Christian Scriptures Final

Alexander the Great

• his death is associated with the beginning of the Hellenistic period

• his rule lead to the spread of Greek culture

• Macedonian king who conquered many territories from Greece-India

Koine Greek

• common

• common language used by Greek

• language of New Testament

Pompey

• sieges Jerusalem

• forces temple and Jews into subjugation

Josephus

• jewish historian

• Roman citizen

• helps reconstruct early judaism

Essenes

Jewish sect that often traveled/migrated

• community, purity, and strict abiding to Torah

Pharisees

Jewish sect that is associated with teaching the Law

• religious laws, oral and written law, Torah

• believed in the resurrection

Zealots

jewish political party that violently rebelled against the Romans

Messianic Secret

Jesus trying to keep his identity a secret

• avoid persecution

• honor and shame culture

• avoid embarrassment

synoptic

seen together

two source theory

2 gospels are written by Mark and “Q” and Luke and Matthew use them as sources to write their gospels

gospel

• euangelion

• report/good news

gallio inscription

decree from Emperor Claudius to Gallio encouraging him to settle the city of Delphi with influential people to restore it

• 9 fragments of letters

physiognomy

judging of someone’s character based on their appearance

deutero-pauline

New Testament letters attributed to Paul but are hypothesized to be written by his followers

occasional

written for specific occasions

• Paul’s letters

apocalyptic

God’s cosmic intervention into human affairs

• often against evil, sin, and death

charis

grace/gift

claudius’ degree

kicked the Jews out of Rome

hapax legomenon

a term that refers to a word only used once

heresy

any teaching rejected by Christian community as contrary to Scripture

disputed letters

implication that the remaining 6 letters are authored by unnamed imitators of Paul

sadducees

Jewish group

• wealthy, influential preists

• opposed Jesus’ teachings

qumranites

Jewish sect that lived in settlement at the shores of the Dead Sea

• produced the Dead Sea Scrolls

Herod the Great

added to the Jerusalem Temple

• rebuilt the second temple

2 things you have learned, how did it challenge/change your opinion?

1. The historical perspective, especially surrounding the Corinthian church, helped me understand the depth and content in Paul’s letters

2. Understanding the jobs/beliefs of the Pharisees helped me realize that they were not bad/evil people, just people led astray from God’s plan

What information might you use to deepen your relationship with God?

Understanding the different translations of the Bible has helped me dive deeper into the depth of the meanings behind specific messages/words

• ex. ezer in Genesis, words used to describe Phoebe

Define the messianic secret in Mark’s gospel and offer 2 theories for the meaning behind it

• Messianic Secret= Jesus keeping his identity secret, Mark 8:27

• To avoid persecution

• Due to an honor/shame culture

offer 2 theories for the social and historical setting behind the Corinthian correspondence

• Gnosticism: Paul is fighting a form of Gnosticism that denies bodily resurrection

• elites vs poor: Corinthian church had poor and rich, they were struggling to co-mingle

• Greco-Roman philosophy: Paul is combating popular philosophy of the stoics

• Over-Realized eschatology: the Corinthians thought the end had already arrived, deny future resurrection

explain why the introduction in Paul’s Galatians is unconventional according to expected ancient epistolary introductions

• the sender is identified first

• the addressees is identified first

• greetings included