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161 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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How did the Greek word euaggelion translate into Latin?
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It was translated straight across instead of looking for an equivalent thought with a Latin twist as evangelium
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What word did the Anglo-Saxon scholars choose to translate euaggelion in Greek?
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They were more adventuresome than the Latins who simply converted the word, the Saxons considered the etymology of the word and came up with 'Godspell' which meant 'good news'
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Were biographies common or rare in the ancient world at the time of Christ?
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They were common
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What is one component that makes the gospels unique among the 'biography' genre
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They are a downgrade version of most biographies written by commoners and they focus on the marginalized in thier narrative leaving the rich and affluent to one side
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What are Herod the Great's dates?
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73 - 4 bc
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In what way does the Gospel of John portray a problem that both Matthew and Luke tried to solve?
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There is a dispute in John because the Jews think that Jesus is from the North in Galilee whereas the prophet Micah had foretold that the messiah would come from the south in Judea in Bethlehem.
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What is significant about the location of Jesus' birth in Bethlehem and the rest of the written data on Jesus?
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These are the only places which state he is born in Bethlehem.
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What is one of the problem's with the world wide census?
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There is no evidence of a world wide census occurring at this time, which would certainly have left some evidence around the mediterranean
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What is one possible reason that this idea of census was used?
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There was a well attested to Roman imperial census that occurred later, but it happened in 6 CE which is much to late to be the same one. Seems that Luke is a little fuzzy on his chronology
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Why according to MacCulloch were the birth stories created?
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To settle the argument found in John's gospel that Micah prophesied that the messiah would be born in Bethlehem
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Which of the two birth geneologies contains women in the lineage?
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Matthew's
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Who was the first person to fix the date of Christ's birth?
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Julius Africanus (dates - late 2nd - early 3rd century AD)
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Who has often times wrongly stolen credit from Julius Africanus for fixing the first year of the Lord?
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Dionysius Exiguus (470-544 AD)
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When did the crucifixion of Jesus take place?
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between 29-32 CE
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How long did Jesus' ministry last?
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Three years according to John, or One year according to the synoptics
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Where did most of Jesus' ministry take place?
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In the Synoptics most of it took place in Galilee with a final climactic journey into Jerusalem, whereas in John deals mostly with activity in the South in Judea, focusing especially on the city and the temple
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What is one unique character about Jesus' speech in the Gospels?
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He says, Amen, before he tells people something, later translated into verily in english. This means that the speaker has much authority.
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Does Jesus ever call himself 'Son of God'?
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Never in the Synoptics, though he does in John
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What does the term son of Man refer to?
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It echoes the usage of 'one like a son of Man' in Daniel which refers to someone taking up the kingdom over an against the demonic kingdoms of the world.
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What is the name of the 'rich man' in the parable of the rich man and lazarus?
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dives (which means 'rich man' in latin)
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What is wrong with the translation of the term 'daily bread' in the lord's prayer?
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The greek word does not mean daily, but "of extra substance' or 'for the morrow'. The term must mean something like, the kingdom has come and those who live now need that bread of which those in the future will continually feed.
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Did Jesus speak greek?
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Yeah, it appears he spoke market place greek
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Where is Tarsus located?
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In south central turkey on the mediterranean
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What are two differences between the Paul of Acts and the Paul of the Epistles?
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The Paul of Acts is portrayed as not being as confrontational towards certain more Jewish groups within PX, and he sounds different.
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When was Stephen martyred?
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Early 30s
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What effect could Paul's initial ministry in Arabia have had on world wide Christianity?
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Who knows, but it may have encouraged him to go West after a possible unsuccessful time in the east.
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What was one important category of people that Paul went to?
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He went to God fearers, they were those who were kind of Jewish and hung out at synogogues etc. But weren't fully Jewish. They were people like in Galatians, who were not circumcised, but had a detailed understanding of Judaism - something classical greeks would not be so knowledgeable about.
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Under which emperor was it likely that Revelation was written?
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Domitian
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When was Domitian's reign?
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81-96 AD
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In what literary way is John the Seer who wrote the apocalyse different from the Gospel writer?
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His greek is much cruder.
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What is one aspect that differentiates the book of Revelation from the other books of the NT?
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It is very subversive, simply calling Christ King. Not simply talking about Christ's kingdom, or calling him King of the Jews, but it is truly subversive in a way that the other authors, who tried to get along much better with the Romans, simply did not reach.
