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36 Cards in this Set

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Dissimilarity, the criteria
One of the criteria commonly used by scholars to establish historically reliable material' the criterion maintains that if a saying or deed of Jesus does not coincide with (or works against) the agenda of the early Christians, it is more likely to be authentic
Independent Attestation, the criteria
One of the criteria commonly used by scholars to establish historically reliable material; with respect to the historical Jesus, the criterion maintains that if a saying or deed of Jesus is attested independently by more than one source, it is more likely to be authentic
Contextual Credibility, the criteria
One of the criteria commonly used by scholars to establish historically reliable material; with respect to the historical Jesus, the criterion maintains that if a saying or deed of Jesus cannot be credibly fit into his own first-century Palestinian context, then it cannot be regarded as authentic
Genre
A "genre" is a kind of literature with specific features; in the ancient world there were biographies, epic poems, general histories, and many other genres. The major genres of the New Testament are Gospels (which are most like religious biographies), Acts (most like general histories), epistles, and apocalypses
Novel (ancient)
Ancient genre of literature. Novels in the Greek and Roman worlds were fictionalized narratives that normally told of the tragic separation of lovers and of the various mishaps they experienced in their attempts to become reunited. Novels typically included stories of travels, shipwrecks, piracy, banditry, enslavement, and persecution; they typically contained dialogues, speeches, and private letters. Some scholars have argued that the book of Acts is very much like an ancient novel.
Biography (ancient)
A literary genre consisting of a narrative of an individual's life, often within a chronological framework, employing numerous sub-genres (such as sayings, anecdotes, and conflict stories) so as to reflect important aspects of his or her character, principally for purposes of instruction, exhortation, or propaganda
Apocalypticism
A worldview held by many ancient Jews and Christians that maintained that the present age is controlled by forces of evil, but that these will be destroyed at the end of time when God intervenes in history to bring his kingdom, an event thought to be imminent
gospel
When this word is not capitalized, it refers not to a book but to the proclamation of the "good news" (from the Greek word euaggelion) of Christ's salvation (e.g., the gospel of Paul is his message, not a book that he used)
Gospel
When this word is capitalized, it refers to a literary genre: a written account of the "good news" brought by Jesus Christ, including episodes involving his words and/or deeds (e.g., the Gospel of Luke or Peter)
Pharisees
A Jewish sect, which may have originated during the Maccabean period, that emphasized strict adherence to the purity laws set forth in the Torah
Torah
A Hebrew word that means "guidance" or "direction," but that is usually translated "law." As a technical term it designates either the Law of God given to Moses was traditionally thought to have written—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy
Nag Hammadi
Village in upper (southern) Egypt, near the place where a collection of Gnostic writings, including the Gospel of Thomas, were discovered in 1945
Hellenization
The spread of Greek language and culture (Hellenism) throughout the Mediterranean, starting with the conquests of Alexander the Great
Epistle
Another designation for a private letter. Some scholars have differentiated between the "epistles" as literary writings in the form of a letter, which were meant for general distribution, rather than for an individual recipient, and "letters" which were a nonliterary form of personal correspondence. This differentiation between epistles and letters is not widely held today, however, so that the terms tend to be used synonymously
Gnostics
(Gnosticism)
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 be released only when they acquired the secret gnosis (Greek for "knowledge") of who they were and of how they could escape. Gnosis was generally thought to be brought by an emissary of the divine realm
Adoptionists
(Adoptionism)
The view that Jesus was not divine, but a flesh-and-blood human being who had been adopted at baptism to be God's son
Apocalypse
(genre)
A literary genre in which an author, usually pseudonymous, reports symbolic dreams or visions, given or interpreted through an angelic mediator, which reveal the heavenly mysteries that can make sense of earthly realities
Docetist
(Docetism)
The view that Jesus was not a human being but only appeared to be, from a Greek word mean "to seem" or "to appear"
Johannine Community
The community of Christians in which the Gospel of John and the Johannine epistles were written. We do not know where the community was located, but we can reconstruct some of its history using the socio-historical method
Fourth Philosophy
A group of Jews that Josephus mentions but leaves unnamed, characterized by their insistence on violent opposition to the foreign domination of the Promised Land
messiah
From a Hebrew word that literally means "anointed one," translated into Greek as Christos, from which derives out English word Christ. In the first century C.E., there was a wide range of expectations about whom this anointed one might be, some Jews anticipating a future warrior like David, others a cosmic redeemer from heaven, others an authoritative priest, and still others a powerful spokesperson from God like Moses
Monotheism
The belief that there is only one God (sometimes distinguished from "henotheism," which acknowledges that other gods exist, but insists that only one is to be worshiped)
Sadducees
A Jewish party associated with the Temple cult and the Jewish priests who ran it, compromising principally the Jewish aristocracy in Judea. The party leader, the High Priest, served as the highest ranking local official and chief liaison with the Roman governor
Resurrection
The doctrine originally devised within circles of apocalyptic Judaism which maintained that at the end of the present age those who had died would be brought back to life in order to have judgment: either torment for those opposed to God or reward for those who sided with God. The earliest Christians believed that Jesus had been raised, and concluded therefore that the end of the age had already begun ("First Fruits of the Resurrection"). In Christian apocalyptic thought it was believed that the rewards and punishments in the future resurrection would hinge on one's relationship to Christ, as either a believer or nonbeliever.
