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47 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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4Q521
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(The Messianic Apocalypse) : One of the more intriguing of the newly released Dead Sea Scrolls is a fragment now titled "Messianic Apocalypse" (4Q521). This text contains three rather striking features that are of particular significance for comparing the apocalyptic beliefs and expectations of the Qumran community with the emerging early Christian movement. First, the text speaks of a single Messiah figure who will rule heaven and earth. Second, it mentions in the clearest language the expectation of the resurrection of the dead during the time of this Messiah. And third, and perhaps most important for students of the New Testament, it contains an exact verbal parallel with the Gospels of Matthew and Luke for identifying of the signs of the Messiah.
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Agrapha
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The ‘unwritten’ sayings of Jesus, i.e. the sayings not in Scripture. A number of ‘gospels’ of which only fragments have survived, these contain isolated sayings of Jesus that are cited in various early Christian writings.
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Aphorisms
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pithy arresting sayings which are complete in themselves. Unlike metaphors, they do not require a specific narrative context in order to make an impact. They express vivid truths which are general to the experience of humankind. They have a timeless universal quality, rather like the parables of some interpretations.
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Asclepius Cult
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Greco-Roman miracle tradition.
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Athanasius’s Canon
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From 367CE, this is the canon as it exists in our current format of 27 books in the protestant New Testament. Previous canon’s existed beginning as early as the late 2nd century. Athanasius was the first to accept James and 2nd Peter.
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Beloved Disciple
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One of the themes in Johannine community that makes it distinct from the synoptic gospels. By describing some of the actions made by the beloved disciple, the writer of John highlights some distinct historical facts that differ from the synoptic. These facts have been used to counteract claims made on behalf of Peter in certain circles. But in John, the beloved disciple does not deny Jesus like Peter does, and he also outruns peter and ‘saw and believed’ when entering the tomb, whereas Peter did not believe. These versus clearly show preference towards the beloved disciple.
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Book of Signs
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John has 7 signs, not miracles. One of Bultman’s claimed sources that is widely accepted. John (1-21) Then book for glory.
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Canon
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The Concept of a Canon
-Greek word: kanon = “straight rod,” or “ruler,” so also “standard” -so, canon = fixed, normative collection of documents, that represent the standard for Christian faith and practice -distinction between scripture (ref to writings that are authoritative for some religion) and canon à so, all canonized texts are scripture, but not the other way around -canon not fixed until end of 3rd century |
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Criteria for Canonicity
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Criteria include; 1) apostolicity - did the document bear witness to apostolic origin? It did not have to be written by an apostle but the author needed to be associated to one. 2) Catholicity - was the document accepted and used by the church at large? 3) Adherence to the rule of faith - did the document conform to the basic Christian tradition?
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Criterion of Dissimilarity
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If a gospel tradition is dissimilar to the teaching and practices of early Judaism, then it can hardly have been taken over by the disciples or later followers of Jesus and attributed to him. And if a tradition runs counter to Christian teaching in the post-easter period, it can hardly have been created then. So if traditions of either the sayings or the actions of Jesus are dissimilar from both early Jewish and early Christian teaching or practice then we may accept them with confidence as solid historical evidence. The attitude of Jesus towards fasting is an example.
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Criterion of Multiple Attestation
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If we find sayings of Jesus in Mark, Q, M, L, as well or even in John, then widespread attestation is noteworthy. The same saying or character trait is unlikely to have been ‘invented’ within several independent Christian communities which were preserving parts of the gospel traditions. An example is Jesus’ acceptance of tax collectors.
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Criterion of Embarrassment
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“Information about Jesus’ that would have been viewed by the early church as an embarrassment may be considered authentic since it is unlikely that the church would have made up such activities or sayings” (Tatum 107)
Uneasy about John baptized Jesus, but his ministry is for repentance, but Jesus was pure. They wouldn’t make something up that is embarrassing. Would not make things up that was difficult about Jesus. |
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Criterion of Historical Plausibility
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Developed as a rejection of the criterion of dissimilarity. Authentic if they conform to the social and historical context to which they relate to. Used to locate Jesus in Jewish historical context (NT Wright) Makes sense of Jesus deeds/ sayings within this context. Negatively, this criteria can be used to rule sayings out (ex: Nicodemus...”to be born again” said in Greek, doesn’t translate into a parable in Aramaic)
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Criterion of the Cross
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Facts that we know: that he was crucified on a Roman cross, this is indisputable as it is also cited by other early historians.