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Why did Paul send money to the Church in Jerusalem?
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The church there was replacing the temple, to which people had previously sent donations. Paul, though he clashed with the Jerusalem authorities still maintained respect for it.
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Essentially, what did abstaining from food associated with Pagan worship mean to the Jews of the time of Paul?
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It meant that you couldn't eat any non Jewish meat, because basically all non Jewish meat was some how contaminated with Pagan worship. It wasn't like you had a whole lot of choice out in the market place
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What act of murder did the rebels of the Jewish revolt of 66 Ad perform?
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The Rebels took control of Jerusalem and murdered the Sadducee elite.
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What did the Jewish Christian community do during the Jewish uprising in 66 AD?
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They fled from the city, apparently they had sufficiently distanced themselves from this nationalist movement of liberation already, and thus were not interested in war.
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After the revolt of 66-70 when did any substantial Christian community return to Jerusalem?
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Not until the fourth century
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Where did the Jewish Christians go to after their fleeing of Jerusalem in 66 AD during the revolt?
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They settled in the town of Pella in the upper Jordan Valley.
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After the Bar Kochba revolt in 132-135 what measures did Rome take against the city of Jerusalem?
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They erased it from the map, and created a new city there called Aelia Capitolina (this name was taken from a temple devoted to Jupiter to spite the Jews)
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When Jerome went to live in the east who did he find in the Palestine?
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He found some Jewish-Christian groups (ebionites, nazoreans living in Palestine, who faded from history shortly after this meeting.
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Where were Jewish leaders relocated by the Romans after the defeat of the Jews in the first Jewish revolt?
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Jamnia, near the coast
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In terms of the religion Judaism, what happened after the failed Bar Kochba revolt?
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Judaism became much more unified, and because the Sadducee leadership was either dead or discredited and the temple destroyed, the Synagogues became the centres for Jewish theology and the Pharisees were its preachers and teachers.
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What is one reason that the Pharisees are so castigated in the Gospels as opposed to the Sadducees?
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When the Gospels are written, it may be after the destruction of the temple and many of the sadducees are dead at this time or out of the picture.
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Why did Judaism and Christianity 'break' at the end of the first century.
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because Judaism was becoming more streamlined and homogeneous (sadducees were gone, and zealots were defeated) and was centred around the pharisees and the synagogue. And the Jewish Christian communities left their place of influence in Jerusalem and thus the two religions began to separate
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What did Ignatius of Antioch call the Lord's supper?
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Eucharist
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What are Ignatius of Antioch's dates?
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35-50 ---- 98-117 (dates are a bit sketchy)
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How did Roman Imperial authorities encourage the breech between Christians and Jews?
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After the destruction of the Temple, Jews were hit with a punitive tax in place of the voluntary contributions Jews had formerly gave to the Temple. Thus for Roman bureaucrats it became very important to know who and who was not a Jew?
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After the destruction of the temple and all the revolts what was the Roman view of Judaism?
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Surprisingly the Romans still had a lot of respect for Judaism even after the revolts and tax paying Jews continued to enjoy a status as an officially recognized religion.
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What important city was the old Seleucid capital?
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Antioch
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Why were women not good witnesses at the time of Christ?
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Jewish law said that women could not be considered valid witnesses
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Where is there a contradiction in Paul's teaching about women in the church?
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He teaches women that they ought to cover their heads when prophesying but also that women should be silent in Church.
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What is one reason why Ephesians and Colossians are seen to be later deutero-Pauline works?
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Because they are focused on the here and now, and set down household rules for families and to follow the ruling goverments etc.
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In what two respects are the first christians recorded as being consciously different from their Roman neighbours?
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They were much stricter concerning sexuality, and they were against abortion/the abandonment of babies (which was considered an unfortunate necessity in Roman society.
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Its possible that the so called Christian communism found in Acts, was a literary image created to symbolize what?
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That this community was the New Israel, and in the old Israel there was a year of Jubilee when all land would return to its rightful owners and all slaves would go free and the writer of Acts may have been trying to demonstrate just this in the new people of God
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What type of Christianity was popular in the second century?
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Gnosticism
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What has made it a lot easier to study Gnosticism in the past century as opposed to before?
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The discovery in Nag Hammadi in the Egyptian desert in 1945 of 52 fourth century treatises
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What language were the Nag Hammadi discoveries written in?
