Literature And The Bible Final

Front 1

Function and definition of a gospel

Back 1

"Good news", to spread good news, not a biographic account. Primary function is to spread belief.

Front 2

Dating problems with the Before and

Back 2

BC/AD dating invented via 6th century miscalculation, widespread amongst 8th century Christians, Jesus was born during Herod’s reign, died in 6 BCE

Front 3

Kerygma

Back 3

"Proclamation", apostolic, oral witness, presented by the apostles, preaching or proclaiming good news

Front 4

Apostle: Definition, individuals, and importance to the Gospels

Back 4

"One sent out", applied to 12 closest disciples (followers), preached orally, Paul also considered an apostle, as the generation of witnesses to Jesus began to die, written record became necessary to preserve insight.

Front 5

Q-source

Back 5

About 50 CE: Written compilation of Jesus sayings - a hypothetical document called Q (for German "quelle", which means "source") 50 CE, no narrative framework, just a list of Jesus sayings/teachings, Q does not exist it is theoretical, imagined to have existed to preserve sayings in common between gospels, Matthew and Luke theoretically both used Q, explaining similarities between them not explained by their reliance on Mark.

Front 6

The Gospel of Thomas

Back 6

Late book (not earlier than the end of the first century) may show us what one of these "sayings" collections might have looked like (see "external links")

Front 7

Why are there four gospels and not just one?

Back 7

Documentary hypothesis notes doublings in Pentatoit, trying to take several documents and reconcile them into one story, writers probably get stories about his life from oral tradition

Front 8

Synoptic gospels

Back 8

"Same view": first three depict Jesus's preaching career in relatively similar and compatible terms, highlights need to explain how they were written: Matthew and Luke used narrative framework from both Mark and theoretical Q document

Front 9

Gospel of Mark: Focus, characterization of Jesus, content, and dating

Back 9

Miracles – exorcism and healing – suffering, Markan secret (Jesus doesn’t want people to know he’s the messiah) | Focuses on Jesus's divine power (note the emphasis on exorcism and healing) and his suffering | Earliest gospel and New Testament text

Front 10

Events and consequences of 70 CE in a Biblical context

Back 10

Romans destroy the Second Temple, Judaism reorganizes, rabbis consolidate teachings, Christians consolidate theirs, fierce textual combat, leads to canonizations

Front 11

Markan Secret

Back 11

Within Mark's narrative, Jesus's identity is supposed to be a secret, he even tells people to "keep the whole 'literal Son of God' thing on the DL"

Front 12

Gospel of Mark: Author, basis, date of authorship, and audience (explain)

Back 12

John Mark | account of St. Peter before he was martyred, rationale: other texts like the Letter of Peter also link Peter to Mark | 65 - 70 CE | written for Gentiles – he explains Jewish customs

Front 13

Gospel of Matthew: Author, basis, date of authorship, and audience

Back 13

Unknown author | testimony of St. Matthew the Apostle | 80-95 CE in Antioch in Syria | audience of Jewish Christians

Front 14

Gospel of Matthew: Focus, characterization of Jesus, content, and organization

Back 14

Jesus is a great teacher, lawgiver and prophet | the NT is a fulfillment of OT prophecies: expands Mark’s basic structure | Adds many of Jesus's sayings (presumably from Q document) and Old Testament quotes | Organized into five speeches in imitation of the Torah (5 books of Moses)

Front 15

Gospel of Luke: Author, basis, date of authorship, and audience

Back 15

Greek (as evinced by good writing) physician Luke, mentioned in Paul's letters, also the author of the Acts of the Apostle | testimony of St. Paul Written 80-90 CE in Greece | audience Gentile Christians

Front 16

Gospel of John: Author, basis, date of authorship, and synoptic status

Back 16

By John, "the disciple who Jesus loved"| Written 95-100 CE in Greece | Not a synoptic gospel, identified as the latest of the Gospels because of its concern with theology, at a time when the Church was sophisticating its theology

Front 17

Gospel of Luke: Focus, characterization of Jesus, content, and style

Back 17

Ethical teachings, egalitarian values, concern for poor, and world events | Jesus as universal savior | female disciples highlighted, traces genealogy back to Adam | literary (description of interviewing eyewitnesses, arranging testimony), well written Greek

Front 18

Gospel of John: Focus, characterization of Jesus, content, and style

Back 18

Theology over narrative facts (Jesus's 3 year preaching career around Jerusalem, rather than 1 year in the north) | Jesus as theologian, Logos incarnate | “I am” sayings reveal his divinity, tie back in with Exodus, genealogy traced to David and Abraham

Front 19

Five requirements for canonization of the New Testament.

Back 19

1) Apostolic origin
2) Universal use through Church
3) Used liturgically (an axiom of the church was that "the rule of prayer is the rule of belief")
4) Consistent with core Christian doctrine
5) Not dismissive of the Old Testament

Front 20

Gnostic Texts

Back 20

Influenced William Blake, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and W. B. Yeats; the influential literary critic Harold Bloom has written a number of books grounded in Gnosticism: he identifies himself as a Jewish Gnostic

Front 21

Typology (aka Christology)

Back 21

Christian allegorical method of reading the Old Testament that views it primarily as a foreshadowing of the New Testament, especially of the life of Jesus

Front 22

Function of Typology

Back 22

Using the authority of the Old Testament to bolster the authority of the New Testament for a Christian audience. For Christians, the Old Testament has authority: it is divinely inspired. Yet Old Testament histories possess a hidden significance as a prediction of the life of Jesus, and this typological significance is primary for Christian readers, since the authority of Jesus is greater than that of the Old Testament. The New Testament invokes the authority of the Old Testament yet insists that its authority is greater. Allows reader to be an active participant in a divinely-ordained story

Front 23

Type or figure

Back 23

Means "symbol": the OT figure or thing which prefigures someone or something in the NT

