Covenant

·         “agreement” with God

·         Abram = Old Covenant

o   Abram and Sarah can’t have children; God gives him Isaac then tells him to sacrifice child

o   The Lord makes a covenant with Abram – “to your descendants I will give this land” (in reference to Canaan [Israel/Palestine])

·         Moses = Old Covenant II

o   Burning Bush (Sees burning bush and God commands him to deliver Jews out of Egpyt)

o   Exodus

o   Ten Commandments

·         Jesus = New Covenant    

o   New Moses: deliver people from sin

Kingdom

·         Israel

·         First, there were judges and no appointed king, different people would step forward and rule

·         First Kings = Saul, David, Solomon (all sinned and removed)

·         Divided kingdom post Solomon

o   Israel = 10 Northern Tribes (conquered by Assyrians)

o   Judah = 2 Southern Tribes [Jerusalem] (conquered by Babylonians)

§  **All because they disobeyed God**

o   First Temple Destroyed

Exile

·         Babylonian captivity from 587-538 BCE

·         Hellenization

o   Alexander the Great – Greeks conquered known world with intentions to implement a common language, culture, religion, intermarriage.  Jews resisted this.

o   Antiochus IV – Desecrated Second Temple (puts a statue of Zeus in the temple), forbade Torah and dietary laws of Jews, persecuted and tortured

o   Maccabee brothers – drove out Greeks (where Hanukkah comes from)

o   Roman Conquest – sense of longing for saving by God; lays foundation for Messianic expectations

Messiah

·         Expectations – God would send new king (messiah or “anointed” one) to establish new covenant

o   Would rescue from evil embodied by romans

o   Saducees (aristocratic temple leaders) thought: messiah will keep with status quo, since we are fairly happy with the way things are

o   Pharisees (lay artisans/merchants): would rigorously observe law

o   Zealots (descendants of Maccabees): would overthrow Rome in armed revolution

o   Essenes (desert ascetics): also thought would overthrow Rome

·         Jesus didn’t fit any of these: was a peaceful man; no armed rebellion; refused to get involved in politics; didn’t observe laws (such as Sabbath); upside down kingdom (belongs to outcasts/sinners/etc); did not overthrow Rome (challenged Jewish Temple leaders instead)

Tanak

·         Tanak = Law / Prophets / Writings

o   Acronym for Torah (law), Neviim (prophets), Ketuvim (writings)

o   Scriptures broken down into three sections: Law, Prophets, Writings

o   Tanak = Hebrew Bible

·         OT reorganized and subdivided books of Tanak: 39 vs 24

Higher Criticism

·         Attempt to set out History of the composition of the bible as if it were any other book; movement started in 19^th century

Canonization

·         Select which texts seem most “clearly inspired”. Not all books or stories made it into the bible.

·         Canon (standard) = authoritative. Books that made it in are more “reliable” than those that did not

Documentary Hypothesis

·          idea that Torah/Pentateuch is written by several authors (initials JEDP)  because of stylistic differences; and compiled by Ezra

·         Jewish/Christian believe that Moses wrote Pentateuch (first five books) [Torah is interchangeable with Pentateuch)

·         Objections (arguments as to why differences)

o   Latest date: Samuel, which is 400 years after Exodus

o   Samaritan Pentateuch – since Solomon, Samaritans were enemies who would not have accepted book by Ezra

o   Authors vary style depending on purpose

Dead Sea Scrolls

·         Collection of almost a thousand texts; 150 BCE

·         Biblical manuscripts

·         Provided a group of manuscripts 1000 years older than the oldest known Hebrew texts

Abraham

·         Made first Covenant with God

·         Was unable to have child with Sarah; but then when he was old God blessed Sarah with a child, Isaac

·         Isaac = child of promises [God gives Isaac to Abram; then tells Abram to kill Isaac to test his faith]

·         God says “to your descendants I will give this land” [in reference to Canaan which is Israel/Palestine]

Moses

·         Makes Second covenant with God

·         Burning Bush – receives message from God through burning bush to lead Jews out of Egypt

·         Exodus of Jews

·         Ten Commandments is given to Moses

Passover

·         Feast to celebrate Israelites escape in Exodus

·         Holy Spirit “passes over” houses with blood on door”; otherwise, firstborns are killed

Exodus

·         Moses = lead Jews out of Egpyt to Canaan

·         Demonstrates key principle of Christianity = faith in God’s plans

Ten Commandments

·         Given to Moses on Mount Sinai

·      Foundational laws that Christians should adhere to

·         Elaboration on what terms of New Covenant are

Saul (aka Paul)

·         First king

·         Persecuted Christians until conversion on road to Damascus where he experiences a vision from God

·         Renamed “Paul” as symbol of conversion

·         Then fervently begins to preach and spread word of Christianity; starts many churches especially among gentiles in Asia Minor

·         Known as “apostle to the gentiles”

·         Performs many healings, etc. miracles

·         Wrote 13 letters; became prescriptive of what church is supposed to do and be like (what does it mean to be a Christian, what should church be like, etc.)

