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Biblical foundation final exam

Terms in this set (51)

Name four reasons for Pauls importance in Christian history.
-Almost half of the books in the New Testament (13) are attributed to Paul. Plus, a good portion of Acts focuses on Paul.
• Instrumental in the geographical spread of Christianity in the Roman empire
• Instrumental in the spread of Christianity to Gentiles
• Extensive influence on Christian theology and practice
In which part of the first century AD did Paul's ministry (which includes his missionary journeys and writings of his letters) take place?
40AD-70AD
What two things do Paul's letters and the book of Acts emphasize about Paul's life before he came to faith in Jesus as the Messiah?
- his Jewish (ethnic) identity
- his religious zeal, which drove his violent persecution of the church
We talked about two possible reasons for why Paul had opposed the church so violently. What were the reasons?
• Jesus was not the kind of Messiah the Jews had expected.
• The manner of Jesus' execution. According to God's law, Jesus would be considered cursed by God, and therefore he couldn't possibly be the Messiah. To claim Jesus as Messiah would be blasphemous.
What are the four parts of the typical structure of first-century AD letters?
-Opening: Identifies sender(s)/recipient(s) and issues a greeting
-Prayer/Thanksgiving: a prayer or an expression of thanksgiving or blessing on behalf of the recipient(s)
-Body: deals with the subject that is the primary reason for the letter
-Concluding remarks: can include wishes of well-being for the recipient(s); greetings to pass along to others; farewell statement
We discussed two main interpretive challenges we are faced with when reading letters. What are these two challenges?
1)The Interpretation of Ancient Context
2)The interpretation of Modern context/Discerning the relevance of their teaching for today
When Paul had his encounter with the risen Jesus, he came to realize that Jesus is the Messiah, and that God had accomplished salvation in and through the death and resurrection of Jesus. This is the gospel he then proclaimed for the rest of his life. One of the issues Paul dealt with in some of his letters was the implications of his gospel in relation to the Jewish Law. What are the four implications we talked about?
- Justification by faith
- Does a Law-free gospel mean a rule-free life?
- Relations between Jews and Gentiles
- What about God's promises to the jews
In which two of Paul's letters did he deal at length with the matter of justification by faith?
1) Galatians
2) Romans
In which letter was Paul so angry that he left out the prayer/thanksgiving part of the structure?
Galatians
Why did Paul write the letter we know as 1 Corinthians?
- He received a visit from "Chloe's people," who reported a number of problems in the Corinthian church
- He received a letter from the church asking him questions about several matters
Was the church at Corinth made up mostly of Jewish Christian or Gentile Christians?
Gentile Christians or made up of a diverse crowd
Name at least three problems in the church at Corinth that Paul dealt with in 1 Corinthians.
- divisions in the church/lack of unity
• the presence of sexually immoral persons in the congregation
• lawsuits among members of the church
• misguided views about marriage and sexual relations
• disagreement over the acceptability of eating food that had been sacrificed to idols
• improper behavior in corporate worship
• a fundamental misunderstanding about the resurrection of the dead
Who were Philemon and Onesimus?
- Onesimus was a slave that was converted and believed
- Philemon was the owner of Onesimus
In relation to Paul's letter to Philemon, what three possibilities did we discuss in class for what Paul wanted Philemon to do concerning Onesimus?
- To give Onesimus his freedom
- To send Onesimus back to Paul
- Not to punish Onesimus but to welcome him as a brother in Christ
Which of these three possibilities (or which combination of them) do you feel is the best interpretation of the letter, and why?
My opinion: It is a combination that Paul wants Philemon to send him back to Paul and to not punish him, but to welcome him in as a brother. I believe Paul would be happy with either. Although would prefer to have more time with him to encourage and tech him. Both these things can be found in a letter wrote to Philemon regarding his wishes about Onesimus in Philemon 1.
Revelation has characteristics of what three literary genres?
- letter
- Prophecy
- Apocalyptic
Approximately when was Revelation written?
AD 95
In Revelation, the letters to the seven churches address what three kinds of problems? And what two exhortations did John offer in response to these problems?
- Open hostility
- Accommodation
- Complacency
1) Patiently endure/hold fast
2) Repent
What are the four common approaches to the interpretation of Revelation?
1)Preterist
- Fulfilled in the first century AD
2) Historicist
- Fulfilled over the course of church history
3) Futurist
- Yet to be fulfilled
4) Idealist
- Timeless spiritual truths
What are the primary examples of apocalyptic literature in the Bible?
OT: Daniel
NT: Revelation
In the handout for the second Revelation topic day, we noted six characteristics of apocalyptic literature. Leaving aside the first two (i.e., narrated in first person; interpreted by an angelic being), what were the remaining four?