Historian must explain how and why this happened. The historical Jesus must be “crucifiable”. We have to have a Jesus that the Romans would have wanted to crucify (by several of these attempts, Jesus was made gentle, meek and mild) |
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Dead Sea Scrolls
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written by the Essenes in particular the Qumram Community. Consists of nearly 1000 documents discovered since 1947. Further insight into the socio-political environment around the time the Gospels were written. But they do not refer to Jesus, John the Baptist or any of the main figures because it was written two centuries before Jesus was born
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Diatessaron
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This is a harmonization of the gospels written by Tatian in the second half of the second century. It virtually supplanted the canonical gospelsin Syriac-speaking contexts. The eventual elimination of this text may have been due to the fact that Tatian was regarded as a heretic
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Docetism
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To seem or to appear. This heresy views Jesus as “fully divine and not human.” The Johanine community reflects the humanity of Jesus and was thus in conflict with the Docetics. The Gospel of Peter , which was originally thought to be rather innocent by the bishop of Antioch was then determined to have the heretical doctrine of the docetics.
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Dualism
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The view that the world is divided into two realities. However in Johannine dualism is not absolute. The two realities are not co-equal or co-eternal. In Jewish and Christian thought God is the ultimate creator and source of all that is, hence dualism is not in adherence with the created order
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Feminist Hermeneutics
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begins with an experience of oppression, specifically the gender based oppression of women. It is a form of liberationist hermaneutics. Feminist often confront a biblical text in which God is in league with the male oppressor. The feel the need to liberate the text from its androcentric perspective and patriarchal assumptions.
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Futuristic Eschatology
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Views the kingdom of God as largely a not-yet and to-come reality. It is largely a response to non-eschatological kingdom and ethical realities. It breaks into the present only upon God’s initiative. Johannes Weiss wrote about this in 1892 and he was Albert Ritschl’s son-in law.
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Gnosticism
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“a group of ancient religions, some of them closely related to Christianity, that maintained that elements of the divine had become entrapped in this evil world of matter and could only be released when they acquired the secret gnosis of who they were and how the could escape. Gnosis was generally thought to be brought by an emissary of the divine realm” (Bart Ehrman, The New Testament).
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Gospel of Peter
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likely written in 3rd century, a fragment was discovered in the tomb of a monk in Egypt. Its form appears like it is a fragment of a larger fuller account similar to canonical gospels. Themes are; anti-Jewish polemic, docetic motifs (as in “my power, O power, thou has forsaken me), and a talking cross. The existing fragment begins abruptly in the passion narrative and it ends in midsentence in what appears to be an account of a resurrection appearance of Jesus.
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Gospel of Thomas
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A non-canonical gospel account which was written in Coptic (Egyptian language using Greek script). Contains 114 sayings of Jesus but is void of narrative thus none of the sayings can be put into context. There are parallels between Thomas and all the canonical gospels. Some prevelant themes are: a negative view of the world; a low view of women; it is highly individualist and contains no ecclesiology, reference the secret mysteries of salvation . Discovered in 1945 in Nag Hammadi Egypt.
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“I AM” Statements
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These are phrases that are critical to John’s Christology, they only appear in John. John draws on the scriptural self revelation of God to Israel. In Exodus, God reveals himself to Moses with the mysterious assertion “I am who I am.” Jesus’ use of words which resonate with scriptural statements of divine relevation show particularly his unique identity as the son of the father.
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Inaugurated Eschatology
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Holds both futuristic and realized views on the kingdom of God in tension. It is best captured by the phrase “the already and the not-yet”. Wernel Kummel and George Ladd are scholarly figures who argued for this perspective.
