70-member senate of priests and laymen under the leadership of the high priest in Jerusalem exercised extensive responsibility in deciding legal and religious cases of Torah violations, in the period of rule by Roman procurators.
Scribes
originally an educated class of civil servants first appearing during the reign of Solomon (961 BC) and considered to be responsible for the growth of the wisdom literature of the Old Testament. From post-exilic times into the New Testament period, the scribes were lawyers and theologians of the Mosaic Law who guided teh Hewish community by both instruction and personal example. Their popular authority often rivaled that of the high priest, adn while some scribes were Sadducees, the majority inclined to Phariseeism.
