THEOLOGY - MYTHOS AND ETHOS

The so-called ____________-model developed by Karl Bühler is helpful in describing and disclosing how meaning is generated in the communicative process. With reference to Plato, language is an means for one person to be able to communicate with another about certain things. Bühler here distinguishes between three 'foundations' in the linguistic process of communication that correspond to the sender, receiver, and object.

organon

Who was the king of Babylon during the siege of Jerusalem?

Nebuchadnezzar II

The excuse of the midwives for not killing the infants is rather clever. The Hebrew word they used to describe the Hebrew women was the word _____________ indicating 'lively' is very close to the Hebrew word _____________ which signifies wild animals. In this understanding, the Hebrew women and their infants were made to be seen as if like wild animals, which plays right into Pharoah's sensibilities. By utilizing Pharaoh's own biases, the midwives successfully averted tragedy.

hayot, hayyot

Who is the grandson of Aaron that stopped the disobedience of the Israelites in Numbers 25? While Aaron had been a leader in leading the Israelites astray in the worship of the golden calf (Exod. 32:1-5, 25, 35), his grandson is a leader in upholding God's commands and in stopping the disobedience among the Israelites.

Phinehas

T or F: Exegesis CAN NEVER establish the meaning of texts, but it is ALMOST ALWAYS a necessary ingredient in construing the (or a) meaning of ancient texts.

TRUE

This Latin phrase, utilized by Catherine Keller in her treatment of the first creation story, is the doctrinal alternative to "creation out of nothing." For Keller, creation is an act of becoming, a creation from deep watery chaos.

creatio ex profundis

Which of Moses's hybrid identities is represented in the following statement:"This stage represents liminality, at the crossroads of life, paving the way for a new chapter"

Midianite

What is the Biblical metaphor for a place in between--a wild, chaotic and untamed space of many possibilities?

WILDERNESS

What do you call this method in which the interpreter devotes their interpretative efforts to such matters as plot, point of view, the portrayal of the characters, the uses and effects of symbolism, irony and misunderstanding, and other literary devices and strategies. By definition the method cannot allow its practitioners to go beyond or outside of the text.

NARRATIVE CRITICISM

Of the four authors/traditions of the Torah, this tradition was born from the disastrous events of the most decisive watershed in Israel's history. The land had been laid waste. The temple had been destroyed. Many Israelites had been exiled to Babylon. Yahwism was thus wrenched out of the security of its familiar geographical, socio-political and religious setting. Even though Israel continued to have key leaders and their sacred traditions had been preserved, this was certainly a time of crisis for the faith, a time when despair threatened to block out all hope.

Priestly Tradition

What is this disastrous event of the sixth century BCE. which constituted the most decisive watershed in Israel's history. The land had been laid waste. The temple had been destroyed. Many Israelites had been exiled to a foreign land. Imprecatory psalms, like Psalm 137, were written as a response to this event. It is also during this time of devastation that the Priestly tradition begun writing and editing sections of the Torah, including the first creation story.

Babylonian exile

What is this great sea monster exalted as the "playmate of God" and a source of joy to the creator, in Psalm 104? Genesis 1 celebrates the fishy grace of the deep. Mirroring the relation of God and the sea monster, embracing the depths of life, we participate in open-ended creativity.

leviathan

Which notable person claimed that humans are restless beings, never satisfied with their own lot in life, always seeking to improve their position at the expense of others. The objects of all human striving are a series of receding mirages, for there is no static state of beatitude with which the human being would be satisfied?

Thomas Hobbes

What is the name of Moses' father-in-law, the priest of Midian, whom he served as a shepherd for many years?

Jethro

_____________ is the process of attempting to bring out "what the text says" and "what the text is referring to." For example, drawing out the ways in which a particular word was used at a particular point in history, or who held political power when certain events were taking place, or what liturgical practices governed certain experiences, or whether the existence of certain figures in the text can be verified, are all questions falling under this process.