Front 24

Fulfill

Back 24

Verb used to describe how the NT completes the meaning of the OT

Front 25

Scribes

Back 25

Professional Torah interpreters

Front 26

Pharisees

Back 26

A party within Judaism that taught a strict adherence to both written and oral law. In the gospels, this group represent the Old Law, pious devotion to written law and oral tradition and represent scribes and authority of torah and written law, Jesus engages these pharisees and surpasses them as a teacher

Front 27

Examples of Narrative Typology in the NT: Mark 1

Back 27

Jesus's words and actions: "The time is fulfilled" (1.11), showing the new continues the old; yet Jesus teaches a "new doctrine" (1:27), so that the new also breaks with the old; Jesus is shown as teaching with a new "authority" (1:22, 1:27) that is greater than that of the Scribes. See also Mark 2:21-22: "new wine must be put into new bottles"

Front 28

List several important New Testament types.

Back 28

1) 12 Tribes of Israel = 12 Disciples

2) Unleavened bread & Lamb: Jesus' Body and Blood (Jesus is identified as the Lamb of God: cf Isaiah 53:7); this mention of sacrifice points forward to the crucifixion on the next day

3) Remembrance of the Exodus: Remembrance of Jesus,

4) Covenant: from Old to New

Front 29

How does a typological reading of the Bible treat history? How does this affect the reader?

Back 29

Theory of history: views history as a web of interconnected events, brings itself to bear on the reader, fixes the reader as an active participant in a divinely-ordained story, draws you into the text, feel as if you were really there

Front 30

Instances of typological intertwining of the apocalypse between the Old and New Testaments?

Back 30

Daniel: apocalyptic prophecy, end of the world will come with coming of the son of man, Jesus is that Messianic figure, Matthew 12: references to future judgment, a judgment on "this generation", Mark 9: Transfiguration, context of judgment pointing back to Isaiah, points of conversion: the end of the world could come at any time context of judgment, points back to Isaiah 2:2: Malachi 4:4-6: references Moses and Elijah

Front 31

Biblical Text: 3 Allegorical Levels: Anagogy

Back 31

"To lead up", in this case to heaven | about our afterlife: a message about the Last Judgment or life in heaven, hell (or purgatory) | Where you're headed

Front 32

Biblical Text: 3 Allegorical Levels: Tropology

Back 32

The text's moral message | What should you do | Trope = turn

Front 33

Biblical Text: 3 Allegorical Levels: Typology

Back 33

About the life of Jesus | What you should believe.

Front 34

Describe the Old Testament concept of the Messiah.

Back 34

Lord loves David, so the Messiah will be from his line, earliest mention of Messiah: First Isaiah, the king will bring national, not universal, unity

Front 35

What is the New Testament depiction of the Messiah?

Back 35

Jesus: composite of OT ideas about what the messiah or Christ would be. Both "messiah," Hebrew, and "christos," Greek, mean "the anointed one" or king. Mark Chap. 14: the Jewish High Priest asks Jesus "are you the Christ?" and Jesus answers "I Am" (original Greek text, EGO EIMI--a title used by God in speaking to Moses, Exodus 3:14).

Front 36

How does Matthew handle the Nativity story typologically?

Back 36

Gospels seek to reconcile the Jewish prophecy that the Messiah will be, patrilineally, "of the house and lineage of David" (or "a rod out of the stem of Jesse") with the Christian miracle that the Messiah was born of a virgin.

Joseph is adduced as David's ancestor;
 Mary's role is connected back to Isaiah Ch. 7: "Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and call his name
 Emmanuel..." Matthew, by creatively drawing upon Old Testament prophecies, has two distinct stories of Jesus as Messiah, rod out of stem of Jesse and son of virgin

Front 37

Immanuel

Back 37

"God is with us"

Front 38

Define Ha-almah or parthenos in a Biblical context.

Back 38

Isaiah's Hebrew: 'A certain young woman', "virgin" in our sense, Isaiah’s words just mean “young woman”, which got translated into Virgin later on, Matthew exploits the ambiguity for a parthenogenesis (virgin birth)

Front 39

Describe the Old and New Testament interpretations of "Son of God".

Back 39

Judaism: normally just means "man": in the NT, God is typically called "Father" ('pater' in both Greek and Latin). But in the Gospels, Jesus is presented as God's son in a special and restricted way: as God in the flesh.

Front 40

Describe Jewish vs. Gentile views on divine sonship.

Back 40

Would have seemed blasphemous to Jews, but readily accepted by Gentiles (cf. miraculous birth stories for heroes in Zoroastrianism and in Greco-Roman
culture).

Front 41

Parthenogenesis

Back 41

Virgin birth

Front 42

What does Virgil's Eclogue have to do with anything?

Back 42

Medieval-early modern "Christological" reading of Virgil's 'Eclogue [Pastoral poem] IV,' written under Caesar Augustus and concerning the birth of a certain child (probably the infant son of the consul Pollio): a vision of the new golden age under Augustus:
, "The Great Seal" on a $1 bill: "Novus Ordo Seclorum": the USA as a new Augustan Rome? And/or a messianic nation?

Front 43

Gospel of Mark begins with introduction of John the Baptist (Matthew
 and Luke pick up here after their respective nativity stories). 
What is the importance of John the Baptist?

Back 43

John the Baptist is dressed as 
ELIJAH was, and according to an important prophecy at the end of Malachi 
(the prophet who, in Christian orderings of the Bible, concludes the Old 
Testament), the fore-runner of God's kingdom would be Elijah returned to earth. 
Jesus strongly suggests that John the Baptist had been Elijah
returned to earth: see Mark 9:12-13; Matthew 17:9-13.

Front 44

What do Jesus's miracles signify in the New Testament?