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Infancy Gospel of Thomas
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Contains seventeen miracles worked by the child Jesus between ages of five and twelve. And in regards to the miracle traditions, Thomas shows Jesus making birds out of mud as well as reassembling Mary’s shattered water pitcher, The many accounts of miracles show the restraint actually made by the NT Gospels evangelists. This is important because miracles and signs have been used to prove Jesus’ divinity, and would hence expect that they would include more signs, yet they prefer not to. It also fills in the gaps of the canonical gospels so that we may know about the events that precede events told in Luke and Matthew because after the cycle of miracles, Thomas recounts the Lukan story of twelve-year-old Jesus in the Temple.
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Johannine Misunderstandings
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underlies the frequent misunderstandings of Jesus’ words and deeds because they are not understood as “from above” but “from below,”. These often play on dual meanings of words, as in when Jesus tell Nicodemus to be “born from above” a word which also may mean “born again”. Also occurs in Temple Demonstration. (Perhaps that they thought Jesus says to destroy actual temple when he is actually talking about his own body that will be raised in three days)
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John the Baptist
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John the Baptist : John the Baptist : He is obviously a prominent figure in the gospels, and is only mentioned more by Jesus, Paul and Peter. However, his relevance in the gospel is purely to illuminate Jesus' life and teaching. So in a way they "Christianized" him. Unlike the synoptic gospels, in the gospel of John, John was known as a witness, for Christ. He was to be a Christ evangelist, paving the way for Jesus. And it is written in the Gospel of John that many believed Jesus through the ministry of John the witness
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Josephus
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(Jewish historian)—commander of Jewish forces against the Romans. Was an apologist on behalf of the Jews and Romans; thus, His perspective is not unbiased or objective. Has a strong tendency to minimize the conflict between Jews and Romans. So, it’s difficult to know what really happened whether it was a spiral of violence or outbursts until 66 CE. Main literary source of Jewish/Roman history outside of the Bible.
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Kingdom of God
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This idea is laden throughout the scriptures and in particular in the Gospels. It is a central part of Jesus' mission and teachings. It has been described as having a "tensive" or multiple shifting meanings. In New Testament scholarship, the KOG has 4 timing variables (non-future, future, realized, inaugurated). The nature of the KOG has been described in 3 manners; 1) spatial or geographic location, 2) the rule/reign of God or the sphere of his reigning activity, 3) making right what has gone wrong. Additionally, there is an "already but not yet" tension.
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Liberation Hermeneutics
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has arisen in the communitarian context of the oppressed poor. The biblical text read in these communities in Latin America, Asia or Africa are seen first and foremost about the readers and their present situation rather than about the first century. Often these readers lack academic training in biblical studies and their approach is not sophisticated. They read from their own place addressing to the text the survival questions of their everyday life.
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Literary Seams
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Indications of earlier sources that have been brought together that have these seams that run throughout it. Prologue or concludes but extends sermons, chapter 15, 16, 17 or inserted after. Written in various stages. Gospel of John was produced by a community and over a period of time.
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Logos
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Logos Christology: Prologue of John provides connection to human being. Which shows it could have been added later. No where else is the word Logos used. But mainly now, it shows how the gospel should be read.
Logos in Greek philosophy as logic and rational thought. Rational thought that structures the organization of the cosmos. Logos, God and Nature all stands together. Jewish Wisdom Traditions Logos was a key terminology also in Jewish traditions. More of a personification of God’s action for the creation of the word. Can be “word”= logos or God’s activity. “Word became flesh” Philo (Hellenistic Jews) Logos is the intermediate reality between transcendent God and absolute universe. |
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Marcion
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was a weathly member of the church in Rome. He advanced a radically different version of Christianity – believed that material creation and God of OT was evil – believed that Christ came to abolish the law (believed that Christ represented a new God)
Drew a sharp distinction between OT god and NT god, didn’t accept authority of OT scriptures, so produced his own canon (included a truncated version of Luke, and edited letters of Paul- eliminated everything that was positive about the Jewish faith) While the process of canonization started before Marcio, his canon made the need for the church to establish a canon more pressing and needful |
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Miracles
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Miracles alone cannot determine Jesus’ divinity. Need teachings alongside.