Exegesis

This is the analysis of the text as it stands, how it adequately functions in the production of meaning, and deals with approaches such as analysis of the texts structure, or narrative, poetic qualities, etc

Literary Criticism

Which of Roger Haight's suggested theological conceptions of God is referred to in the following statement:"This definition showcases a transcendence of God that simultaneously recognizes the immanence of God to all things; all things are rooted in God's power of being that sustains things from within. This is possible because God is not a substance or a being; God is the source, foundation, and final goal of all things or beings. But neither is God limited by things, for God is absolutely transcendent: Being itself is 'above' all gods or conceptions of God. We have to speak of God as if God were a definite being, but always with the awareness of the complete distortion that objectifying language imposes on God."

God is ground of being

Which of Roger Haight's suggested theological conceptions of God is referred to in the following statement: "This definition of God shifts the language of piety from spontaneous, specific, and affective to a vaguer, reflective and cerebral idiom. By removing the anthropomorphic and anthropocentric dimensions of a commonsensical perspective, the concept forces looser, and yet more austere and abstract language fitted to the absolute and all-pervasive mystery of God. But one can speak of God's love for human beings and God's constant impulse toward human flourishing."

God is serendipitous creativity

A __________ is a story that sets up a world. These kinds of stories constellate sacred symbolism in narrative sequence.

myth

Who was the architect of the social structures that led to oppression in the Scriptural world of Egypt?

Joseph

Vladimir Lenin defines politics with characteristic clarity and pithiness when he says that it is concerned with the question that keeps recurring in our political life: _________? What this means in the first instance is that the impersonalised statements one might be inclined to make about human societies generally require, if they are to be politically informative, elaboration into statements about particular concrete people doing things to other people.

"Who whom?"

The term Realpolitik was coined by the German journalist and liberal activist ____________ (full name please) in his 1853 treatise Foundations of Realpolitik

August Ludwig von Rochau

Six of the forty-eight Levitical cities are designated as __________. These special cities are designed to provide shelter for 'a slayer who kills a person without intent.' The holiness of God's promised land could be threatened by the shedding of human blood, one of the most serious defilements in Israel's understanding of God's requirements of purity. Murder and its defilement of the land could be expiated only through shedding the blood of the one who did the killing. Thus, a close relative had an obligation to act as an 'avenger' of his relative's blood by slaying the murderer in order to expiate the impurity caused by the murder. But these special cities are a compromise provision for sheltering those who kill another person unintentionally. The unintentional killer was safe as long as that person remained within the designated space.

CITIES OF REFUGE

The tribal blessings of 33:6-25 echo other biblical scenes where a dying parent pronounces final blessings upon his children. Which among the tribes is referred to in the following statement?"The blessing of this tribe appears to reflect a time in Israel's history when this tribe was isolated from the rest of the community of Israelite tribes. The prayer asks that God bring this tribe back to God's people and strengthen them against their adversaries. God's blessing here strengthens the uniting bonds of the community of Israel. Each tribe builds up and strengthens the whole people."

JUDAH

The spy story of Numbers 13-14 represents the loss of vision of the old generation of Israelites. This lack of horizon is most evident in the report of ten of the twelve scouts that it is impossible to take the Promised Land from the Canaanites. However, a minority report comprised of two scouts, the first named _______, son of Nun, and the second named _______, son of Jephunneh.

Joshua and Caleb

The tribal blessings of 33:6-25 echo other biblical scenes where a dying parent pronounces final blessings upon his children. Which among the tribes is referred to in the following statement? "Perhaps this is the most important and distinctive of all the tribal blessings. Throughout Deuteronomy, this tribe is set apart and dedicated to a unique calling as sacrificial priests, as preachers, carriers of the tradition, and teachers of the Torah. The calling of the members of this tribe even extends to the renunciation of family and kinship ties. Part of the blessing of the community is a group dedicated to interpreting God's will and proclaiming, teaching, and offering sacrifices for the sake of the community."

LEVI

In Numbers 12, two of the leaders of the Hebrew people rebel against God. The first, a man, is _____, and the second, a woman, is _____.

Aaron and Miriam

Hermeneutics is a concurrent project involving both ________and also _______

exegesis and criticism

Of the four authors/traditions of the Torah, which one lived during the time of David and/or Solomon (1000-922 B.C.). David and his successors were regarded as having brought Israel to its supposed "Golden Age." I would much rather think of it as a "Gilded Age," and though there was much prosperity on the surface, there was equally much inequality and abuse of power, centralized in the hands of a few.

