Definition and context for the word “gospel”: evangelism, “good news, good report”, theologically driven accounts of Jesus’s life, teachings, and deed

Commonalities between Gospel and bios: Both have a didactic (teaching) purpose. Events are chosen strategically to portray the character of the subject. Gospel authors reflect on their writings, heavy use of oral sources, gives soul focus to the main character to subject, short-to-medium length: content sayings, great deed, stories, close focus on the subjects final days

Unique characteristics of each Gospel: similarly in form to Greco-Roman bioi, but unique in sources and content

“Book of signs” and “book of glory”: John, 7 major signs such as the water to wine, cleansing temple, healing of royal official’s sons, healing the paralytic at the pool of Bethesheba, feeding 5,000, healing a man born blind raising Lazarus from dead. The book of Glory is a period of teaching that highlights Jesus washes the disciples feet and gives the great commandment, farewell discourse, Jesus “high priestly prayer,” Jesus arrest, Jesus Crucifixion, Jesus resurrection

The Holy Spirt in Luke and Acts: In Luke there’s a complete emphasis on the work of the Holy Spirit on Jesus ministry

Theophilus: a generic destination for any ideal reader

Divine reversal: salvation is the projects formed from this

“Gospel of the Outcast”: extended narrative of Jesus’s journey to Jerusalem. Here is where a unique element of Luke’s gospel occurs, a central section where Jesus’s teaching on God’s love for outsiders and sinners, including gentiles

Pentecost: outpouring of the Spirit, promised by Jesus in the gospel, the first Christian sermon by Peter to the Jewish onlookers

Jerusalem Council: accepting gentiles into worship community

Definition of an epistle: a first century letter

Two kind of epistles: occasional (specific audience or occasion) and encyclical (broad audience)

Amanuensis: the person who wrote what Paul dictated possibly into greek

Cultus deorum: the cultivation of gods

Major themes in Paul’s letters: The gospel and the law, new creation-in christ, gods victory over dark powers, the imminent return of Jesus, inclusion of the gentiles into the people of God, bodily resurrection (participation in Christs death), new covenant instituted by christ

Honor/shame: do certain things in terms of honor and when they’ve disobeyed god that is being in honorable and they face shame within their community

Paterfamilias: the male householder

Onesimus and Philemon: onesimus is slave philemon is master and got put into prison and wrote letter to Paul

Authorship and audience of James: James is the brother of Jesus and he writes to the 12 tribes of the diaspora

Genre of James’s writing: collection of paraenetic material with little to no internal coherence, hellenistic, faith and wisdom, diatribe (direct address, rhetorical questions hypothetical interlocutors, wisdom literature

Faith and works in James: true faith begets work, doing good work begets faith

Themes in the letters of John: patience in trials, true wisdom, wealth and poverty, the importance of rights speech, prayer, faith and works

Possible purpose of 2 and 3 John: they were originally cover letters that accomplished 1 John to at least 2 communities, watch for troublemakers and false teachers

The meaning of “antichrist” in John’s letters: false teachers

The meaning of “the world” in John’s writing: the cosmos and all people therein, the fallen powers that influence humanity in sinful ways. The place where God’s rule is resisted

Hebrews and the argument from good to great: how the mediators are good but God is great, aka hes better periodt

Different mediators mentioned in Hebrews: angels, moses, sacrifice, the high priest

What does “faith” mean in the New Testament? loyalty is what faith means within the new testament, the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen

Purpose of Revelation: comfort in the face of not persecution and warning not to accommodate pagan roman society, not fear

The Old Testament in Revelation: Johns favorite book is Eziekiel, Daniel (son of man and beastly empires) and Isaiah (title)

What do beasts represent in Revelation? Roman Empire, to correlate the power of God, the bad things can get along with the good things