There are times when both teachings and miracles do not happen together, there was often confusion. They were signs and not proof of Jesus' divinity, therefore like parables were for people with eyes to see, and not explicit claims. |
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Muratorian Canon
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First cannon attempt?
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Passover seder
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is a Jewish ritual feast held on the first (and for some, the second) night of the Jewish holiday of Passover (which begins on the 15th day of Hebrew month of Nisan). For Reform Jews and in Israel, the Seder is held only on the first night. Also, every food has a significance. Sweetness = deliverance. Bitterness = captivity.
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“Praying the Gospels”
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It allows us to lead a spiritual life rather than a life of flesh. It is important to pray the gospels rather than just study it because it allows us to participate with the word rather than just know it. It transforms the reader from spectators to participants, whom can bring their questions and doubts into a prayer. This leads to different spiritual expressions of the gospel for example music, art, liturgy etc
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Pragmatic Interpretation
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A hermenutic which is primarily concerned with the reader. Examples of this include; liberation, feminist, ethical and spiritual
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Realized Eschatology
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God to rule in human hearts. Part of the discussion about the Kingdom of God: Already here, and not yet tension.
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Reimarus,
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His work called Fragments was published in 1778. Very controversial even within his lifetime. He his an Enlightenment rationalist that could not believe in miracles. Argued that Jesus was a failed Jewish political revolutionary and that the disciples had stolen his body and posed a hoax of his resurrection. It was important that he attempted to find the historical Jesus at all (was the first person to wrestle with, “Do the gospels tell us about the truth of Jesus?”) His work drove a wedge between history and faith and set the agenda for the discussion or "Quest for the historical Jesus" that followed.
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Rule of Faith
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Did scripture adhere to Christian church teachings and agree upon doctrinal statement about the teachings of Christ? Most times content is more important when considering canonicity over gospels with apostle's name on it like Gospel of Peter, Gospel of Thomas. The rule of faith help set a guideline for the NT gospels preference, what is known as the fourfold gospel.
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Schweitzer, Albert
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Renaissance figure in every sense of the world. World renowned organist and became a doctor for missionary. Most influence book about Jesus and acts. Critical assessment of the “Liberal lives” of Jesus. Abstracted from context and great teacher of universal truths. How liberal protestant Christianity use Jesus. Rationalist notions of supernatural miracles, for example feeding of 5000 is more about the miracle off sharing, that he doesn’t think it is helpful. They attempt to domesticate/minimal the eschatological message of Jesus. His Jesus is a radically Apocalyptic that expected the end of the world, but was wrong. Jesus as a dramatic personality.
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Son of God
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a Christological title used to describe Jesus in the gospels.
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Son of Man
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a term that is Jesus’ preferred self-designation. Niether his disciples nor his opponents use with respect to him. Both John and the synoptics speak of this as a term indicating God’s authority on earth. John also speaks of the this in a distinctive Johaninne image as coming from above to reveal the glory of his Father. (Mk 2:10, Jn 5:27)
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Temple Demonstration
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Temple Demonstration: During the temple demonstration the people prompted for Jesus' authority to do such actions. And this allows for Jesus to reveal his divinity as his body was the temple. He says to destroy the temple and he will raise it up in three days, and many have called this claim to be blasphemous. However he was not actually calling for that action, but implying that his temple body will be destroyed and resurrected in three days. This blaspheme would lead to his crucifixion.
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Third Quest
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A recent movement of the past 20 years. Quest made by all, but conclusions all end up in different plays even sometimes with similar methods. Liberals, conservative, non-Christians and everyone in between. Locate Jesus in his Jewish cultural and historical context. On deeds as well as words of Jesus. A worthy work towards this effort is that of N.T Wright's 'Jesus and the victory of God.'
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