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Coptic
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When was the discovery made at Nag Hammadi?
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1945
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How was the discovery made at Nag Hammadi?
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A field-labourer came across a pottery jar containing fifty two treatises?
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Were the Nag Hammadi texts original works?
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No, theya re all likely to have been translated from greek into coptic
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What is the name of the texts taken from the Egyptian desert in 1945
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Nag Hammadi texts
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What conversation partners does Gnosticism seem to have?
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It is in dialogue with Judaism and may have taken some ideas from Zoroastrianism in Iran or even some ideas from Hinduism in India as Alexander the Great had brought these two worlds together and there was a strong trade route that still headed east.
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What Jewish belief did the Gnostics despise?
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The notion of a good God creating the world - as the world seems like such a shit-hole at times and even at the best of times its not that great. Why would a good God create this?
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What three ideas from three different schools of though may have affected Gnostic thought?
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Platonic assumptions about the unreality of human life, Stoic platitudes about the need to rise above everyday suffering, along with Eastern theologies that emphasize dualism. Thus if the apparent world of the senses is a place of suffering then it could not have been created by a supreme God like Jews said it had been.
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Where are Smyrna and Ephesus located?
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They are located on the western side of turkey on the coasts of the Aegean Sea. Smyrna is above Ephesus but they are both fairly centrally located
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Where is Phrygia located?
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Central turkey
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How does the Gnostic move to say that the God of the Jews is a demiurge?
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Well, he says that the world sucks, and thus if the Hebrew God is saying that he created everything and he is the true and only God then the Jewish God is either a fool or a liar. There must be something beyond him that is good and perfect.
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How does Jesus fit into the Gnostic equation?
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Jesus is said to show the world the true God. And thus this true God can have nothing to do with this creator God, rather Jesus points to things as they were before the creation of the physical world and things went down hill.
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What was the goal of salvation for Gnostics?
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Well, Gnostics were those who were predestined to know the harmony and hierarchy of beings beyond the created realm, and this was their salvation - to be knowledgeable about these things.
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What implications does the Gnostic worldview have about the earthly life of Jesus?
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Well the gnostics oppose the physical and the spiritual and thus the cosmic Christ of the Gnostics can never have taken flesh and felt human suffering, thus his passion and resurrection in history were not fleshly events, they only seemed that way, and thus this doctrine is known as Docetism from the greek verb 'to seem'
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What does Docetism mean in its greek form?
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It means "to seem"
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What were the two stances taken towards morality in Gnosticism?
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Either the flesh was so despicable that it must be mortified through extreme asceticism, or the soul and the flesh are so opposite that any amount of wildly earthly excesses would not endanger one's salvation and thus were permitted. Though the former is probably the more common
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Which Gnostic lifestyle is more attested to?
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The ascetic
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What is one aspect of Christian practice that Gnostics loathed?
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Martyrdom, there is like no cases of examples of Gnostic martyrs. They also were angry that some Christians encouraged it.
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In what ways were the Gnostics followers of Paul, only more so.
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They followed in Paul's exercise of eliminating parts of Judaism that were perceived unimportant or not intellectually satisfying.
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Marcion was the son of who?
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A bishop of Sinope on the Black Sea
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What are Marcion's dates
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85-160 AD
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When did Marcion come to Rome?
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140 AD
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In what way was Marcion similar to the Gnostics?
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He sought to pull Christianity away from its Jewish roots and saw the created world as a worthless sham and Jesus' flesh and illusion
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How did Marcion contrast the OT God and the God revealed in Jesus Christ?
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The OT God was a God of judgement while the NT God was one of love.
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What approach did Marcion take to scripture?
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He was fiercely literalistic and despised any figurative or allegorical interpretation.
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Were Marcion's ideas widespread?
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Yes, there are inscriptions from France to Syria opposing Marcion
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How late did Marcionite Churches continue in the known world?
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As late as the 10th century there were churches with Marcionite beliefs on the borderlands of Iran and Afghanistan.
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What famous historian was fascinated with Marcion?
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Adolf von Harnack 1851-1930
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What are four similarities between Martin Luther and Marcion?
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1. revulsion against the idea of a God of judgement. 2. Contrast between Law and Gospel 3. Fascination with Paul. 4. a search for a core message within the inheritance of sacred writings.