Yahwist Tradition

What do you call the process, for example, of imposing meaning on the Bible that supports an idea, agenda or position in mind without attempting critical engagement with the text first. A classic example of this is when people just pick and choose certain "proof-texts" to verify their idea, agenda or position.

Eisegesis

The Hebrew word ________, meaning humanity (not just a singular man), is derived from ____________, meaning earth, dust, ground. As we see in the story of creation, the earthling was made from earth.

adam, adamah

This Latin phrase means "creation out of nothing." The thorough Biblical exegesis done in our class disproves this perspective relating to Genesis by highlighting that the Genesis myth indicates a creation, not out of nothing, but a creation out of something!

creatio ex nihilo

In Hebrew literature and poetry, there is such a thing as the rule of "_________." It is based on the fact that good storytelling builds up and focuses interest on the conclusion of the story. A good mystery holds the reader in suspense until the very end when everything is explained and becomes clear.

end stress

Interspersed within the Torah's narrative are the occasional reminders of proper living and action. This is the ________ aspect of the Torah, which relates to reminders of the proper life stance and orientation to take, an instruction on the vocation of the people of God. _________ means "dwelling," a sense of place. Therefore, one's __________ is the set apart manner in which we are to dwell in this world. Our vocation is to live in a manner appropriate to our identity, but also appropriate to God.

ethos

What do you call the event in 1997 when British control of Hong Kong came to an end, with HK sovereignty ending up with the People's Republic of China?

HANDOVER OF HONGKONG

__________ refers to a kind of politics that assumes survival of the fittest, and all policies are entirely pragmatic

REALPOLITIK

The Hebrew word _________ means "Here I am," but in a more nuanced way, it also means this: I am fully present to you, whoever you are; please speak on, I am all ears. It is the Biblical response to those who are called.

HINNENI

____________ is, at its core, about resolving conflicts regardless of where those conflicts occur. You see these currents running throughout families, church congregations, friend groups, workplaces, schools, and (yes) government because they all involve human interaction, and human interaction often involves conflict. Thus, this comes to be a standard feature (or bug?) of all human relationships

POLITICS

In (post)structuralist and reader-response hermeneutics, focusing on the reader even led to an explicit displacement of the text from its author and its original setting, which Roland Barthes cast in the well-knowndictum: the "_______________."

death of the author

What was the earth shattering event experienced by the Jews that led them to writing Psalm 137, a psalm that wished violence upon others?What was the earth shattering event experienced by the Jews that led them to writing Psalm 137, a psalm that wished violence upon others?

Babylonian exile

The process of ongoing discernment, fresh reading and rereading of the sacred text, in light of the Holy Spirit's ongoing work in the world, revealing the text's significance for people of today. This process is necessary to apply the message of Scripture to contemporary circumstances and to express it in language adapted to the present time.

Actualization

Which of the worlds inhabited by the text is being referred to by the following statement:"One can be primarily concerned with the text as it is in itself, that is, in the way it functions to engage the reader and in the meaning that it generates. The text thus considered functions as a system of signs, which generate meaning, and as a mirror in which readers are revealed to themselves in the process of engaging the text."

World of the Text

The mythos aspect of the Torah relates to the overarching story of salvation that is present in its five books. In this narrative, we find instruction on the _______ of the people of God, where they come from, and what distinguishes them from everyone else.

identity

Sandra Schneiders applies has a suggested hermeneutical approach to Scripture known as ___________ which includes the world behind, the world of, and the world before the text

Worlds inhabited by the text

T OR F: Meaning is inherent to a particular text being interpretted. This is the reason why the goal of exegesis is to search for that so-called "ideal meaning" of a text.

FALSE

means grasping the meaning of something. Meaning and significance are fundamental categories of all hermeneutics.

UNDERSTANDING

The meaning being pursued in hermeneutics is that constituted by the dialectic between the _____ of the text (what it says) and its _______(what it is ostensibly about, which may be history, theology, or some other content).

SENSE, REFERENCE

Refers to the propositional integrity of the sentence (or larger linguistic unit)

Sense

What do you call the theological term that "signals that all things exist within the power of God so that God is the 'within' of all that exists"

PANENTHEISM

The ________ aspect of the Torah relates to the overarching story of salvation that is present in its five books. In this narrative, we find instruction on the identity of the people of God, where they come from, and what distinguishes them from everyone else.

