Religious Figures and Sacred Texts

Where does the word ‘Bible’ come from?

The Greek ‘ta biblia’ meaning ‘the books'

What is the Old Testament?

Originally written in Hebrew, it is the scripture of Judaism and is also sacred to Christians. It was the Bible known to Jesus and his contemporaries.

What is the difference between The Protestant and Catholic/Orthodox Old Testaments

Protestant OT has 39 books while Catholic OT has 46, because they also include the Apocrypha.

What is the New Testament?

Originally written in Greek, it contains 27 books about Jesus. These are the Gospels, the Book of Acts, the 21 Epistles, the Book of Revelations.

What is canon, and what is canonisation?

• Canon - officially accepted collection of sacred books that a religion considers authoritative and inspired.

• Canonisation - the process through which texts are recognised as part of sacred scripture.

What is the Hebrew word for the Bible?

Tanakh

What are the three sections the Tanakh is split into

• Torah (law)

• Nevi’im (prophets)

• Ketuvim (writings)

What is the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible called?

The Septuagint

What does the Septuagint have that the Tanakh doesn’t?

The Apocrypha (Tobit, Judith, Maccabees, Sirach, Baruch)

Which Christian denominations adopted the Septuagint’s broader canon?

Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox

Why doesn’t the Protestant Bible contain the Apocrypha?

Reformers in the 16th century sought to align with Hebrew tradition, so excluded the Apocryphal books.

What was the process of canonising the NT like in the 3rd and 4th centuries?

More formalised than the 1st and 2nd, done through local councils and church fathers.

Give two notable councils in the process of canonising the NT

• Council of Hippo (393 CE)

• Council of Carthage (397 CE)

Give a piece of scripture that leads Christians to believe the Bible was inspired by God

“All scripture is God-breathed” - 2 Timothy 3:16

What is dictation theory?

The Holy Spirit directly moved biblical writers to write the words of the Bible - pure word of God.

What is the enlightenment period critique?

Scientific and historical developments led to evidence of inaccuracies and grammatical mistakes in the Bible. None of this looks like the work of an omniscient being, and it is impossible to ignore the human influence.

What are objective views of inspiration and give two examples of them

Attempt to hold on to the traditional view that the Bible is the perfect word of God.

• Literalism

• Plenary verb inspiration

What is literalism?

Simply denies any challenge to the view that the Bible is the exact word of God.

What is plenary verb inspiration?

There is evidence of human influence, but the divine and human authors somehow worked together.

What are subjective views of inspiration?

Accepts that the writing of the Bible was a human process and thus did not produce the exact word of God.

What do subjective views conclude about the Bible?

It is human interpretations of what the authors felt and understood of God’s revelation and accounts of events from those who witnessed them.

What is a weakness of subjective views?

Crisis of authority - Everyone can have their own interpretation, no consistent theology. How can the Bible have authority if it is derived from human minds?

What is a response to the crisis of authority criticism?

Assumes God wants the kind of church where everyone believes the same thing, maybe it is a good thing if everyone has their own interpretation.

Explain Calvin’s idea of accommodation

In order to effectively communicate with humans, God used simplistic language and even scientific errors so that revelation would be accessible to our worldview.

What does the Acts of the Apostles contain and who wrote it?

The earliest account of the spread of Christianity during the first century. Written by Luke.

What does kerygma mean?

Proclamation, announcement, preaching

What was the main theme of the kerygmata of the early church?

The belief that Jesus fulfilled the promises of the OT through his life, works, death, and resurrection.

List the kerygmata as presented by C.H. Dodd

• Messianic Age (as prophesied in OT) has dawned.

• This happened through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, descendent of David.

• Jesus ascended into heaven and sits at God’s right hand.

• Holy Spirit given by God to the Church.

• Messianic Age will be shortly be fulfilled with return of Christ.

• All should repent and be baptised.

Explain the challenge to Acts about the structure of the speeches

They all follow the same uniform structure and make Peter and Paul sound the same. Many of the speeches are meant to be spontaneous, but this doesn’t come across.

Explain the challenge to Acts about the style of the speeches

The style of Paul’s speeches doesn’t match the style of his letters in Corinthians, they are in fact Luke’s style.

Explain the challenge to Acts about Luke as an author

The Gospel of Luke and Book of Acts were written 40-50 years after the events, and Luke was not personally there to witness them.

Explain the challenge to Acts about the audience

The supposed audience would not have understood some elements of the speeches, E.g. in Acts 26:10, Paul calls Christians “the saints”, which would've been understandable to the reader but not the supposed audience, the Agrippa.

Give a defence to the authorship challenge

We have evidence that Luke accompanied Paul on some of his missionary journeys, and since he was a close companion of Paul’s, it is very likely he heard some of his speeches first-hand.

Give a defence to the style challene

The speeches make extensive allusion to the OT scriptures, which does not reflect Luke’s usual literary style.

Give a defence to the structure challenge

It is not surprising Luke has implemented a structure of his own, all authors do this and it doesn’t discredit the speeches’ historical value.