Back 44

Jesus's miracles (exorcisms, healings) in relation to Christian eschatology: signs and partial realizations of what was to come about in the Kingdom of God, when Satan with all his "demons" and "unclean spirits" would finally be routed.

Front 45

What is the Son of Man in a New Testament context?

Back 45

Jesus as "the Son of Man" (supernatural figure sent from heaven to
introduce God's kingship on earth; cf. the pseudepigraphical Book of Enoch).

Front 46

What's the good news regarding the Gospels?

Back 46

Jesus' role in God's eschatological design is the "good news" about Jesus. Jesus is the fulfillment of first stage of God’s Kingdom on earth in David.

Front 47

Eschatological

Back 47

End-time

Front 48

Eu-angelion

Back 48

Good message or news, later evangelists: or gospel writers

Front 49

God spel

Back 49

Old English, good news

Front 50

Pneuma agios

Back 50

Greek: Holy spirit

Front 51

Marcan apocalypse

Back 51

Mark Chapter 13: The son of man anticipates his own death and second coming.

Front 52

What is the Jefferson Bible?

Back 52

Thomas Jefferson's cut-and-paste Bible without miracles, aka "The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth, Extracted Textually from the Gospels in Greek, Latin, French & English"

Front 53

According to the New Testament, when is an ethics of complete nonviolence appropriate?

Back 53

Loving your enemies/forgiveness is an unqualified good only in Christianity, not in secular ethics.

 Cf. John Bunyan, Pilgrim's Progress (1678): Christian and Faithful return blessing for violence when imprisoned in the corrupt world of "Vanity Fair."

Front 54

What happened to Ananias and Sapphira?

Back 54

Acts 5: the only "miracle of punishment" in the NT

, husband does not donate everything to Christians, he dies then his wife dies.

Front 55

Pseudepigrapha

Back 55

Jewish writings from the last 2 centuries BC, not included in the Septuagint Bible

Front 56

Typological reading of Jesus as "suffering servant".

Back 56

A revisionary reading of Isaiah 53. Jesus oppressed and afflicted, lamb to slaughter, against Jewish Messianic thought, he’s supposed to be a powerful leader, not a suffering servant, Jesus’s Jewish disciples surprised that he would die. Gospel writers welcome this portrayal, display self-sacrifice.

Front 57

What does the New Testament say about the rich?

Back 57

"It is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God" (Matthew 18:25) Charles Dickens, Little Dorrit (1855-57): includes a satire on the super-rich and falsely-idolized financier, Mr. Merdle: people praised "his world-wide commercial enterprise and gigantic combinations of skill and capital...which it was the last new polite reading of the parable of the camel and the needle's eye to accept without inquiry." Merdle is "the rich man who had...revised the New Testament, and already entered the kingdom of heaven."

Front 58

Typological reading of John the Baptist as Elijah.

Back 58

Jesus says Elijah’s already come, that’s why the Christian OT ends with Malachi on Elijah, plunging straight back into John the Baptist as a forerunner for Jesus
John the Baptist mentioned as in the wilderness, mirroring Isaiah’s prophecy, forerunner of the Messiah would be Elijah returned to Earth, he wears camel’s hair and leather girdle around his waist, Elijah never died, he was just carried away on chariots of fire

Front 59

What are the differences between the Son of Man of the Old and New Testaments?

Back 59

Old Testament Son of Man: figure of king asserting peace and justice till end of time, Daniel: son of man given dominion

New Testament: Jesus is the son of God

Front 60

Purpose of Jesus's Exorcisms and Healing

Back 60

Not arbitrary shows or kindnesses, actually signs pointing towards the end time, partial realizations of what to come about, preparations for end time, the unclean spirit that recognizes that Messiah is there to acknowledge Jesus’s power to exterminate demons, Apostles ask for sign of apocalypse: don’t be alarmed of wars, earthquakes, famine, beginning of birth pangs

Front 61

Spinoza on Jesus's Reaction to Corrupt State

Back 61

Jesus thought corrupt state was going to fall soon, which it did, ethics of complete non-violence if you believe state is about to collapse anyhow, you can’t build a state doing this (Moses was a state builder)

Front 62

Parable

Back 62

Parables are short, fictional stories designed to preach a story, fiction as a moral genre, a metaphor or simile drawn from nature or common life. Has to do with typology – both parables and typology are literary techniques used to get their point across

Front 63

Jesus's Kingdom: Expectations and Reality

Back 63

People expected a literal kingdom, but that is not what he is giving: “My kingdom is not of this world”: apocalyptic or spiritual kingdom from heaven, not from here: Objective reality of the kingdom of heaven: it is “at hand” and “among you”: arresting the hearer by its vividness or strangeness: and leaving the mind in sufficient doubt about its precise application: so as to tease it into active thought.

Front 64

Mark 4: Parable of the Sower

Back 64

Parable about parables: told in public, public does not understand it, Jesus withdraws with disciples and inner circle doesn’t understand parable as well, metaphor or a simile: all parables are analogies for the messianic kingdom

Front 65

Phrase repeated most often in Gospel

Back 65

“Kingdom of God”: Messiah will bring back David’s kingdom: revealed at the apocalypse

Front 66

The Function of Parables

Back 66

Tell us something but they don’t let us fully understand what the parable is about: windows that give us a vision of heaven and the messianic kingdom but they’re really dirty and really cloudy and never give us a full picture, keep telling us there is something strange about it, one should "only [follow] the parables": the parables should ideally lead not to intellectual understanding but action: although the specific relevance of the parable to reality is problematic.

Front 67

Gloss

Back 67

Explanation

Front 68

Messianic secret, aka Markan Secret

Back 68

Jesus frequently rebukes those humans and demons who speak of his messiahship: it's supposed to be a secret

Front 69

Why did Jesus uses parables to preach?

Back 69

People who listen to him separated into two groups, insiders and outsiders: Acting according to doctrine of predestination? Those who don’t understand and never will understand. It is given to you to understand: Doctrine of Goodness

Front 70

Why does Jesus use parables?