- Anticipates a radical transformation of the present world order
- Triumphant trajectory
- Presents reality as being dualistic
- Bizarre symbolic visions
Apocalyptic literature represents reality as being dualistic. What does this mean?
* the ancient Jewish and Christian documents that share common concerns, themes, and literary devices with the books of Daniel and Revelation and other literary apocalypses
What is the purpose of apocalyptic literature?
literary genre that foretells supernaturally inspired cataclysmic events that will transpire at the end of the world.
In Revelation, how are earthly realities tied to the cosmic conflict between God/good and Satan/evil?
*
For what two reasons is it difficult to know how and why the OT and NT canons were formed?
-The Bible itself does not tell us when, how, or why the two testaments (canons) were formed.
• Sources outside the Bible offer very limited (and often indirect or ambiguous) evidence about the formation process.
What two things did we say that we do know about the canon formation process?
• A gradual process that unfolded over long periods of time
• Not a top-down process, but instead found its origin in a number of factors that arose naturally over time in the life of Jewish and Christian communities
What are the five steps of the canon formation process?
1) Composition
- Individual writings composed at various times and places
2) Use
- Public use of certain writings, and a recognition of their authority
3) Collection
- Writings grouped or gathers into recognized collections
4) Selection
- Gradual process of acceptance and/or rejection
5) Ratification
- Recognition of, and agreement about, a 'fixed' canon
What are the four principles of selection for New Testament writings? (The first one is 'worthy to be used on public worship')
- Worthy to be used in public worship
• Apostolic connection (and ancient)
• Theological consistency
• Relevant to all churches in all places
Approximately when did the formation process for the Old Testament and New Testament canons reach the ratification stage?
OT: 1st/2nd Century AD
NT: 4th Century AD
For what two reasons do the autographs no longer exist?
•Written on perishable materials, such as papyrus, parchment, or leather
•Lost or destroyed for various reasons
What are the two main reasons variants arose?
-Inadvertent copying mistakes
-deliberate changes
Of the two main reasons variants arose, which one accounts for the vast majority of variants?
Inadvertent copying mistakes
Name at least one kind of inadvertent copying mistake.
Copyists were human
What is the goal of textual criticism?
- The scholarly study of the manuscript traditions of the Bible
- To reconstruct as closely as possible the wording of autographs
What three significant results of text-critical work did we mention in the PowerPoint?
- all extant Hebrew or Greek manuscripts
- ancient versions
- biblical citations in other sources
What important English translation of the Bible was published in 1611?
The King James Bible
How do modern-speech translations, such as the NIV, differ from translations in the Tyndale legacy, like the King James Version (KJV) or the English Standard Version (ESV)?
The translations of the Tyndale legacy are more FORMAL EQUIVALENCE ('word-for-word')and the modern-speech translations are more of a DYNAMIC EQUIVALENCE ('meaning -for-meaning')
Be prepared to write a brief paragraph about an idea (or ideas) that most interested you this semester, and why.
Easy money
amanuensis
A trained secretary (used by Paul to help write books and letters)
Justification by faith
"The doctrine found in Paul's letters, that a person is 'made right' (justified) with God by trusting in the effects of Christ's death, rather than by doing the works of the Jewish Law"
canon
"A collection of Scriptures that the Jewish and/or Christian communities consider inspired and authoritative for their faith and practice"
autograph
The original manuscript of each biblical book
codex (see textbook glossary)
NT: Oldest Complet Manuscript
Codex Sinaiticus (4th century AD) *
Dead Sea Scrolls (see textbook glossary)
thousands of biblical and non-biblical scrolls found from the time of the 2nd temple period. They consist of Letters and various different copies of manuscripts.
variant
A difference or divergence between any two manuscripts
textual criticism
•The scholarly study of the manuscript traditions of the Bible
•To reconstruct as closely as possible the wording of the autographs
version
Different versions of the Bible *
John Wycliffe
-First translation of the whole Bible into EnglishTranslated from Latin into English
-Hand-copied
-Church leaders forbade the reading of Wycliffe's Bible
OT: 1382
NT: 1380
William Tyndale
-Translated directly from Hebrew and Greek into English
-First printed NT in English
-Tyndale was kidnapped, imprisoned, and ultimately burned at the stake in 1536.
-Last words: "Lord, open the king of England's eyes."
-NT: 1526Pentateuch: 1530
Jonah: 1531
Formal Equivalence
Formal equivalence ('word-for-word')
reproduces as many aspects of the source language as possible, such as exact wording, syntax, idioms; etc.
dynamic equivalence
Dynamic equivalence ('meaning-for-meaning')
is less 'literal' in order to convey the meaning of a text as clearly as possible in the target language
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