Prologue, chap 1-2; rel255

apocrypha

protestant term for deuterocanonical books; books that aren’t considered true scripture to be followed

canon

refers to a collection of sacred texts that are recognized as divinely inspired scripture by a given religious community

deuterocanonical

literally means “second canon”; books recognized as canonical by Roman Catholic church, but is not part of the Jewish Tanakh (Jewish scriptures) or Protestant Old Testament (meaning that

dynamic equivalence

a translation of the bible that aims to prioritize meaning and diverges from word-for-word translation to produce an understandable equal meaning; results in translations with more interpretations by the translator

ekklesia

a common greek work meaning “assembly” or “gathering” that can be used for civic assemblies; an important example in translations of the bible. It is the greek word behind “church.” Ekklesia wasn’t used to refer to a specific type of religious institution. This translation represents the barrier in many translations that don’t exactly carry the same meaning.

formal correspondence

a type of translation that aims for word for word translations of the original text; results in difficulty to understand, but are good for objective study like the historical critical approach

Hebrew bible & limitations of the term

Hebrew Bible- scriptures shared by Jews and Christians; not how Jewish people refer to their scriptures and they refer to their scriptures using the designation Taknah from the three main parts of the bible; also not all of these texts are in Hebrew and the books that are considered part of this collection rely heavily on ones unique faith tradition

old testament

christian term for scriptures originating in ancient Israel. It and the Jewish Tanakh contain nearly identical books, but with different order.

supersession

basically the assumption that God’s covenant with the world through christ superseded amu prior covenant that god made with Israel; the idea that the Old Testament is outdated. Supersessionist interpretations reflect a lack of close reading and superiority of the NT over the OT which has contributed to a violent history of Christian antisemitism.

textual criticism

a discipline of biblical studies that focuses on determining what wording is most likely closest to the original manuscript. These advances in knowledge means that biblical studies require up-to-date translations.

labels of “markan Jesus, Lukan Jesus” designation and why is it used for the academic study of the new testament

these labels refer to the image of Jesus that is presented in each of the Gospels; used to reinforce the ideas that the actual historical Jesus is not the same as the presentations in these writings and that each gospel depicts a different picture which is influenced by the author’s understanding of the importance of this figure to christ followers.

what are some ways that English translations of the bible differ?

why Conway doesn’t reference christianity in NT

1. christianity wasn’t established as an organized religion that was separate from Judaism

2. there are associations with the words Christian since now it is the product of two thousand years of history and evolving traditions

3. there isn’t one type of christianity today but a wide variety of beliefs and practices.

contributions of post colonial and feminist theory to biblical interpretation

post colonial theory considers the effect of colonization on groups of people; considers the effects of living under Roman imperial rule which is an important aspect of how the bible was written and in what context. it influenced experiences and writings about the Jesus Movement. Feminist theory studies how ideas and assumptions about gender contribute to meaning, interpretation, and the application of the New Testament.

Historical critical approach

the academic study of the bible (biblical studies) that seeks a supposedly rational and scientifically objective approach. It questions the origins of the bible and its contents, literary sources, etc.; relevant because it reminds us to put aside our personal experiences with the bible in order to feel comfortable asking questions

Babylonian exile

era where Judah suffered a defeat by the Babylonian empire. This conquest destroyed the city of Jerusalem INCLUDING THE TEMPLE. the exile specifically refers to the elites and king being forcibly deported to Babylon; relevant in our study because of its impact on the people and their experience

koine

greek dialect that means “common” and is the language of the Septuagint translation

LXX

an abbreviation for Septuagint

messiah

means anointed one in Hebrew. “God’s messiah” refers to Cyrus, the ruler of the Persian empire who allowed Judah to rebuild their temple as long as they accepted being under foreign rule

salvation history

the canonical story of the bible that begins with the creation of the world and ends with a proclamation of a new heaven and earth; moves from creation to sin to redemption to anticipation of final consumption of god’s reign.

second temple period

refers to the period when Cyrus and his successors allowed the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem.

history of empires that ruled over Israel

Assyrian empire conquers northern tribes of Israel and exiles inhabitants to Assyrian empire; Babylon empire conquers Judah, destroying Jerusalem and the temple and sends elites to Babylon empire, Persian ruler conquers Babylonian empire and allows the Judans to rebuild temple while still remaining under foreign rule; Persian empire is conquered by Greek Army of Alexander the Great. The greek culture spreads throughout Judah

trauma/influence of imperial domination & expressions of it in the NT

Greek- the spread of Greek dialect Koine resulted in Hebrew Scriptures being translated into Koine

impact of Alexander the Great’s role in how the NT was written (PAGE 20 TO ADD)

1. language & translation

2. New greek culture = imperial pressure

3. This imperial pressure led to internal disputes

Hellenization/Hellenistic + relevance

Hellen is the term that Greeks used to refer to themselves; hellenization refers to the spread of Greek culture across eastern mediterranean; relevant because it is an important aspect of Israel’s history and presents an important aspect of the people’s experiences and pressures that had influence on the writings of the Bible.

Septuagint

after greek empire conquered the Persian empire and gained control of Judah, Greek’s dialect (koine) spread throughout Judah. The Hebrew Scriptures that were translated into Koine are referred to as the Septuagint.