Back 70

Matthew’s version: Jesus says he uses parable because seeing they see not and hearing they hear not, exploiting human tendency to want to understand and solve mysteries through stories

Literary answer: those reading the text – story is told clearly, but there is something secret there, tensions designed to get us to think actively about the text, written to complicate easy distinction between insiders and outsiders, easy to understand intellectually, but these are not made to just be understood intellectually

Front 71

New Testament Expectations of Love

Back 71

No quid pro quo, there’s no reciprocal actions, love people who don’t love you back, expect nothing in return, Luke’s Jesus: everyone who exalts self, will be humbled, everyone who humbles self will be exalted, according to Luke, early church is communal utopia, share possessions

Front 72

St. Augustine's reasoning for the stylistic variations of the Scripture

Back 72

Written in a combination of plain and obscure styles to engage different sorts of readers; obscure passages (parables) there to keep advanced readers from the sin of intellectual pride, scorning lessons easily available. Interpretation should be pleasurable, function to instruct and delight.

Front 73

Polyptoton

Back 73

Repeating a word in different forms or tenses: here "came into being [egeneto]/"which has come into being" [gegonen], "all things through him came into being [egeneto], and without him came into being [egeneto] not even one (thing) which has come into being [gegonen]"

Front 74

Synoptics vs. John: Narrative

Back 74

Synoptics: concerned with ministry in North, comes to Jerusalem for last week of his life, John: focuses on activities in Judea, around Jerusalem, for three years, first arrives in Chapter 2, cleansing temple, reads like a theological drama then a narrated life

Front 75

Synoptics vs. John: Tone

Back 75

John: Jesus speaks like God, few exceptions to notion of un-humanness, John's record of Jesus' last words on the cross: "tetelestai,' 'all has been accomplished, fulfilled, perfected'; contrast the human pathos recorded in the cross scenes of the synoptics.

+ John: emphases on expounding upon the relation
of Son to God the Father, and on the Son's theological destiny.

Front 76

Alethea

Back 76

Truth, grace: god’s freely given love

Front 77

Logos

Back 77

In the beginning was the word (structuring universe, rationality, the word was god, he is rationality), logos became flesh

Front 78

Anadiplosis

Back 78

The last word/noun of one clause becomes the first word of the following clause, "In the beginning was the word/logo, and the word/logos was with god/theon, and god/theos was the word/logos)

Front 79

Hoti vs. Hina

Back 79

May be linked to the Markan secret: knowledge of the kingdom, like knowledge of the messiah, is a secret. Matthew's version of the parable tells us that Jesus uses parables "hoti," "because" his audience does not understand (13:13), while Mark tells us that Jesus uses parables "hina," "so that" his audience won't understand

Front 80

Tetelestai

Back 80

'All has been accomplished, fulfilled, perfected'; contrast the human concerns recorded in the cross scenes of the synoptics.

Front 81

New Testament: Expectations of the Apocalypse

Back 81

At the end of time, Jesus will judge resurrected dead, you’ll come back at perfected age: 33

Front 82

Epistrophe

Back 82

(cf. 1 Corinthians 13:11): repetition of final word in successive clauses, John the Baptist "was not the light [phos], but came to bear witness to the light."

Front 83

Anaphora

Back 83

Repetition of initial word in successive clauses, "in the world he was, and the world through him came into being, and the world knew him not."

Front 84

Logos: Origins and Meaning

Back 84

In Greek philosophy and in Philo Judaeus: the rational principle according to which the world was created and operates. (Cf. our word "biology"--the "logos" of living organisms, or, in Greek, "bios").

Front 85

The Logos of 

John

Back 85

Jesus is the LOGOS made flesh, the Word incarnate


. III. John and the LOGOS:
the LOGOS in Greek philosophy and in Philo Judaeus: the rational principle according to which the world was created and operates. (Cf. our word "biology"--the "logos" of living organisms, or, in Greek, "bios").
Logos/ The Word
◦ it’s about rational structure of something
◦ They viewed Logos as a divine principle/God
Gods and demons actually intervened in human affairs (irrational aspects in the rational and law controlling aspect of Jesus’ word)
Philo- equate Logos and God’s word
• Logos thus comes to represent Yahweh or a part of him

John: the LOGOS made flesh, the Word incarnate
- Verse 14: “and the word became flesh”--> No longer a principle, but Jesus

Front 86

Classical Logos vs. John's Logos

Back 86

John does not adhere to a strict dualism: 
emphasizes on the corporeality of the resurrected Christ. Finally, however, John does not adhere to a strict dualism--note
emphasis on the corporeality of the resurrected Christ.
And for John, what saves is not self-knowledge (gnosis), but knowledge
of God's Son and his death.

Front 87

Gnosticism

Back 87

Greek 'gnosis,' knowledge: 
light vs. darkness e.g., John 1:4-5; spirit vs. flesh e.g, John 3, imagery in John, gnosis does not save, but knowledge of God's Son and his death. IV. John and the imagery of GNOSTICISM (from Greek 'gnosis,' knowledge):
light vs. darkness (e.g., John 1:4-5) ; spirit vs. flesh (e.g, John 3).

Gnosticism
• myth of redemption
◦ dualism of light(spirit) and darkness (matter)
▪ spirit comes from the kingdom of light and darkness represents human
• Gnosis= knowledge
◦ knowledge of God’s son, to know the son is to know his death
Theologians sounds like John when they comment on John

for gnostics, salvation lies in having faith in the son and his salvation

Front 88

How does the New Testament mirror the Old Testament structurally?

