The Christian Bible: History, Canon, and Translation

Vocabulary flashcards covering the key terms, historical figures, translations, and canonization concepts from the lecture on the New Testament and the Christian Bible.

New Testament

A collection of 27 books categorized into gospels, letters, and apocalyptic writings, centered on the significance of Jesus and the practical and ethical implications of following Him.

Gospel

Derived from the Old English godspel (meaning good news) and Greek euangelion; refers to the four distinct, complementary portraits of Jesus found in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

Period of Oral Tradition

The timeframe between Jesus' death (33 AD) and the writing of the first gospel (Mark in 65 AD), during which His words and deeds were communicated primarily by speaking.

Gospel of Judas

A late, extra-canonical document from a marginalized sect of Christianity that reflects mid-second century Gnosticism by claiming only Judas understood Jesus.

Plato

Greek philosopher (428–327 BC) who posited a divided reality consisting of an eternal perfect spiritual world and a flawed material world where the soul is superior to the physical body.

Demiurge

In Platonic philosophy, a divine craftsman shaping the universe in the image of eternal Forms; reinterpreted in Gnosticism as a lesser, ignorant, or malevolent creator god.

Nero

Roman Emperor (54–68 AD) who led efforts to eliminate the growing Christian church.

Domitian

Roman Emperor (81–96 AD) whose reign provided the hostile background during which the Apocalypse (Revelation) was written (95–96 AD).

Prison Epistles

The New Testament letters written by Paul around 60–62 AD from prison, comprising Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon.

Apostle Paul

Originally Saul of Tarsus in Cilicia, who converted on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1–31) and became early Christianity's most prominent advocate and letter writer.

Canon

A term meaning rule, standard, or fixed point, referring to the limited and defined group of writings accepted as authoritative scripture within the Christian church.

Clement of Alexandria

Early Christian scholar (147–215 AD) who recognized four canonical gospels, Acts, 14 letters of Paul, and Revelation.

Justin Martyr

Early Christian writer (90s AD–165 AD) who treated New Testament writings as having equal authority to the Old Testament.

Athanasius

Bishop who circulated a letter in 367 AD that summed up the consensus by the wider Christian community on the 27 canonical books of the New Testament.

Marcion of Sinope

Second-century Christian writer excommunicated in 144 AD for arguing that the Old Testament religion was completely separate from Christianity and that its god was distinct from Jesus' God.

Septuagint

The Greek translation of the Old Testament produced between the mid-200s BC and the end of the 1st century AD, named from latin septuaginta (seventy) after the tradition of 72 translators.

Vulgate

The official Latin translation of the Old and New Testaments translated primarily by Saint Jerome between 382 AD and 405 AD, widely used across Western Europe.

John Wycliffe

English theologian (1328–1384) hailed as a champion of Bible translation for pressing to translate the Vulgate into English so common people could read it.

Erasmus of Rotterdam

Scholar (1466–1536) who criticized mistranslations in the Vulgate, such as highlighting that Matthew 4:17 called for an inward change of heart (repent) rather than an outward action (do penance).

Martin Luther

German reformer (1483–1546) who translated the New Testament into everyday German from Greek in 1522, and later translated the Old Testament and Apocrypha in 1534.

Myles Coverdale

Translator (1488–1569) who produced the Coverdale Bible in 1535, the first complete printed translation of the Bible in English.

King James I

King of England (1566–1625) who authorized the creation of the 1611 King James Bible, also known as the Authorized Version.

Bible Translation Spectrum

A continuum ranging from formal (word-for-word) translations to functional (thought-for-thought) translations and retelling paraphrases.

Traditio

Latin root meaning handing over, handing down, or handing on, referring both to the process of passing down teaching and to the body of teachings themselves.

Gnosticism

A movement derived from the Greek gnosis (knowledge), centered on secret knowledge required for salvation and unusual interpretations of scripture.

Irenaeus of Lyons

Early Christian bishop (circa 130–200 AD) who argued against heretics by pointing to a continuous stream of apostolic tradition as the guarantor of faithful biblical interpretation.

Creed

A public, authoritative statement of the core points of Christian faith derived from the Bible to prevent maverick or rogue interpretations.

Rule of Faith

A foundational framework that sets out to correctly interpret the Bible in accordance with apostolic teaching.