·         Imprisoned twice and beheaded by Nero

 Divided Kingdom

·         Post-Solomon kingship: kingdom split

o   Israel: 10 northern tribes (conquered by Assyrians)

o   Judah: 2 southern tribes (Jerusalem) [conquered by Babylonians]

§  *All because they disobeyed God*

·         Temple destroyed

Israel

·         10 northern tribes

·         Conquered by Assyrians

Judah

·         2 southern tribes (where Jerusalem is located)

·         Conquered by Babylonians

Second Temple

·         Comes at end of Babylonian Captivity

·         Not same glory as first temple, but reestablishment of identity and relationship with God

Alexander the Great

·         “Hellenization”

·         Goal = give everyone common language, culture, religion, get groups to intermarry

·         Israelites believe they are God’s chosen people, so they resist Alexander

Maccabees

·         Brothers who lead movement to drive out Greeks

·         this is where Hanukkah comes from

Roman conquest

·         Conquer after Greeks

·         Context in which Christianity begins to rise

o   Longing for rescuing and salvation from God

o   Which leads to Messianic Expectation

Isaiah

·         Isaiah 53:4-5 :  “By his wounds we are healed”;

o   Pentecostal healing passage; Atonement passage = divine healing

·         Prediction of Messiah

Sadducees

o   Aristocratic temple leaders

o   Messiah will keep with status quo, since we are fairly happy with the way things are

Pharisees 

o   Lay artisans/merchants

o   Messiah will rigorously observe the law; things have been too lax and that is why God is not with us

Zealots 

o   Descendent from Maccabees

o   Messiah will lead armed revolution against oppressors

Essenes 

o   Desert Ascetics

o   Messiah will overthrow Rome

Matthew

·         Written in Antioch

·         LARGE overlaps with Mark (90% verbatim quotations)

·         A lot from author “q”

·         Themes:

o   Written to Jewish Christian audience

o   Jesus is new Moses

Mark

·         Earliest, shortest gospel

·         Written in Rome

·         Warns about end of the world, persecution of Christians

·         Themes:

o   Writes to audience of Roman Gentile Christians

o   Suffering of Jesus, misunderstood Messiah

o   Sense of urgency; Mark feels like world is going to end soon

o   Miracles (40% of text involves miracles)

Luke

·         Gentile physician from Antioch, Syria and companion to Paul credited with writing two New Testament books

·     Written after mark

·         Also overlaps with Mark (50%)

·         A lot from “q”

·         Themes:

o   Audience: Theophilus; also universal audience

o   Jesus ancestry traced to Adam vs. Abraham

o   Merciful savior who forgives sins

o   Conflict of story of Jesus vs. Powers of darkness

John

·         Gospel number four

·         Fewer stories but clearer chronology than synoptic gospels

·         Themes:

o   Audience = Ephesians/churches in Asia Minor

o   Divinity of Jesus = stresses that Jesus is the Messiah/divine Son of God

Q

·         Unknown author in gospels

·         Short for “quelle” which means source

·         Hypothetical written source which Matthew/Luke used as a basis for their gospels [same quotations from Jesus in the same order]

 Two-source hypothesis

• Matthew and Luke independently drew on Mark and Q, not necessarily on each other

Deuterocanon / Apocrypha

• Two related terms meaning second canon or hidden writings

·        Books that didn’t make the cut for the bible

·         Deuterocanon – those who believe

·         Apocrypha – those who don’t

Christos

·         Greek for “anointed”

(Flavius) Josephus

·         Argument of “was Jesus a real person” - Pro-Jesus

·         Jewish historian who worked for Roman emperors after conquest

·       Discusses Jesus as a teacher, wonder-worker; crucifixion, traditions of resurrection, idea that prophets foretold much about Jesus

·         Refers to him as “alleged Christ”, meaning that he believes he was real but not that he was the Messiah

Tacitus

·         Recorded that Jesus was crucified under Pilate

·         Argument of “was Jesus a real person” – Pro-Jesus

·         Good correspondence of historical details in his writings that fit well with Gospels

St. Jerome / Vulgate

·         Translated Greek New Testament into Latin

·         Influential, standard translation for a long time

King James Bible / Authorized Version

·         Written in 1611

·         Becomes standard translation for many years

Inerrancy

·         Was every word divinely inspired/ dictated by God?