MYTHOS

This final movement in the first creation story marks everything as good before finally resting. Many wonder what the purpose of the final day in creation. As a literary device, God resting on the seventh day is a reminder that at the end of it all, the final source, foundation, and direction of creation is still God.

THEOS

Which of Roger Haight's suggested theological conceptions of God is referred to in the following statement:"In the language of act and potency, the term act, in a variety of different contexts and uses, communicates action, energy, power, dynamism, and generativity. In all finite created reality, this power is limited by the kind and individuality of that which it animates. In God, it is not limited. In fact, God's very nature and essence are actively 'to be.' This means that God is absolutely undiluted, and unmitigated act. Such is, of course, unimaginable, and this makes it a good definition of God."

God is pure act of being

Which of Roger Haight's suggested theological conceptions of God is referred to in the following statement:"This definition of God reflects a modern idea of faith knowledge where the meaning of the term resonates with experience and, on the basis of analysis, also refers to objectivity. It holds together an experience of conscious involvement and the realist conviction that it refers to something other than the self. Many people have experiences of this going beyond oneself, such experience seems common enough to consider it a universal possibility. But it takes myriad different forms because of its contextual mediation."

God is transcendent presence

What kind of guidance does the Torah give to its readers? The Torah is composed of two important aspects: narrative (the ____________ of the Torah) and commandments (the ____________ of the Torah).

mythos and ethos

Which of the four movements of creation showcase the assignment of unique dwelling places for each creature in creation?

kosmos

What do you call the activity of interpreting reality through the symbols of Christian faith.

THEOLOGY

In the Moses story, _________ is understood as an "anti-Egyptian" occupation. Whereas Egypt represents fertile land that is meant to be settled upon, this occupation is hinged on wandering in the pasturelands of the wilderness. Egypt and the wilderness are once more diametrically opposed even in the line of work of its inhabitants.

SHEPHERD

What is the name that Moses gave to his son? This name reflects the experience of sojourning and rootlessness that Moses struggles with in the narrative

GERSHOM

What is the Hebrew verb that is the basis for the name of Moses? This rare verb means signifies one who draws out from the water.

MASHAH

Which of the unnamed women is referred to in the following statement:"This woman felt for the child what the Hebrew call wattaḥmōl, halfway between pity and compassion. In reality, it was a willingness to establish intimate relationship, a familial tie, a relation between a parent and a child."

DAUGHTER OF PHARAOH

What is the position/role of great power that Joseph had in Egypt? It means a high-ranking political minister in the ancient Near East. -

VIZIER

What do you call the dramatization of the negotiations between the emissaries of Athens and the rulers of Melos found in the History of the Peloponnesian War? These dramatizations contained the maxim of Realpolitik, "the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must."

MELIAN DIALOGUE

What is the Hebrew word for basket which occurs in both the story of Exodus and in the story of Noah? The term is seen in both stories as a vehicle of salvation

TEBAH

The Hebrew word for "throw," ____________, is a rather meaningful one. It does not mean 'to hurl' but 'to abandon'. The predictable—but not immediate—result would be the baby boy's death. The phrase "into the Nile" is equally suggestive. Much as in ancient Greece, where unwanted female babies were left on hillsides, here the males are to be floated in baskets on the water—where they would die out of the sight of their parents, either by sinking into the water or from exposure. Ironically, Moses will be saved, not killed, by the Nile.

TASHLICHU

Who is this Italian diplomat and philosopher who lived during the Renaissance, best known for his political treatise The Prince. He justified immoral actions in politics, but never refused to admit that they are evil. He operated within the single framework of traditional morality.

NICCÒLO MACHIAVELLI

Two tribes, the tribe of Reuben and the tribe of _______, requested to settle outside the Promised Land. Though angering Moses at first, these members of the new generation found compromise with Moses and the rest of the Israelites, and a potential crisis is averted.

GAD

Numbers 25 is the final rebellion of the old generation. What diety did they worship in this section of the narrative instead of God?

BAAL PEOR

The theological term for self-emptying, as seen in the story of Moses. Like a vessel being poured out, the task of prophetic commitment is an outward pouring of self to others and the Other.