Back 88

Old Testament: Torah, Prophets, Writings
New Testament: Gospels and Acts, Epistles, Revelation

Front 89

Process by which the gospels came to be written ("two source hypothesis")

Back 89

A) Jesus (ca. 4-6 BCE-30 CE) preaches orally

B) Apostolic witness = "kerygma" ("proclamation")

C) About 50 CE: Written compilation of Jesus sayings - a hypothetical document called Q (for German "quelle", which means "source")

D) The 4 Evangelists create narrative frameworks for the teachings of Jesus

Front 90

Describe the literal and typological readings of the Book of Jonah.

Back 90

Literal: Jonah sent to preach in Assyrian city of Ninevah and he tries to escape by boat, is swallowed by whale, whale saves him from a storm and he is delivered

Typology: Prediction of Jesus’ death and resurrection in Matthew 12, Jesus predicts this (both are 3 days in whale's body / dead)

Front 91

What is Mark 1's significance in terms of typological foundations?

Back 91

Jesus's words and actions: "The time is fulfilled" (1.11), showing the new continues the old; yet Jesus teaches a "new doctrine" (1:27), so that the new also breaks with the old; Jesus is shown as teaching with a new "authority" (1:22, 1:27) that is greater than that of the Scribes. See also Mark 2:21-22: "new wine must be put into new bottles"

Front 92

Describe the typological resonation of Exodus in the New Testament.

Back 92

Mark 1:2-3 on the New Exodus | 1:12-13 on Jesus in the wilderness | Chapter 9: 2-10 on the Transfiguration | Greatest number of references is to Exodus, about God making the covenant with Israel, the 10 Commandments | Beginning of Mark 1:2: “The voice of one in the wilderness that says prepare ye” | looking back at Isaiah, who is a prophet that says Jesus will come and then Exodus

+ Jesus’s baptism: he’s in the wilderness for 40 days / Israelites in the desert for 40 years

+ Transfiguration: Jesus goes up a mountain, meets God, and his face shines, just like Moses, story opens with influences of Jesus, Elijah, Moses: more complex than it seems, codex is developed because of it

Front 93

What are the literal and typological implications of the Last Supper?

Back 93

+ Luke 22:14. Jesus institutes central rite of Christianity (Communion)

+ 12 apostles = 12 tribes of Israel

+ Predicts his death, passing wine while telling story of Exodus (wine=blood), Unleavened bread for Passover (Exodus), bread= body, Jesus's body = lamb and bread for Passover

+ Allusion to the “Lamb of God” (Prophet Isaiah predicts suffering servant is lamb brought to slaughter), more likely, Passover they sacrificed a lamb, points to upcoming crucifixion

+ “Do this in Remembrance of Me”, not to recall Exodus, but Jesus, covenant: from Old to New

Front 94

What are the typological parallels between Daniel 7 and Matthew 12?

Back 94

+ Daniel 7:9-14: Apocalyptic prophecy in which there will be a last judgement; son of man given rule over God’s eternal kingdom

+ Matthew 12: Jesus talks about his death and resurrection like Jonah, also lists a series of prophecies, including Last Judgement, future judgment, and a judgment on "this generation"

+ The references to a final judgment leading to the establishment of God's kingdom rules by the Son of Man point to Daniel 7: 9-14

Front 95

How do the gospels address their audiences?

Back 95

Imagine a dual audience (contemporary audience and succeeding generations), Last Judgement stories are telling you to convert, “You shall be damned unless you convert!”

Front 96

How does Milton use the Bible for Paradise Lost?

Back 96

+ Retelling of human history by Adam and Eve (invokes heavenly muse, all of history is in these 6 lines)

+ The believer may hold a psychological state equivalent to this ‘apocalypse’ (internal apocalypse)

+ Milton: archangel Michael

+ If you follow Christian virtues and look forward to the end, then leaving Eden won’t be bad because you can be happy within

+ Romantic Poetry: Eden need not be a Paradise Lost, but it’s possible to us all

Front 97

Why does the Beast have 7 heads?

Back 97

The Beast is Rome, refers to the "7 Hills of Rome" and the 7 Caesars/emperors, if you count Nero and Domitian as the same person.

Front 98

Who is the Woman riding the Beast?

Back 98

She is the Whore of Babylon. The Whore of Babylon represents Rome.

Front 99

Why is 7 so prominent in Revelation?

Back 99

Numerical mysticism of 7: the intersection of 3, the number of divinity, and 4, the number of earth.

+ 7 planets keyed to the 7 days

+ Sunday= Sun, Monday= Moon

+ Mercoledi= Mercury

Front 100

Revelation: What is the symbolism of the number three?

Back 100

Divine number

+ Pyramid, triangle= strength

+ Faith, hope and love

Front 101

Revelation: What is the symbolism of the number four?

Back 101

Number of Earth.

+ Cardinal directions, virtues (Prudence, Justice, Temperance, Courage)

+ Everything in Earth comes in 4’s

+ Dimensions, elements (fire, earth, wind, water), humors in the body

Front 102

Why are there 10 horns upon the heads of the Beast?

Back 102

Cf. the 10-horned beast in Daniel, chap. 7:

+ There were 10 Seleucid emperors who ruled the near East between Alexander the Great and the nefarious Antiochus IV, who profaned the Jewish Temple in 168 BC

+ Therefore, 10 = bad number

Front 103

What does the blasphemy upon the heads of the Beast refer to?

Back 103

Under Diocletian, Christians were supposed to pledge allegiance to Caesar and it was blasphemous to do that. This led to persecution.

Front 104

What is the role of the second Beast in Chapter 13?

Back 104

+ Exercises the authority of the first Beast

+ Represents the provincial elite of Asia Minor

+ Those who make the earth and people worship the first, punish/slay those who won’t worship the first beast

Front 105

Why is the number of the Beast 666?

Back 105

Numerical values of the Roman, Greek, and Hebrew = alphabets: names have numerical value.

+ Common to use letters of the alphabet for number

+ Is it "Neron Caesar" transliterated from Greek into Hebrew? 666 may be an allusion to Domition as a second Nero.