Josephus
First-century Jewish historian, appointed court historian by the Roman emperor Vespasian, whose works The Jewish War and The Antiquities of the Jews are principal resources for information about life in first-century Palestine
Greco-Roman World
The lands (and culture) around the Mediterranean from the time of Alexander the Great to the Emperor Constantine, roughly 300 B.C.E. to 300 C.E.
Traditions
Any doctrine, idea, practice, or custom that has been handed down from one person to another
"we" passages
Term used to describe a set of four passages in the book of Acts in which the author stops speaking in the third person about what Paul and his companions ("they") were doing, and speaks instead in the first person about what "we" were doing. Some scholars take these passages as evidence that the author of Luke-Acts was a companion of Paul; others believe that in these passages the author of Luke-Acts has utilized a travel narrative as a source (much as he utilized other sources, such as Mark and Q, for his Gospel)
Pagan
(Paganism)
And of the polytheistic religions of the Greco-Roman world, an umbrella term for ancient Mediterranean religions other than Judaism and Christianity
Son of God
In most Greco-Roman circles, the designation of a person born to a god, able to perform miraculous deeds and/or to convey superhuman teachings; in Jewish circles, the designation of person chosen to stand in a special relationship with the God of Israel, including the ancient Jewish Kings
Son of Man
A term whose meaning is much disputed among modern scholars, used in some ancient apocalyptic texts to refer to a cosmic judge sent from heaven at the end of time
Polytheism
The belief that there are many gods, a belief that lies at the heart of all of the ancient pagan religions
Kingdom of God
In the teachings of Jesus, the Kingdom of God (or God's Reign) appears to refer to an actual Kingdom that will come to earth to replace the wicked kingdoms that are now in control of affairs, and of God's people, here. This would be a utopian kingdom where truth, peace, and justice were restored; it would be ruled by God's anointed one (i.e., the messiah)
The Gospels as Supernatural History
(Pre-Enlightenment)
- Described things that really happened that were miraculous
- These really happened: Jesus feeding the 5,000, Jesus walked on the water, Jesus is raised from the dead/His resurrection
The Gospels as Natural History
(Heinrich Paulus)
- Understanding what happened in the past through logic
- Rationalism: reason for understanding that is and has happened; denied the notion of miracles intervening with the cycle of cause and effect
□ How they approach the Bible? The Gospels were natural histories
- They recorded things that really happened that were mistaken to be miracles
- Heinrich Paulus (1828): the accounts of Jesus' life, natural events that were misunderstood
□ Jesus feeds the 5,000: Everybody had enough to eat and shared their food
□ Jesus walked on the water: Jesus waded on the water/walking along the shore, they didn't make it off the shore
□ Jesus' resurrection: A Jewish historian, Josephus. Jesus was absolutely crucified, but he never died, flabodamey began the healing process
The Gospels as Myth
(David Friedrich Strauss)
- 1835, The Life of Jesus Critically Examined by Strauss
□ Argued that everybody before his time had gotten it wrong. The Gospels did not contain historical accounts, the Gospels contained myths, not histories. Myths are stories that are true, but did not happen; they are used to teach lessons. A myth was a history-like story that conveys an idea. Works on two levels: natural propaganda and moral reasons; Miracle: violation of natural law
□ Jesus walking on the water: this story is about Jesus rising above the storm and walking on the water, symbolic to his trials and tribulations; like Peter, you can rise above it all and if you loose faith you too will falter, but if you trust in Him...This wasn't a story that happened, it was a story that happens
- The Gospels contain stories that didn't really happen (as they are described), but they are trying to convey theological truth