KENOSIS

T OR F: The purpose of the census in Numbers 26 is for the estimating of available military strength and the number of warriors that can hope to gain the land

FALSE

"Moses' prayer that 'this tribe live, and not die out' is a prayer that extends not just to this tribe but to Israel as a whole. Part of God's blessing is simply the survival of the people in the face of overwhelming disaster and death."

REUBEN

This characteristic of Scripture is often times understood as "freedom from error." We must acknowledge that the books of Scripture, firmly, faithfully and without error, teach that truth which God, for the sake of our salvation, wish to see confided to the Sacred Scriptures. This statement is carefully phrased. It affirms the value of the Bible as a whole for transmitting in its purity the truth that leads to salvation, but leaves open the possibility that individual authors may have erred, especially with regard to scientific and historical matters.

Biblical inerrancy

T OR F: Dei Verbum shifted the emphasis of the Bible's freedom from error by placing emphasis on the CONTENT of Scripture, not the INTENTION of Scripture.

FALSE

What do you call the charism referring to the special divine activity, communicated to individual authors, editors and compilers belonging to the community of faith, for the sake of the community of faith. This charism helped produce the sacred texts both of the Old Testament and the New Testament.

Biblical Inspiration

What is the purpose of the canon? Scholastic theologians of old would formulate their answer through a wonderful exercise in Latin alliteration: Scripture is the ________________ (the norm which norms all other expression of the faith butt which is not itself normed). The canon was made to unite all Christians by grounding them under a normative set of text that will be considered sacred and true. Such attempt at unity is so important, that it is quite impossible for any person to change the canon, whether by addition of new books, or subtraction of already present books. Another important function of the canon is to remind us that Christianity is a historical religion; it is not simply a collection of eternal myths, but it is also a set of historical accounts of God's saving action on behalf of humanity. In other words, Christians do not believe that they can "make it up as they go." The Christian faith is always in some sense tethered to its past, even if that tether can appear elastic at times. The canonical books of the Bible anchor that elastic tether.

norma normans non normata

Which of the worlds inhabited by the text refers to the following statement:"one can use the text as a window on the ancient world through which one can discern, to some extent, the author(s) and her or his historical, theological, and ideological agenda"

World Behind the Text

Interspersed within this narrative are the occasional reminders of proper living and action. This is the ethos aspect of the Torah, which relates to reminders of the proper life stance and orientation to take, an instruction on the _______ of the people of God. Ethos means "dwelling," a sense of place. Therefore, one's ethos is the set apart manner in which we are to dwell in this world--that is to live in a manner appropriate to our identity, but also appropriate to God.

vocation

A term used by Biblical scholars to refer to the "setting-in-life" of the authors. The term was coined by Hermann Gunkel in 1906. For Biblical scholars, there is a clear correlation between the situation and context of the author and his audience with the resulting form and content of a specific text. Understanding where the author comes from can illuminate meaning that is found in the text.

Sitz-im-Leben

Of the four authors/traditions of the Torah, this tradition is the result of the historical consequences of the history of failed kingship experienced by during the Davidic dynasty. Centuries later, the Jewish people will finally come up with ways to try and readjust itself in the face of those prior experiences.

Deuteronomistic Tradition

This is the analysis of the receiver of the text, judging the interaction between text and receiver.

Audience criticism

This refers to a method that deals with questions of a text's authorship, composition, or textual transmission, and judging how well the text performs as a document that legitimizes those claims.

Historical Criticism

The function of a myth is not to explain the scientific mechanics of __________ the world was created, but it answers the fundamental truth of __________ the world was created. Myth, therefore, has a different purpose, and to grasp its truth, you must use a different methods of interpretation.

how and why

The first creation story can be found in Genesis verse __________ until verse __________ .

1:1 - 2:4a

From the perspective of Saint Augustine, the universe was created, not out of nothing, but out of something. A "nothingsomething" which he calls ____________.

Nihil Aliquid

This word refers to the mythic "cosmic ocean" of Genesis, covering the entire universe until God's movement of ordering, or kosmos. It is characterized as chaos, the watery deep.

tehom

Which of Roger Haight's suggested theological conceptions of God is referred to in the following statement: "The metaphor of a 'horizon' helps to describe this. God's relation to the world is not as a being relating to other beings, but as the grounding power of being: 'The infinite expanse which can and does encompass everything cannot itself be encompassed.' This presence of God to the world as ground describes a permanent horizon of existence and not merely a subjective experience. And the consciousness of it can run deep."