·         Reformation doctrine to counter Catholic tradition

·         “eternal life; utopia; afterlife”

·         Offer of repentance from sin

·         Implication that it is something new as a result of Jesus’s arrival

·         Hasn’t fully arrived yet 

·         TV mini-series

·         Pope Paul VI asked producer to make this

·         Produced by Mel Gibson

·         Last 12 hours of Jesus’ life

·         Jesus put on cross

·         Intended to terrorize/dissuade witnesses from crime and make an example out of the crucified

·         Jesus rises from tomb three days after burial (Easter)

·         Large piece of cloth used to wrap Jesus’ body

·         Imprinted image of tortured man’s face, hands, body

·         Importance isn’t necessarily the cloth itself, but the image that’s on it

·         Face cloth

·         Used from cross to tomb, removed, and left in tomb (because would have been improper to remove from tomb because blood stained)

·         Same blood type, myrrh, aloe, pollen grains unique to Jerusalem as on Shroud

·         Dots of blood caused by small sharp objects (crown of thorns?)

·        Cloth that could have been used by a woman to wipe Jesus’ face

·         Name of debater who argues for the resurrection based on the difficulty of otherwise explaining Jesus’s burial, empty tomb, post-mortem appearances, and disciples’ belief in the resurrection

·         Pro-Resurrection

·         4 Key historical facts, relatively undisputed by historians

·         Reason for Resurrection = miracle

·         Anti-Resurrection

·         Methodological Atheism

·         Miracles are improbable

·         Acts of Apostles/Acts of Holy Spirit

·         Healing and miracles

·         Big question: Do Gentiles first have to become Jews to become Christians? Do they have to observe the same law? Then by implication, how important is the law?

·         Answer: no; “salvation by grace and faith, not by the law”

·         Letters/message – Not people

·         Many written by Paul

·         [Non Pauline] James, (Simon) Peter, Jude, John

·         Prophets, teachers, miracle workers, healers, helpers, etc.

·         “one sent”, personally commissioned by Jesus, not just 12 to spread message of Christianity

o   Belief that the Second Coming would occur on Oct. 22, 1844

·         US Baptist;  founder of Millerites (1840s)

·         Predicted that the Second Coming would occur on October 22, 1844

·         Matched biblical predictions to historical events

o   When nothing happened, it became known as “great disappointment”

o   This led to people founding many other things ex. Jehovahs witnesses, seventh day Adventists, etc

o   John Nelson Darby

o   7 eras in which God tests human obedience; Humans fail tests but God proves himself to be faithful anyways

o More comforting idea that Christians might avoid Tribulation if Rapture comes first

o   Jewish rejection of Jesus postponed Second Coming

o   Era of Gentile church

·         Dispensationalism

·         Scottish teenager who prophesied pretribulation rapture

·         Influenced Darby’s ideas

·         End of world

·         Mount Megiddo – many battles fought there historically (because it’s a crossroads of major trade routes)

·         Many thought end of world would occur here

·         H.A. Baker – missionary to Southwest China

·         Believes he is experiencing visions of orphaned Chinese boys

·         Persecuted Christians

·         This Roman emperor had Peter and Paul executed and coated other Christians with pitch to burn them as lanterns for imperial parties

·         Beheaded Paul

·         Rebaptized “traitors” of Scriptures in Diocletian persecution

·         Tunisia/Algeria

·         Was killed by a mad cow

·         Put on display and killed for entertainment for being a Christian

·         Lay Christian woman who kept a prison journal before she was gored by a mad cow in 203

o   Bishop of Lugdunum

o   Opposed Gnosticism as heretical

o   Attested to canonical status of books in today’s New Testament

o   Synonymous with Heresy

o   “Jesus did not really die on the cross”

·         Creed was used as a summary of Christian doctrine for baptismal candidates in the churches of Rome

·         AKA Roman Symbol/ first written in interrogatory Creed of Hippolytus--->  given in Q/A format with baptismal candidates answering in the affirmative that they believed each statement

·         Creed = agreed-upon doctrines

o   Holy Spirit Proceeds from Father and Son

o   Response to Arianism

o   Focus on Divinity of Christ

o   Arius = deacon in Egypt; Jesus not fully God

o   Son of God did not always exist, but was created and therefore distinct from God

o   Latin word controversially added to Nicene Creed in a council called by Charlemagne in 589

o   Christ is both divine and human

o   Christ’s divinity and humanity united in one nature

o   This branch of the church concentrated in Persia and active in missions to China rejected the Chalcedonian Creed on the grounds that it did not adequately affirm the human nature of Jesus

o   Christ human but not divine

§  Second century opponent of Christianity who described public healings and exorcisms (and whom Origen debated)