+ Acme of imperfection: failing to attain the mystical perfection of 7 three times? (cf. the 6 jars of purifying water at the marraige of Cana episode of John's Gospel, Chap. 2.)

Front 106

Describe the structural symmetry of the Christian Bible, from Genesis to Revelation.

Back 106

+ Echoes of Genesis 1-2 in Revelation, including the "millenium": the metaphorical "seventh day" of the cosmos, one long and restful Sunday on earth. (Genesis 1 began with creation of the Earth, now we move to creation of new heaven and earth, history that begins here, ends here)

Sublime symmetry: telling of story from the literal beginning and literal end, history of humanity begins with paradise and ends with regaining paradise

Front 107

Has the Millennium already arrived with the life of Jesus or is it still awaited?

Back 107

According to Augustine, it is now, starting with the coming of Jesus

+ People thought the world would end at 1000 AD, then theologians took it to mean just a really long time

+ Not interpreted literally 1,000 (b/c largest Greek number)

+ Those who await a more dramatic millenium yet to come are known as "pre-millenialists" (e.g., the authors of the "Left Behind" novel/film series).

+ William Cooper: “The time of rest, the promised Sabbath comes”

Front 108

What is the historical context of the Book of Revelation?

Back 108

+ Written under the reign of Emperor Domitian (81-96). Domitian was sometimes known among early Christians as a second Nero (AD 54-68).

+ Christians were being persecuted: Romans didn’t care about practicing different religions, but they wanted them to follow the public rituals pledging to the Empire

+ Roman Pledge of Allegiance: Christians saw it as blasphemous = potentially traitorous to the state

+ John in exile on the island of Patmos, a small rocky island in the Aegean Sea where individuals were sometimes banished by Roman authorities.

Front 109

Describe Jesus as an ethical teacher, his platform, and examples of two similar societal plans.

Back 109

Not foretold by prophets:
 innovative teachings revolve around two points.

+ Love your enemies

+ Share
 your possessions (these are stressed in Luke).

+ Reject ethics of quid pro quo

+ The reward of selfless behavior on earth: at end time ("at the resurrection of the just")

+ Plato’s republic where property is shared / communist utopias

Front 110

Describe Jesus as a suffering servant, the source of this interpretation, and relevance in the Gospel.

Back 110

+ Stems from a revisionary reading of Isaiah 53, about a prophet who serves the Lord by suffering for him. Messianic prophecy only in Luke's hindsight.

+ The relevance of the "suffering servant" to Jesus's life is first explained by the evangelist Philip in Acts 8:27-35.

+ Jesus must die to fulfill OT prophecy to become suffering servant spoken of in Isaiah

+ Gospel writers match words of gospel with those of OT to show they are in tandem

+ Gospel writers preach ethics of self-sacrifice that is supposed to serve the time between now and the second coming foretold

Front 111

Describe the debate regarding the morality of fiction.

Back 111

Plato says poets should not exist in ideal situations because they are liars. Jesus’ parables were defended as fiction that could be used to teach moral.

Front 112

What are all parables analogies for?

Back 112

Messianic kingdom

Front 113

How did John portray Jesus differently than the synoptics?

Back 113

+ Long discourses and speaks like a theologian

+ He talks about himself as the son of God and establishes the Holy Trinity, he speaks like God

+ "I AM" statements (Greek, ego eimi: 'I, I am'): stressing his unity with God, the eternal

+ Referring to God/ Moses and the burning bush, "I AM" (Exodus 3:14). Reaffirming his status AND relationship with God, “Before Abraham was, I AM”

+ The life of the incarnate Words--> John and the Logos, the word was made flesh

+ His last word on the cross: "tetelestai," "it has been accomplished, fulfilled, perfected" (contrast the more human words recorded in the synoptic gospels)

Front 114

Describe the authorship, important dates, and purpose of the Acts.

Back 114

Written 80-90 CE (after the fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE, with the destruction of the Temple), by the same author as the Gospel of Luke. Luke, remember, is a gentile writing mainly for other gentile Christians. Describes history of the early Christian Church and the missionary work of the Apostles.

Front 115

What is the main theme of Acts?

Back 115

How Christianity developed between approx. 30-60 CE, from a sect within Judaism ("the Jesus movement") that followed the Mosaic Law to a cosmopolitan church composed mainly of Gentile (non-Jewish) Christians not bound by the Law.

Front 116

Who authored Acts? Where does Acts begin and end? How does this highlight the theme of Acts?

Back 116

Book of Acts is by Luke: Starts in the city of Jerusalem

+ Christianity starts within a sect of Jerusalem, Apostles preach in a Jewish temple

+ Theme of spread of Christianity is annunciated in Acts 1.6-8, the story of Jesus's Ascension, which delineates the geographical trajectory: Jerusalem to Rome, sect to empire, Jews to Gentiles

Front 117

What happens in Acts of the Apostles 1, what does it symbolize?

Back 117

Act 1 = Jesus's ascension: serves as a clear enunciation as to what will essentially happen in Acts.

Front 118

Pentecost

Back 118

Originally a Jewish agricultural festival celebrated 50 days after Passover; aka "the feast of weeks", means 50)

Front 119

What does the second Act of the Apostles describe? What did it become a model for? How many times is the story told within the second act and who narrates it?

Back 119

+ Road to Damascus (Chapters 9, 22, 26): Transition from Saul the Pharisee zealous for the Law to Paul, Apostle to the Gentiles, who claims Roman citizenship, emblematizing the cosmopolitan nature of the Church.

+Scales fell from his blinded eyes, becomes a model for future conversion narratives.

+ Tells the story three separate times, from narrator Luke and Paul(2x), compare Luke’s story and Paul’s own and there is divergence

Front 120

What is the significance of St. Stephen in Acts? What does martyr mean? How does he defend his faith? What ritual does he address and what prophet does he quote to prove his point?