God is incomprehensible mystery

This ancient female dragon found in the Babylonian creation myth is known as the Grand Mother, the creator-goddess. The name has Sumerian origins, meaning salt water, deep, chaos. This goddess would eventually be slain by a warrior God, with her corpse being fashioned into creation.

Tiamat

What is the title of the Babylonian creation myth, involving the clash between the Grand Mother dragon goddess and the exalted warrior God, a clash that will be the basis for the creation of the world?

Enuma Elish

Which of the following statements best exemplifies the theology of creation that we have discovered in Genesis 1?

Genesis 1 showcases the power of God, who lords it over the lives of humans

Genesis 1 advocates for "intelligent design," claiming that complexitty of the universe and of living things can only be explained by an intelligent cause, not a random process such as natural selection

Genesis 1 believes in the linear-designer universe. Out of nothing, God systematically created one after another until all things have been finished being created

Genesis 1 highlight how God is the singular imago dei, who did not need anyone to collaborate with in order to create, unlike the Babylonian creation mythology

Genesis 1 understands God as "designer of a self-organizing process," a God of continua creatio, who allows for emergent possibilities for the world

Genesis 1 understands God as "designer of a self-organizing process," a God of continua creatio, who allows for emergent possibilities for the world

This word literally means "becoming." The primal waters are a key not just to who we are but to who we are becoming.

GENESIS

A battle that took place in 605 BCE, that destroyed Assyria and reduced Egypt to insignificance in the ancient Near East. The victor, Babylon, remained as the sole superpower in the region.

BATTLE OF CARCHEMISH

To emphasize the bitter servitude of the Hebrew people, the words _______ ("to oppress") and ________ ("servitude"/"slavery") are used 7 times in a span of 4 verses (vv. 11-14)

ANAH, ABAD

Current English translations of the Ten Commandements are written in the __________ grammatical form. Therefore the statements sound like commands. The function of this grammatical mood is the issuance of orders, and does not necessarily work in certain settings that do not call for such a grammatical form. For instance, if you were to write a Valentine's Day card to someone, in no way would you word that card with the greeting: "You shall love me!"

IMPERATIVE

What is the term in postcolonial theory representative of the "in-between" space that exists within one's social, ethnic, and cultural identity. It is not simply a blending or absorption of identities, but a dialectical force.

HYBRIDITY

The author of the History of the Peloponnesian War, he is credited as the first to conceptualize what would eventually be coined later on in the 19th century as Realpolitik

THUCYDIDES

Strongman-style Hungarian prime minister who recently gave a speech where he said that he was averse to "race mixing." For him, Europeans mixing amongst themselves was acceptable, but that Europeans mixing with non-Europeans created "mixed race" people. He claims as follows: "We do not want to become people of mixed races," and that countries where race mixing is acceptable are "no longer nations."

VIKTOR ORBAN

According to Aristotle, the Greek word ________ is manifested in the image of fire. This word represents "being-in-work," which, in its purest form, is the essence of the divine

ENERGEIA

"We must not interpret her actions as a sign of resignation or giving up. Rather, it must be seen as a woman's last ditch effort of saving a child. This is a person committing her child to the river of God's hand. This is a powerful image, in and of itself, of prophetic commitment." -

DAUGHTER OF LEVI

T OR F: Young Moses, having been taught the art of realpolitik, operated under the vision of power over power

TRUE

Political philosopher ___________ expanded on Lenin's formula, adding that although Lenin's formula is basically correct, it is perhaps too dense and needs to be developed or extended: actually, I would argue, it needs to be extended twice. First of all, the formula should read as 'Who what to whom for whose benefit?' with four distinct variables to be filled in, i.e., (1) Who?, (2) What?, (3) To whom?, (4) For whose benefit? To think politically is to think about agency, power, and interests, and the relations among these.

RAYMOND GEUSS

According to scientist and peace advocate Anatol Rapoport, realpolitik can be described as ________. By his definition, this characteristic means as bizarre behaviour that has evil consequences.

Madness