Biblical Traditions Midterm

Which best describes Jesus and his earliest followers (Christians) attitude to the Jewish Scriptures?

they continued to view the Jewish Scriptures as crucial and drew heavily upon it in their own thinking

The gospels (and the New Testament more generally) was written in what language?

Greek

Which of the following best describes the disciples in Mark?

the disciples regularly misunderstand or miss the point

Particularly in the first chapter, which best describes Jesus’s attitude to the spread of his identity?

Jesus does not want his identity widely spread

When was the Gospel of Mark written?

66-70 CE

Mark employs the Scriptures of Israel to

reflect on Jesus’s identity and ministry

When was the book of Daniel written?

167 BCE

In an effort to understand a story better, Bob pays attention to its setting, plot, characters, and conflict between certain figures. Bob is

using narrative criticism

Jesus’s first opponent in the Gospel of Mark (chapter one, first day of ministry, located in Capernaum) is

an unclean spirit that possesses someone

which of the following is not a feature of apocalypticism?

a division of the world into good, bad, and those in the middle

Which best describes the future outlined in the Little Apocalypse (Jesus’s long speech in Mark 13)?

there will be a lot of turmoil and violence

the second Jerusalem Temple was destroyed in

70 CE

Which statement is true of Mark’s relationship with Daniel?

Mark identifies Jesus and the Son of Man mentioned in Daniel

In the burning bush scene in Exodus, Moses expresses concern about being the person to lead the people out of Egypt

True

Both Moses (in Exodus) and Jesus (in Matthew) kill a man

False

When Moses (in Exodus) and Jesus (in Matthew) were infants a ruler massacred infants, but both Moses and Jesus escaped

True

Jesus was crucified in what year?

30 CE

Which of the following is not true of the Gospel of Matthew relative to the Gospel of Mark

Matthew ignores Mark

Jesus’s teaching about the law is always unique compared to other Jews of his time

False

Amy-Jill Levine suggests that recognizing Jesus’s Jewishness can be a point of common ground between Jews and Christians

True

Jesus followed the Jewish Law in a variety of matters, including what he ate and what he wore

true

Ancient histories were written to

make a point

According to Matthew, Jesus came to ____ the Law

fulfill

In antiquity, the majority of the people were

poor (just above, at, or below subsistence level)

When Jesus reads from the Scriptures of Israel in the synagogue (Luke 4), he indicates his ministry is good news for the poor

True

In Luke, Jesus indicates that what one does with one’s money impacts one’s fate after death

true

The first Jerusalem Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians in

586 BCE

Luke was the first Synoptic Gospel to be written

False

According to John P. Meier, the historical Jesus is the same as the real Jesus

False

In Robyn Faith Walsh’s thought experiment, the hypothetical scholar Blythe Harlow Finns argues that Mickey Mouse and the Walt Disney Resort in Florida serve what type of purpose?

a religious purpose

John P. Meier believes one can learn about the historical Jesus by employing certain criteria (for example, multiple attestation, embarrassment, etc.)

True

In contrast to ancient Judaism, the historical Jesus

prohibited divorce

Scholars consider the Gospel of John to be one of the Synoptic Gospels

False

In the Gospel of John, miracles are important because

they provide an occasion to reflect on Jesus’s identity

The idea of a divine figure - beyond God - who links heaven and earth is not found anywhere in ancient Judaism

false

In John 9 (which recounts the healing of the man born blind and its after effects), it is implied that the Pharisees are spiritually blind

true