§  According to Origen, Celsus attributed Jesus’ miracles to power from demons or magical enchantments

o   Alexandrian theologian who debated Celsus, calling his writings a fabricated story

·         Father of church history; Ecclesiastical History

·         Bishop of Caesarea during Diocletian persecution, rise of Constantine

·         Roman emperor who wanted to find the most powerful God

·         Dramatic conversion experience to Christianity

·         Saw vision of Cross superimposed on the son; in a dream, Christ told him to conquer under sign of the cross

o   Marked shields with chi and rho(P and R)

·         Beginning of merger of Church and State

·         Also set foundation for Christianity in Italy

·         AKA Edict of Tolerance

·         Issued by Constantine

·         Ended persecution of Christians and returned their confiscated property

·         Built by Constantine as new capital for Roman empire

·         Istanbul

·         Wanted a new city that hadn’t been previously “polluted” by former worship of Pagan gods

·         All other religions outlawed

·         Captured by Muslim Turks in 1453

·         This influential leader of the early church lived in Algeria and reported miracles occurring at the shrines of martyrs in the fifth century

·         “Grace of Christ is indispensable to human freedom”

·         The world’s belief in Christ is the result of divine power, not of human persuasion

·         Monk in Egypt to whom miracles were credited in the third century

·         First known ascetic who went into the wilderness

·         Shift from everyone praying à embarking on pilgrimages to shrines of martyrs

o   Fled to deserts from sinful cities to avoid pleasure

o   People sought Desert Fathers for healings

o   They didn’t want to appear “proud”, so they would reject requests for miracles

o   Dualism: spirit=good/body=bad

·         AKA East-West Schism

·         Mutual excommunication of Catholics from Orthodox

·         “Officially exclude someone from participation in the sacraments/services of the church”

·         Name for dispute over whether paintings of Christian figures are permissible aids to worship

·         Emperor Leo III banned veneration [honoring] of icons

o   Blamed loss of territory on idolatry

·         Iconoclast = anti-icon

·         Iconodule = pro-icon (“good teaching tool”)

·         Caliphate = dominion of a successor; Islamic form of government representing the political unity and leadership of the Muslim world

·         Christians are pressured to convert to Islam; they’re persecuted, massacred

·         Crusades intensified Anti-Christian sentiment from Muslims

o   After fall of Roman Empire, Roman Catholic Church fell into moral corruption

o   Pope is monarch

o   Gregory VII reforms: papacy “never erred nor will it ever”

o   Heightened authority of popes, monasticism

o   30-50% of population dead

o   “Gods punishment for collective sin”

o   Jews blamed

o   “rebirth/revival” out of Dark Ages

o   Humanism: poetry, love, art, religious reforms

·         Universities founded to turn belief into knowledge through reason

o   Physical communications/expressions of God’s grace

o   Church taught that sacraments always work

o   Kind of like repentance for sins to church

o   Severe punishments (like not ever being able to eat meat again, etc)

o   People put off confession until so old/sick they were excused from penance

o   However; before anointing you must go through Penance to prove worthy of receiving anointing

o   “Condition of purification or temporary punishment to be made ready for Heaven”

o   Release from purgatory

o   Becomes a strategy to recruit soldiers for Crusades/get funds for Church

·         Sacrament that changed in purpose from physical to spiritual healing

·  Takes healing from practice of common man à Sacrament performed by higher ups

·         Popes challenged authority of European monarchies

o   Bishops held property in their own name and were wealthy

o   Pope removed right to appoint bishops from secular rulers

·         Violent conflict must be performed as a righteous act of faith

·         First time Christians are seen as violent, not pacifist people

·         This author of On a Military Matter denied that the third crusade was justified.

·         Responsible for First Crusade

·         Promised those who fought Islam forgiveness of sins

·         Requested by Byzantine empire for military aid

·         French village blacksmith (Orlando Bloom) defends Jerusalem vs. Muslims battling to reclaim city from Christians

·         Julian of Norwich (mystical writer) = shift from motivation by fear to motivation by love

·         Wrote book The Imitation of Christ, one of most famous devotionals of all time

o   Disciple credited with evangelizing India

·         Ethiopian king who built a New Jerusalem, renamed the local river the Jordan, installed arks containing law tablets in churches, and instituted male circumcision in the thirteenth century