Back 120

+ St. Stephen the Deacon, Protomartyr ("first martyr"--"martyr" means "witness")

+ Story within the narrative of the creation of the diaconate.

+ Stephen defends himself from the charge of blasphemy, arguing that his religion is a continuation of Old Testament religion

+ Quotes Prophet Jeremiah (God doesn’t want physical circumcision, but circumcision in heart and ears)

Front 121

How does Acts address circumcision? What does circumcision mean in terms of the Old Testament?

Back 121

+ Tensions between "the party of circumcision" who insist that Gentiles must undergo it to keep the Law in order to become Christians and the party who teach that Gentiles need not keep the Law.

+ Mosaic covenant: adult males, when converted, had to be circumcised to be Christians, potential sticking point converts

+ Question raised: if Gentiles convert to Christianity, do they have to convert to Judaism, first? Some argue all Christians must follow Mosaic law, Paul’s party says no

Front 122

Who is Cornelius in Acts? Which Apostle has a vision? What is it of? What does it symbolize? How do the Law and the Spirit come into play here?

Back 122

Cornelius: Roman centurion: Ch 10-11. Converted in this chapter.

+ Peter has a vision where a voice commands him to eat unclean food: "What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common."

+ Peter interprets the vision to mean that Gentiles are not unclean, so that they need not keep the Law in order to be baptized and receive the Holy Spirit.

Front 123

How many letters did Paul write? When were they written? Where were they sent and what do they describe? Who wrote them?

Back 123

Paul's own letters written ca. 51-65 CE: 13 letters

+ 9 letters to specific churches,

+ 3 "pastoral" epistles to Timothy and Titus: what it takes to be a good Christian leader

+ "Prison" letter to Philemon (addresses slavery)

+ Some of these are now argued by some scholars to be pseudonymous, Hebrews disputed

+ If they weren’t written by Paul, then by his followers

Front 124

What is the most important letter out of the Epistles? What is its significance today? What historical religious figures have founded their beliefs upon it?

Back 124

First Letter to Romans. Just about all denominations of Christianity base their practices on Paul’s Letter to Romans. Augustine, Calvin, Wesley, and Luther.

Front 125

What are the oldest books in the New Testament? What are their dates? How did they impact the writers of the gospel?

Back 125

Paul's letters are the oldest books in the New Testament: 51-65 CE.

+ All of the writers of the gospel were probably familiar with Paul and his theology

Front 126

Who does Paul preach to? What does this give him control over? What problem does he face with the Law? Why can't he deny the Law's authority?

Back 126

Gentiles. How much control Mosaic Law has. Can’t get rid of the Law, but people want to throw it out. He can’t deny the authority of the law b/c NT’s authority lies in the OT

Front 127

How does Paul resolves the question of the Law? What sort of interpretations does his resolution lead to?

Back 127

Distinguishes between the Law's Letter and Spirit: cf. 2 Cor. 3:6: "God made us able ministers of the New Testament, not of the letter, but of the spirit. For the letter kills, but the spirit gives life."

+ Allegorical readings of the OT

Front 128

How does Paul define the Letter of the Law? In terms of symbolism? Where does he explain it? How does this all apply to circumcision?

Back 128

+ 2nd Letter to Corinthians

+ Letter of the law is literal acceptance of Mosaic Law

+ Law is a written code--> analogous to a human body, Paul thinks of Greco-Roman notion of body and spirit, body dies, spirit lives on

+ Therefore, Christians should think of circumcision not as bodily, but as spiritual: allegorical heart circumcised

Front 129

What does Paul have to say about covenants? How many are there? What/who do they represent? What letter contains this elaboration?

Back 129

In Galatians Ch. 4: 2 covenants

+ Abraham had 2 sons, one by the slave and one by the free woman

+ Slave (Ishamael)= Mt. Sinai = represents Judaism

+ Free woman (Isaac) = represents Christianity

Front 130

How does Paul envision the Letter of the Law?

Back 130

+ Physical behavior, including ritual practice and following the dietary code. Paul refers to these actions as "works" of the Law and associates them with the mortal body or "the flesh."

+ Following Greco-Roman philosophical assumptions, is associated with mortality, decay, death, and sin: "To be carnally minded is death" (Rom 8.6, KJV)

Front 131

What are Paul's thoughts on the death and resurrection? How will Christian's bodies be transformed through this process? What are his attitudes towards the body? Does he ever take a more moderate view on the Letter of the Law?

Back 131

+ All Christians participate in Jesus's death and resurrection, and their bodies will be transformed into a "spiritual body": see 1 Cor. 15: 42-44

+ Paul does express the letter of the Law still has power: the works of the Law does not simply confer salvation, through-- Romans

+ Body = carnal, rotting

Front 132

How does Paul envision the Spirit of the Law? What facet of the Old Testament does this echo?

Back 132

A soul inhabiting the flesh of the Law. Ethical teachings and spiritual virtues that the Law was intended to teach. Immortal and thus confers eternal life: "To be spiritually minded is life and peace" (Rom 8.6, KJV).

+ Paul here is alluding to an interior law of the new covenant first announced by Jeremiah 31: 31-33: "The Lord says, I will put my laws into their minds and write them in their hearts."

+ Many of the OT prophets call for such interiorization of the Law. Paul thus aims to make the New Testament both a continuation of the Old and a departure from it.

Front 133

What aspect of the Law does Paul argue is important? Which prophets back up his point?

Back 133

+ The Meaning of the Law is what is important

+ Following it’s rituals is less important

+ This interiorization of the law was expressed and promoted by prophets in OT

+ Jeremiah announce new covenant: “Write them on their minds and put them in their hearts”

Front 134

What are the specific virtues of the spirit according to Paul?

