religion 1

scripture

sacred text

canon of scripture

46 books in old testament + 27 in new

old testament vs new testament

• old testament hebrew scriptures that tell stories about god before jesus’ time

• new testament christian scriptures about jesus and his teachings

tanakh

jewish bible / hebrew scriptures

torah

the law (everyday life, dietary rules, justice, etc); the first few books of the tanakh

gospel

good news; the message of jesus told from mark matthew luke and john

synoptic gospels

• matthew, mark, and luke all had similar stories and content and they probably shared similar sources (synoptic means to see together)

• john’s stories are different and had content not found in the other three (used metaphors and symbols, focused on divine things)

acts of the apostles

the apostles performed miracles with help from the holy spirit

revelation

the last book in the new testament about the prophecy and apocalypse

divine inspiration

writers in the bible did not audibly hear god’s word, but they were rather inspired by the holy spirit

inerrancy

there are some minor errors in the bible, but there are no errors in the religious truth

exegesis vs hermeneutics

• exegesis looks at scripture in its original context (historical and cultural conventions at the time)

• hermeneutics looks at the timeless messages of scripture (why is it relevant today?)

historical-critical method

this method looks at the intentions of the authors considering the historical context (going back in time)

oral vs written vs edited tradition

• oral people who lived through events passed them down orally

• written people wrote them down

• edited they edited and put them together

covenant + old covenant + new covenant

• an unconditional promise made between two parties

• the promise made between god and israel (he would give them the promised land and many descendants, making them a great nation— in return, all he asked for was their faith in him)

• the promise god made to all of humanity through jesus— all of humanity is invited to partake in it

paschal mystery

jesus’ life, death, resurrection and ascension— jesus’ death was a sacrifice for the new covenant to free humanity from sin

revelation (concept)

revealing/unveiling divine truth

good news

the christian message of salvation and redemption— sinners can be forgiven and reconcile with god

prophecy

divinely inspired message/prediction about future events

parable

short allegorical story designed to teach a life lesson/moral using everyday life

psalm

sacred song/poem

sermon

religious discourse by a preacher

epistle

letter directed to a group of people

historical narrative

a story that takes events from the past and puts them in chronological order to make it engaging

religious truth

our relationship with god and one another

symbolic truth

truth conveyed through symbols (poetic/figurative language)

moral truth

it tells us what is right and wrong (absolute things you must follow)

proverbial truth

practical sayings that provide wisdom for life and advice (ex. golden rule)

evangelist

someone who spreads the word of god

prophet

a person who speaks on god’s behalf

apostle

one of the 12 disciples chosen by jesus to spread the gospel

rabbi

jewish leader in judaism

saint

a person recognized by the church for living in a holy way

4 types of miracles

• healing (jesus relieves people’s physical suffering)

• exorcisms (he drives out evil spirits)

• restoration of life (jesus brings people back from the dead

• nature (he demonstrates control over the forces of nature)

4 characteristics of a parable

it has:

• a story

• a comparison

• a crisis

• an unexpected ending