Give two quotes showing Peter’s speeches n Acts do reflect his other writings

“The definitive plan and foreknowledge of God.” - Acts 2:23

“Destined by God".” - Peter 1:2

Why did Rudolf Bultmann think the Bible had become difficult for modern audiences to accept?

People have become much more historically and scientifically minded since the Enlightenment, and the Bible contains supernatural occurances.

What two theological responses to this did Bultmann observe?

• Literalist - denies modern advances that contradict the Bible. Bultmann rejected this.

• Liberal - ignores the myths and focuses only on the moral teachings. Bultmann rejected this.

What is demythologisation?

The process of translating the myths in the Bible into words that would fit modern culture, in order to reveal deeper truths about spiritual experience.

What does Bultmann argue the purpose of the mythic stories was?

Expressions of how the Gospel authors experienced the kerygma - their attempt to put the spiritual impact of Christianity into words.

Which two myths did Bultmann see in the NT?

• The Jewish belief in the apocalypse, which history had shown to be false.

• Gnosticism - the belief that all creation will be involved in a spiritual battle featuring demonic forces and humans, each being a ‘spark of light’.

What is the purpose of the kerygma according to Bultmann?

Invites us to make a personal decision to commit ourselves to Christ.

Which two scholars give the two views of Jesus?

• N.T. Wright

• John Dominic Crossan

Give a quote from N.T. Wright about worldview

“There is no such thing as a point of view that isn’t anybody’s point of view.”

What does Wright mean by worldview?

A set of assumptions that uses story and symbols to answer basic questions such as “Who are we?” It is the lens through which we view the world.

What is realism?

The idea, conceived in the Enlightenment, that there is a real objective world that we can perceive and understand.

What is critical realism according to Wright?

Seeks a middle ground between naive realism (we can know the world exactly as it is) and radical scepticism (we can’t have any objective knowledge).

What does critical realism allow for?

A framework where we can know the world, but always through the lens of our own interpretations and perspectives.

What does Wright mean by the “private attic”?

We separate the life of Jesus/faith from history because supernatural events don’t fit realism, and we can’t prove faith like we can history.

What does Wright think abot the “private attic”?

We shouldn’t develop ideas unsupported by history, shouldn’t remain in an attic away from historical investigation, but we also shouldn’t assume history will disprove Christianity.

Which worldview is important in Wright’s study of Jesus and why?

Jewish worldview - Jesus was initiating a movement in announcing himself as the Messiah. The worldview at the time was waiting for the imminent Kingdom of God.

What does Wright say about the Messiah who gave his life?

• In Judaism is a victorious figure, so Jesus’ death showed many Jews that Jesus wasn’t the Messiah.

• But Jesus reinterpreted the meaning of Messiah since he rejected violent revolution - viewed his death as part of his Messianic task.

Why is the resurrection significant for Jesus as the Messiah?

All other messiah movements ended when the figure died, but not Jesus’. The resurrection confirmed to Jesus’ followers he was the Messiah. The fact that Christianity grew so large is confirmation for Wright that the resurrection was a historical event.

What is Crossan’s view of Jesus?

Mediterranean Jewish peasant

What three sources does Crossan use to study the historical Jesus?

• Cross-cultural anthropology

• Jewish and Greco-Roman history

• Literary and textual study of the NT and other non-canonical texts

What does Crossan believe Matthew, Luke, and John all used as a source?

The Gospel of Mark - they are one testimony, not four.

What is an Apocryphal Gospel and give an example

It is not in the Bible and not considered canon, e.g. the Gospel of Thomas

What does the Gospel of Thomas contain?

Sayings, a collection of Jesus’ statements. No mention of birth or resurrection narratives.

What does “Q” refer to?

Some NT scholars believe Matthew and Luke had not only Mark as their source, but an unknown sayings Gospel called Q.

What does Crossan conclude from the fact that there is only one source for the birth and resurrection narratives, written later?

Birth and resurrection narratives were not historical events but were stories added later in order to express the significance of Jesus.

How does Crossan explain the power of Jesus’ movement continuing after his death?

The Bible without incarnation/resurrection gives us a view of Jesus as a social revolutionary.

In what ways was Jesus a social revolutionary?

Jesus challenged various forms of inequality and wanted to eat with everyone despite their social status (even though this contrasted ancient Mediterranean culture). He accepted those who were considered impure or ostracised.

Why does Crossan think Jesus was crucified?

Jesus called for non-violent resistance and justice, and the Romans crucified him because he was a threat to their power.

How is Crossan criticised?

Since he claims Jesus didn’t perform miracles, didn’t rise from the dead nor die to save us from sin, William Lane Craig says that Crossan is “literally an atheist”.

How does Crossan respond to Lane Craig’s criticism?

He claims he is “trying to understand the stories of Jesus, not refute them.”

He says “I cannot imagine a more miraculous life than non-violent resistance to violence … I cannot imagine a bigger miracle than standing in front of a tank in Tiananmen Square.”