Back 134

Love, faithfulness in God, and faith given through grace

Front 135

B) Faith: Greek pistis = faithfulness, fidelity, loyalty
• Much of Romans says there should be faith in God’s promises
◦ saved by faith
Cf. Romans 4, where Paul argues that circumcision is a sign of faith, not a requirement for entering into a covenental relationship with God. And see the classic definition of faith at Hebrews 11:1: "faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen" (KJV) that becomes important in much of English post-Reformation literature as an argument against the use of images in worship.And see Romans 10:17: "Faith comes from what is heard."

Back 135

+ Love (Greek, agape; Latin, caritas; some English translations, charity); cf Romans 13: 8: "Owe no one anything, except to love one another, for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled th law."

+ Paul says most important thing is to love
• Jesus says love is most important part of Mosaic law
◦ also, love your neighbor as yourself
(Cp Jesus at Matt. 22: 37-40, quoting Deut. 6.5 [from the Shema: central prayer in Judaism] and Lev. 19.18). And cf 1 Cor. 13, and 1 John 4: 16. "Neighbor" here is usually interpreted through the Parable of the Good Samaritan, Luke 10:25-37

Front 136

Define grace according to Romans. How does faith and the works of law pertain to this?

Back 136

Faith given through Grace: God's "free gift" (Rom 5:15). Paul talks about the works of the law as accomplishing nothing without grace

Front 137

Discrepancies in the meaning of the Parable of the Sower according to Catholics and Protestants.

Back 137

Bear fruit means good works (Catholic): Matthew is always talking about good works

+ Protestants say it’s about faith: Mark focuses on faith

Front 138

Revelation

Back 138

(Greek, "Apocalypse") defined: "a prophetic vision, set forth in arcane and elaborate symbols, of the imminent events which will bring an abrupt end to the present world order; the present world: and history as we know it: will come to an end, and be replaced by a new and perfected condition of man and his milieu."

Front 139

Who heads the Apostles in Acts and what does he represent?

Back 139

The Apostles are headed by Peter; he represents them and their Jewish roots (preaching at the Temple).

Front 140

How does Acts measure up as a history book and when was it composed?

Back 140

Not like our modern history:

+ Eschews objective fact, tells stories: the message is what’s important

+ Tells what you should believe and what should be done

+ Date at which composed: 80-90 CE: (After the year 70 because that’s the year Romans invade Jerusalem and destroy temple, Christianity and Judaism begin to define themselves in contrast with each other)

Front 141

What Genesis story is the tale of Pentecostal tongues based upon? Describe the parallels.

Back 141

+ Here the miracle of tongues reverses the linguistic division that happened at Babel (Gen. 11). There language was confused; here it is understood. At Babel the nations are separated; here they become one.

Front 142

What even is considered the birth of the Church in Acts? Why?

Back 142

Pentecost is often considered the birth of the church, as this is the first post-ascension public preaching of the Xn message.

Front 143

What represent the presence of the Holy Ghost at Pentecost in Acts?

Back 143

Fire, wind, the gift of tongues. The Holy Spirit is traditionally associated with divine inspiration.

Front 144

In terms of narrative, what happens to the Apostles during Pentecost in Acts?

Back 144

+ Holy Ghost fills the room and blesses the apostles with the gift of tongues

+ Speakers identify themselves as Jews and Proxilites, some are ethnic Jews, others are Gentiles recently converted

+ Peter addresses the crowd, addresses them as Jews, but in his speech he is trying to move away from Judaism

+ Tells them to be baptized and receive the Holy Spirit: promise salvation to you, your children, and all that are far off

Front 145

What famous figure of speech originated from Saul/Paul's blindness? What does his blindness symbolize? Why does Paul change his name?

Back 145

+ Scales fell from eyes

+ Blindness comes to mean lack of faith

+ Paul, traditional Roman name, he less and less identifies himself as an Israelite, but associates himself as a Roman citizen

Front 146

List some examples of apocalyptic thinking from 19th c. into present times.

Back 146

+ William Milller and his Millerites anticipated Jesus's reappearance on Oct. 22, 1844. The non-show was called "the Great Disappointment."

+ Hal Lindsey's "The Late Great Planet Earth" (1970s): sold 18 million copies world-wide, predicting an imminent Second Coming.

+ Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins, the "Left Behind" Series: culminating in "Glorious Appearing" (2004): sold 82 million world-wide as of 11/2004

Front 147

What other letters does the Epistles section of the Bible contain? Who are they addressed to?

Back 147

7 "catholic" or "general" epistles addressed to the whole Christian church

Front 148

How did Jesus defy people's expectations of the kingdom he promised them?

Back 148

People expected a literal kingdom, but that is not what he is giving à “My kingdom is not of this world” A apocalyptic or spiritual kingdom from heaven, not from here

Front 149

How do parables affect the thoughts of the reader?

Back 149

1) Arrest the hearer by its vividness or strangeness


2) Leave the mind in sufficient doubt about its precise application


3) Tease it into active thought."

C.H. Dodd, The Parables of the Kingdom (1961)

Front 150

Why does Jesus use parables to preach if neither the public nor his followers understand? How do Matthew and Mark disagree on this issue? How are readers supposed to react and respond to the parables?

Back 150

+ People who listen to him separated into two groups, insiders and outsiders

+ Acting according to doctrine of predestination in which those who don’t understand and never will understand

+ It is given to you to understand - doctrine of goodness
▪ § Markan secret
▪ · Question of why Jesus was not recognized by everyone
+ Matthew’s version: Jesus says he uses parable to exploit human tendency to want to understand and solve mysteries through stories

+ Tensions designed to get us to think actively about the text

+ Written to complicate easy distinction between insiders and outsiders



+ Parables inform us there is a mystery that we can never fully grasp

+ One should "only [follow] the parables": the parables should ideally lead not to intellectual understanding but action--although the specific relevance of the parable to reality is problematic.