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Who is the first author to use the term 'catholic church'?
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Ignatius of Antioch
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Who created the first list of authoritative new testament books?
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Marcion, who would later spur other orthodox authors to do this as well.
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When is the earliest surviving complete list of books we would recognize as the New Testament
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in 367 CE laid down in a pastoral letter written by Athanasius.
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Who wrote the harmony gospel? And When?
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A syrian writer known as Tatian at the end of the second century.
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What writings did the Church in corinth long treasure as scripture?
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The first two epistles written by Clement to the church in Corinth
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In greek, what is the harmony Gospel known as?
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Diatessaron
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When was the first recorded moment when a Roman cleric had influenced the life of another church?
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Clement of Rome wrote to the Corinthians telling them that they should not have dismissed their leaders and appointed new ones as this endangers the handing on of the pure Gospel.
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How was the episcopal structure during the second century?
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Well there was two-fold and three-fold structures illustrated by Clement and the Didache which show bishop/presbyter and deacons, whereas Ignatius shows Bishop - Presbyter - Deacon.
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When was the first shrine created over Peter's remains in Rome?
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In the 160s possible 100 years after his death. It was unearthed in the 20th century.
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What remnant in the Catholic liturgy exists today of the greek influence on the church in Roman into the second century?
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Kyrie Eleison
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Which bishop may have made the switch from Greek to Latin in the Roman Church?
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Bishop of Rome Victor (189-99)
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What practice did Victor of Rome stop in an attempt to unify belief in the Church?
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He stopped the custom of sending Eucharistic bread and wine to a variety of Christian communities in the city - including Valentinian Gnostics, Montanists, and various exponents of Monarchians views on the Trinity. THIS was like an early form of excommunication
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During the 3rd century, where was the only other possible rival Christian community to that in Rome?
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The Church of the North African Coast
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What was probably the first major centre of latin Christianity?
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The North African coast.
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Why could North Africa not rival Rome in the Third century for power?
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Although North Africa had plenty of Martyrs in the late second and third centuries, they did not have any counterweight to the two apostles.
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When and between whom, was the first time a Roman bishop appealed to the text in Matthew that Christ would build his Church upon Peter, as meaning that Christ conferred authority on Peter's presumed successor in Rome?
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In 256 between Bishop Stephen of Rome and the leading Bishop of North Africa, Cyprian of Carthage.
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What are Cyprian of Carthage's dates?
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~208 - 258
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What action by the Catholic church in the later part of the second century, effectively sealed the fate of the so called 'charismatic ministry' of the wandering prophets and teachers.
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The confrontation with Montanism
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Where was the origin of Montanism?
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In Phrygia
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What was problematic for the emerging catholic authority in the movement of the Montanists?
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That these Montanists could speak without the authority of apostolic succession.
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What practice by Montanus was hurtful to his acceptance by mainstream catholic christianity?
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Montanus was accompanied by female prophetesses who spoke in states of ecstasy. This combo of female assertiveness in teaching and a striking similarity to other religions in this manner gave montanism a negative light in the eyes of other christians.
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Whose condemnation was bad news for the Montanists?
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The Bishop of Rome Eleutherius condemned the Montanists
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What part of the Christian world warmed to the idea of Montanism?
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North Africa, and Tertullian in Particular
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What are Tertullian's dates?
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160-220 AD
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Until when did the Montanist sect persist in their Phrygian Homeland, and what brought it to an end?
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Until the sixth century they persisted in phrygia until in 550 The Byzantine Emperor Justinian sent in troops to wreck a shrine in the important montanist city of Pepouza.
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What other name is Montanism known by?
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'New Prophecy'
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What belief by the Montanists is similar to that of the Apostle Paul?
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That Christ would be returning soon. They thought that the new Jerusalem would descend on earth at Pepouza.
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Among the contemporaries of the Montanists, who among them shared the montanist belief that the Lord would soon be returning?
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Irenaeus, though many greek manuscripts have this section of his writings edited out. It wasn't until the time of the 16th century that a latin manuscript turned up that showed Irenaeus' positive enthusiasim for a vision of the worlds' last days coming in his lifetime - which was of course an embarassment to Catholicism in the face of radical Protestantism.
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What was heretical about what the Montanists taught?
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Very little, they were more a challenge to authority than a heresy in the eyes of the established catholic church.
