Catholic View of Salvation History Midterm Prep

What is a covenant, and what are typical elements involved in a covenant?

An extension of kinship by solemn oath.

• Oaths

• Sacrifices

• Signs

• Meals

• Laws

What is a covenantal mediator, and who are the six main covenantal mediators in Salvation History?

One who acts as a go-between.

1. Adam

2. Noah

3. Abraham

4. Moses

5. David

6. Jesus

What is meant by the theme of “land” seen throughout the biblical story of Salvation

A space dedicated to communion between God and man

What are the four doctrines regarding God’s creation? What do they tell us about God’s plan for creation?

Ex nihilo: Out of nothing

Ex trinitate: By the Trinity

Cum libertate: With liberty (freely)

Ab initio temporis: From the beginning of time

What is Bergsma’s diagram depicting the First Creation Account?

How does God take care of the formlessness and void of the earth?

He did this in days 1-3, by creating

• Time

• Space

• Habitat

What connects the First Creation Account to the building of the tabernacle and the temple? What does this connection suggest about the purpose of creation?

Scriptural parallels in Ex 39—40:

Moses saw all the work, and it had been done as the Lord had commanded

Thus the work of the tabernacle was finished

Moses finished the work

A blessing at the end of the work (Moses blessed them)

What does it mean for man to be made “in the image and likeness” of God? How does this undermine the understanding of kingship in the ancient Near East?

Image comes from “selem” which is a representation.  “Image and likeness” entails sonship.

In the Ancient Near East, kings were seen as the chosen and adopted sons of some patron god.  That God makes us all His image implies our royalty and sonship.

What are the drawings for the Adamic/Creation and Noahic Covenants?

What is the synoptic-resumptive technique, and how does it apply to the two creation accounts in Gen 1–2?

A literary technique which presents the overall story first, but then “zooms in” to a particular event.

What is the Documentary Hypothesis?

What is the Church’s position regarding Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch?

What are the general principles for the Catholic interpretation of Scripture?

Must recognize:

• Period-current literary techniques

• Dual authorship

• In the spirit in whom it was written

• Unity of Truth

• Living Tradition

• Analogy of faith (coherence of the truths of the faith)

What evidence supports the view that God established a covenant with Adam?

• “Sheba” = seven/oath days

• Elohim→Yahweh

• Blessing/curses for keeping covenant

• Sign was the Sabbath

• Other scripture passages recognize it as a covenant

• Adam presented as son of God (image and likeness→sonship)

How is Adam presented as priest, prophet, and king in Gen 1–2?

Priest: “till and keep”

Prophet: naming the animals

King: dominion over Creation

How does the Garden of Eden parallel other Israelite sanctuaries?

Land where God walked

Cherubim guarded the entrance

Menora was sacred tree at shrines

Adam “till and keep”

Gold/precious stones

What were the four harmonies involved in original holiness and original justice, and how do we see those harmonies broken after the Fall?

• Man-man

• Man-God

• Man-nature

• Man-self

How do the genealogies of Cain and Abel manifest a fallen lineage and a blessed lineage?

Enoch vs. Lamech. Vice and sin in Cain’s line (daughters of men). Goodness and faithfulness in Seth’s line (sons of God)

What is a chiasm, and how does it inform our reading of the Noah Cycle?

A literary technique meant to highlight a central event.  It emphasizes that “God Remembers Noah” i.e. draws Covenant with Noah

How does the Noah Cycle echo Gen 1–3 and what does this imply about the flood?

Afterwards, sin enters the new clean world.  Animals.  Fruitful and multiply.

Flood was a new Creation.

Approximately, when did God call Abram?

Approximately 2091 B.C.

What are two pieces of evidence that point to the historicity of the Patriarchal narratives?

Mesopotamia→“Land of the Two Rivers” i.e. Tigris and Euphrates

Extensive collection of Hittite (Northwest of Canaan) literature corresponds to aspects of the Pentateuch

What are the three promises God makes to Abram in Gen 12, when are they established as covenants with Abraham, and when are they fulfilled in Salvation History?

1. Great Nation

2. Great Name

3. Universal Blessing

What is a biblical type, and how do we see Melchizedek portrayed as a type of Christ?

“King of Righteousness”

Offers bread and wine

What is righteousness? And what leads God to recognize the righteousness of Abram in Gen 15?

Right relationship with God. Abraham “believed the Lord"

What are some clues in the Abraham cycle that indicate he lacks full trust in God until Gen 22?

He brought Lot along (emphasized in scripture). Went to Egypt as soon as there was trouble (famine)

What does having a “great name” entail in the Old Testament?

It entails a dynasty, a dynastic kinship

Why is circumcision a fitting sign of the covenant with Abraham?

Circumcision is the sign of the covenantal curse. 

Penitential symbolism

Making a covenant can also be called “cutting a covenant”

What are three ways that the Aqedah is a type of Christ’s suffering and death?

Only son

Mountain

Offered on rock alter — (rock of Calvary)

What quality of Jacob makes him an object of emulation for the people of Israel?

