New Testament Online Exam 1 essay

How does the NT relate to the OT? Be prepared to provide a broad overview of this relationship as well as at least 2 important NT texts that show this connection.

Matthew 5:17-20, Luke 3 (John the Baptist as prophesied as well as in every other Gospel account and the genealogy)

Why is it important that we call the OT and the NT “Scripture”? How does this influence the way we read them?

We need both to fully understand the salvation and hope that Jesus brings. It influences the way we read them so that we see the entirety of both as Holy Scripture that ought to impact how we understand Jesus’s life as well as how we should seek to apply both to our lives.

Describe and discuss the “shape of the NT” (i.e., the NT’s “table of contents”). Include discussion of individual books but also the primary groupings/sub-collections of the NT canon.

The fourfold Gospels,

the book of Acts,

the apostle Paul’s letters to churches,

the apostle Paul’s letters to individuals,

the Letter to the Hebrews,

The General Letters,

The book of Revelation

– according to these genres not chronological order

List and describe the three major cultures or “symbolic worlds” that impact the study of the New Testament.

The Jewish Symbolic World of the First Century AD, The Greco-Roman Symbolic World of the First Century AD, The Christian Symbolic World of the First Century

Be able to describe the “structure of Matthew” and the “structure of Mark” (see these sidebars in the textbook chapters on Matt & Mk)

Matthew:

1.Origins and beginnings

2.Revelation and separation: in word and deed (Discourses and narratives)

3.Revelation and separation: as master, so disciples

4.Revelation and separation: a new, set-apart people of God

5.Revelation and separation: inside and outside the new community

6.Revelation and separation: judgement now and in the future

7.Endings and beginnings

Mark:

1.Introduction: The Messiah is coming with his kingdom

2.Part One: The powerful Son of God at work in Galilee

3.Part Two: The powerful Son of God must suffer in Jerusalem

Be able to describe and discuss the “structure of Luke” as well as the theme of salvation (see sidebars in chapter)

Structure of Luke:

1.The births of John and Jesus

2.Preparation for Jesus’s ministry

3.Jesus in Galilee

4.Jesus’s journey to Jerusalem

5.Jesus in Jerusalem: his death and resurrection

Salvation – through sacrifice, hence Luke is represented by an Ox

Be able to describe and discuss the “structure of John”

Structure:

1.The Book of Signs

2.The Book of Glory Structure

1.Prologue

2.Who is Jesus and what does this mean?

3.Jesus’s revelation centered in God’s feasts and festivals

4.Jesus’s ultimate purpose: forming a people through his death and new life

5.Epilogue

Be able to describe and discuss the significance of the “prologue” of John’s Gospel (see sidebar in chapter)

The Prologue as Table of Contents:

1. Life

2. Light and darkness

3. Witness

4. World

5. Knowledge

6. Seeing and believing

7. Glory

8. Truth

What does John mean by “eternal life”? (see sidebar in chapter)

It conveys both that the Christian life with God in Heaven will be unending but also that they will have perfect quality of life by being finally reunited with the source of life. It states that Jesus has opened the way for people to enter into the full and abundant life that we were created for.

Be able to list and describe the seven “I Am” statements in John’s Gospel (see sidebar in chapter)

Jesus’s “I Am” statements:

1. I am the bread of life

2. I am the light of the world

3. I am the gate

4. I am the good shepherd

5. I am the resurrection and the life

6. I am the way, the truth, and the life

7. I am the true vine

Be able to describe and discuss the “structure of Acts” with special attention to Acts 1:8 (see sidebar in chapter)

Acts 1:8 is programmatic for the whole book, as Jesus says that when the Spirit comes upon the disciples, they will be his witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. The structure of Acts follows that outline as the apostles are first empowered by the Spirit and then witness about Christ first in Jerusalem, then farther out from Jerusalem in Judea, through Asia Minor and Europe, with the book ending in Rome. As for Rome, the capital of the empire, representing the “ends of the earth,” it may mean that Rome represents the whole world, or that from Rome all the earth will hear the apostles’ witness about Jesus because of its influence and capacity for the dissemination of their message.

Be able to discuss the significance of the “we” passages in Acts (see sidebar in chapter)

Luke does not directly include himself in the narrative of Acts, but his presence in the story is felt when he starts describing the actors in the story with “we” instead of “they.” Up until 16:8, the entire narrative of Acts is portrayed with “they.” But in 16:9 it switches to “we” and remains that way until the end of the book. This means that Luke became Paul’s traveling companion in Troas. It also means that until the end of the book, Luke is a personal eyewitness of the events he narrates.