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What to schools of authority do the Montanists and the early Catholic church represent?
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The 'charismatic itinerant ministry' of the apostles and prophets found in Pauline churches and the Didache. vs the structure found in the the Jerusalem Church with James as its head, and later in Antioch with Ignatius.
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In the rejection of Gnosticism and Montanism what to processes were put a stop to?
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First the process of de-judaizing christianity in terms o gnosticism, and second the development of new revelations and prophetic voices
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What is the second sophistic?
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A period of high Greek and Roman culture, which is demonstrated in the writings of authors from the end of the first century AD to the mid third century AD
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What languages did Justin, Tertullian, Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, and Origen write and think in?
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All of them except Tertullian thought and wrote in Greek.
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Where was Justin Martyr born?
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Samaria
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What are Justin Martyr's dates?
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103-165 AD
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What is the story or 'parable' of Justin Martyr's conversion?
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He travels to Ephesus for higher education. First he goes to a stoic, and he can't tell Justin about God, then he goes to a Aristotilean who is concerned about how much money he will get, then a Pythagorean, but he first suggests that Justin learn about music and astronomy and such, and finally he meets a platonist, in whom he found satisfaction in what he taught, but then in a field near the ephesus sea shore he saw an old man who told him about the hebrew prophets who foretold Christ, and Justin loved it, as it was old and old things were the shit at this time.
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What term did Justin like to use when explaining Christ to the Greeks around him?
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The logos
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What was Justin's conception of the Logos?
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The Logos was seen finally and completely in Jesus Christ, a being other than the father, but derived from him with the fullness and the intimacy of a flame which lights one torch from another: torchlight from torchlight - as the nicene creed might say
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What are Irenaeus's dates?
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Born in the first half of the second century, died in 202 AD
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Where was Irenaeus originally from?
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He was From Smyrna on the coast of Asia Minor, he then travelled to Rome for education and then to southern france and the city of Lyons.
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How did Irenaeus become bishop
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Persecution devastated teh Christian church in Lyons in 177 and among those killed was the bishop, so Irenaeus took his place.
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What did Irenaeus teach about the culmination human history?
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Well he taught that history was good (against anti-materialist gnostics) and that the OT was the central text on that history. Irenaeus liked to speak of the symmetries or Recapitulations in the text of the OT. Thus the fall of the first man, Adam, was remedied by the second. The disobedience of the woman eve, was rectified by the work of Mary, the tree of life in the garden was recreated by the tree of life that is the cross of Jesus.
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Why is it not surprising that Irenaeus would support the idea of a Millenial kingdom?
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Against the Gnostics who reject the material world and the goodness of the creator who made it. Irenaeus affirms that God has recapitulated, the world in the historical and concrete chronology of events. Thus it would seem obvious that his kingdom would be a literal one in the future.
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Who is the first known major Christian theologian who thought and wrote in Latin?
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Tertullian
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Where was Tertullian from
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Carthage
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Why was Carthage a centre for Latin culture?
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Because after Carthage's defeat in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC it was refounded as a Roman colony
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Why did Carthage have close ties with Rome during the time of Tertullian?
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Carthage was the centre of the North African grain export trade, which was vital for the emperors who were always trying to keep the capital stocked with free bread. The Church followed this patter of close, if not always friendly ties.
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How was Tertullian different in outlook with Justin Martyr?
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Justin embraced the classical heritage, whereas Tertullian, who was educated in the classical tradition, states quite famously "what has Athens to do with Jerusalem?"
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What is traducianism?
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It is the belief that the soul is transferred from parents to a child. The opposite is creationism which means that God creates each individual soul. In Traducianism God only creates the soul of Adam
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Where is the term Trinity first found in a Christian author?
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In Tertullian. The latin word is Trinitas
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What important school of thought in the second century reacted against Justin's 'logos theology'?
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Monarchianism which was displeased with separation that was found in Justin's logos theology between Father and Son, but at the same time leaned in the direction of failing to dfferentiate between them
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What are the two types of Monarchianism?
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Adoptionist(sometimes called 'Dynamic') and Modalist
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What is Adoptionist Monarchianism?
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This states that Jesus was born a man, but some how God's power rested upon him as he adopted him. (Shepherd of Hermas took this view) Often times through the descent of the Spirit at Jesus' baptism
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What is Modalist Monarchianism?