How does the beginning of Exodus establish a connection with the Book of Genesis?

Starts with the sons of Jacob, which is where Genesis leaves off.

Echos covenants with Adam, Noah, and Abraham.

What is the significance of the word “know” in the Exodus narrative?

What is the significance of the word “serve” in the Exodus narrative?

What is a theophany?

What is Moses’s initial request of Pharaoh regarding the Israelites?

What is the definition of theomachy, and how does the account of the ten plagues depict a theomachic battle?

What is involved in the Passover ritual described in Ex 12?

How does the Passover ritual parallel Christ’s Paschal Mystery?

What event is considered the greatest example of God’s deliverance of Israel?

What are the signs and wonders God works among the Israelites after the Crossing of the Red Sea?

Bitter water made sweet

Manna

Water from the rock

Defeat of Amalekites

What is the significance of the blood at the ratification of the covenant at Sinai?

What are three ways that the biblical text presents the tabernacle as a portable Sinai?

Table of “Bread of the Presence” recalling the feast

Lampstand of fire

Altar of sacrifice in outer court

Where does the material come from used to construct the golden calf?

How does the golden calf episode parody the Sinai covenant?

Early in the morning

Burnt and Peace offerings

Feasting

Altar

What are the three phases involved in God’s renewing the covenant with Moses?

Moses’ role as mediator increased

Levites established as priestly tribe

Increased laws, esp. regarding sacrifice

How does the Levitical relate and compare to the Sinaitic covenant?

What does “cleanliness” entail in Leviticus?

The suitability of being in the presence of God

What is the “Liturgical Explanation” for the kosher laws found in Leviticus?

What is one possible rationale behind what makes one unclean?

Which book of the Pentateuch contains the final form of the Mosaic covenant?

What are three ways that Joshua parallels Moses?

Bring people through the water

Miraculous victory through stretching out of hands

Take shoes off in presence of the Divine

What is herem warfare, and what is one explanation as to why God would condone it?

Utter distruction

Act of Divine Judgement

Divine Pedegogy

Deuteronomic concession

Who is Samuel, and how does he parallel Moses?

Hannah’s son (Hannah was the childless lady at the temple)

Separated from mothers at childhood

Called by God (name called twice)

Served as priest and prophet

Interceded for people

Have two sons

Anointed others

Have farewell speaches

Why do the Israelites ask for a king?

Military strength, and they wanted to be like other nations from which God had tried to separate them

Who is first to be anointed king of Israel, and why does he lose the throne?

Saul. Lost throne because of disobedience.  (He made an unlawful sacrifice)

Which tribe is David from?

Judah

About when does David reign as king?

Around 1000 B.C. to 963 B.C.

Why is it significant that Ps 51 parallels Ex 34?

Repentance at this degree does not appear in scripture until this point

How does the text depict David as uniquely the son of God, a priest, a prophet, a king, and a bridegroom?

Son: “I will make him the first-born”

Priest: Wears linen ephod, offers sacrifice, blesses people

Prophet: Spoke the word of God, Peter called him a prophet

King: anointed king over Israel

Bridegroom: tribes of Israel came to him.  “Behold, we are your bone and flesh.”

What are the key features of God’s covenant with David?

Royal Dynasty

Temple

Divine Filiation

Everlasting

Jerusalem

Who was the “queen” in the Kingdom of Israel?

How does the temple parallel Creation, Eden, and the Tabernacle?

How is the temple the pinnacle of salvation history at the point it is constructed?

Which Deuteronomic laws did Solomon break that led to the “tearing” of the kingdom?

Horses

Silver/gold

Foreign wives (worshiped idols)

Who are Jeroboam and Rehoboam?

Jeroboam: official of Solomon’s court, became king of the southern tribes.

Rehoboam: Solomon’s son, became king of the northern tribes.

What is the “sin of Jeroboam”?

Setting up idols (calves!!) for the people to worship, so they wouldn’t have to go down to Jerusalem to the temple.

What is the Northern Kingdom known as after the division? What is the Southern Kingdom known as after the division?

What does the Elijah cycle illustrate about the state of the Northern Kingdom?

What are the three typical elements of the preexilic prophets?

Proclamation of the Mosaic Covenant broken, and repentance is necessary

If no repentance, then judgement

Promise of future restoration

What is hesed?

Faithfulness, covenantal love = unfailing devotion or commitment to another

What are the common elements in the prophecies about the new covenant found in Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel?

Renewal of Davidic Covenant

Internal (God’s law written on their hearts)

Everlasting

How are creation ex nihilo and creation ex Trinitate implied in Gen 1?

“bara’” is word used for “create,” which is only done by God and never has the accusative.

Genesis 1:3 references that “the Spirit of God” was moving over the waters.

How does the first Creation account contrast other ancient Near Eastern cosmogonies and views of the cosmos?

What’s the significance of the Sabbath? How does the first Creation account seem to illustrate God making a covenant with His creation?

“Sheba” is the word that is used for “7” in Genesis, but “sheba” also means oath.