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This type saw the names of Father Son and Spirit as referring to the same divine being who was simply playing transitory roles or parts in succession.
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Which type of Monarchianism is linked with Sabellius?
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Modalistic Monarchianism.
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With what heretical group was the word Homoousios associated with?
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Monarchians.
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What heretic had used the term homoousios and what did this do for its acceptance by eastern bishops?
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Paul of Samosata, and thus eastern bishops were very reluctant to use this term as they thought it smacked of Monarchianism.
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What are Paul of Samosata's dates
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200-275 AD
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What are Clement of Alexandria's dates?
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150-215
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What is the relationship between Origen and Clement of Alexandria?
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Origen is the student of Clement
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How did Clement of Alexandria border on Platonic Gnosticism?
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He himself wasn't afraid of the world Gnosis and thought it appropriate for usage concerning Christians. Likewise he thought that Knowledge was not only a useful tool of analysis for the christian, but as the door to a higher form of spiritual life.
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How does Clement of Alexandria see salvation?
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He sees the doctrine of creation as good and the positive value of our life on earth as we move further, through philosophy being perfected in Christ, and even in the afterlife still moving towards Christ - possibly being purged by some fire.
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Who was one of the first writers on what we would call today 'moral theology'?
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Clement of Alexandria, who was very concerned about moral perfection and thus wrote a lot on the day to day life and how one should act
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How might Clement of Alexandria be the source of much contemporary Roman Catholic teaching on Sexuality?
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He was one of the first moralists to say that to have sex for any other reason than to procreate is to violate nature.
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What are Origen's dates?
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185-254 AD
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What are the two important contributions that Origen gives to the Christian Church?
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His work as a biblical scholar and his work as a speculative theologian.
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How were Origen's skills as a biblical scholar?
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Before him there were no Christian rivals. He showed remarkable skill for exactness and close readings of texts.
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What is the Hexapla?
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It is Origen's crowning achievement of biblical scholarship. It is a sixfold transcription of the Tanakh beginning with the Hebrew text and the translation of it into Greek, alongside four variant greek translations, including the Septuagint.
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How did Origen feel about the wooden literalness of certain parts of the Tanakh and even the gospels?
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He thought it wasn't to all be taken literally. He thought it was silly that God would plant a garden like a farmer and put a tree of life in the middle of it that if anyone could reach it they would live forever such. He, belonging to that same school of thought as like Philo and Plato and Aristotle before him, allegorized things that didn't make literal sense
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Where does Origin sit in terms of Trinitarian and Christological theology?
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He is like Justin Martyr and likes the logos as a bridge between the supreme God and the world and could be quite bold in terming the logos a "second god" even tending to make this figure a subordinate to the supreme God. In terms of the Holy Spirit Origen had little to say, and in fact said that the Spirit was inferior to the Son. Though he frankly admitted there were things to work out concerning the spirit.
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How does Origen teach the fall and the incarnation?
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Originally there was inferior spirits with free will and that they abused this gift. The degree of their fall then determined which part of the cosmic order they occupied, from angels through humankind to demons. Thus we must use our free will to remedy this problem which we made in the fall and that humans will be saved through their own efforts and Christ's help, through purging that goes on past death, as Clement had taught as well.
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What did origen believe concerning the soul of Christ?
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Origin believed that amid the catastrophe of the fall, one soul alone had not fallen, and this would be the soul that the Logos would take when he came to save mankind.
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Why did Origen preach that Christ's soul was the only one that did not fall?
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Because he wanted to safeguard Christ's free-will in his earthly life, thus making him capable of making real choices and not acting out some docetic charade as Gnostics maintained
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How does Origen relate to Augustine of Hippo in terms of his approach to human abilities?
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Origen gives humans much more credit that Augustine does, believing in free-will so that human dignity is protected
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What is the final component of Origen's theory on fall and salvation?
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Since the first fall was universal, all including Satan, have the chance to work back towards God's original purpose. All will be saved, since all come from God
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Why would Origen have no time for the Millenarian visions of a selection of saints ruling in triumph in an End time that were embraced by Justin and Irenareus?
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Because of his belief in the universal salvation of all beings, their return to their God.
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What was the Roman view of other religions in conquered areas?
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They were normally tolerant. As long as the religion had a tradition behind it they could accept it as having some relationship to the gods of Rome. Though they did demand at least some sort of acceptance of the official cult of the emperors
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