midterm

Question 1

586 BCE

Answer 1

Babylonian Exile
– Was during the time when Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians and Jews were kept captive/exiled
– Jewish First temple was destroyed as well
– “The Temple’s destruction was so traumatic because the Temple had been the very center of Jewish life and symbolic for Jews for many centuries.”
– Jews finally able to return to Israel after being exile
– Attempted to reconstruct their history and define their past

Question 2

323 BCE

Answer 2

Death of Alexander the Great
– Start of Hellenization
– This is where many judaism groups appeared…a time with large dispersion of Jews

Question 3

167 BCE

Answer 3

Maccabean Revolt
– Political rebellion
– Led by priest, occured in Israel
– Tired of rulers forcing them to become more Greek
– Drove out rulers, rededicating the temple, & reclaiming the promised land
– Ban of Jews in defending Jewish culture and religion against its Hellenization

Question 4

63 BCE

Answer 4

Siege of Jerusalem
– Pompey the Great comes to Israel & takes over
– Romans do not leave & destroy much of the city, including the second Temple

– Important to Christianity: because later on in the future after the exile was less prevalent, their way to worship God was by synagogue services instead of animal sacrifice. Synagogues are important as this was when Hebrew laws were written down for Jews to study and show their faith to God. This written scripture was also what Paul talks about not needing to do to convert people to Christianity (Paul intentions were not to compare which was better but rather gather authority). (statement was concluded with using words such as 63 BCE Synagogue, Babylonians, The Temple, Jerusalem)

Question 5

70 CE

Answer 5

Romans captured Jerusalem
– Destruction of temple for a second time, which means that the Sadducees base power was destroyed. The essenes and zealots were destroyed military wise. The leading two sects were the Jewish Christians and Pharisees.
– New Testament begins to be written

Question 6

Alexander the Great

Answer 6

Died in 323 BCE
– Empire he tried to set up did not last
– Empire divided amongst generals after his death
– Attempted to spread Greek culture in a process called Hellenization (aka his reign & legacy)
– Led to spread of Greek language across the Mediterranean

Question 7

Allegorizing

Answer 7

When concrete details are taken to represent abstract entities
– Helped make the Bible more relevant by turning the particular and historical into something more applicable & general

Question 8

Apostle

Answer 8

Any one of the 12 disciples chosen by Christ
– Specifically chosen by Jesus to spread the gospel after his death & resurrection
– Also can apply to others, especially Paul who considered himself an Apostle and was converted to Christianity after Jesus’ death (said to have received a vision of the resurrected Jesus, who commission him to be the Apostle to the gentiles)

Question 9

Typological

Answer 9

See people/events in the Old Testament as foreshadowing people/events in the New Testament
– Not just the New Testament that the Old Testament appeared to foreshadow, but later Christian teachings and practices as well

EX: The idea of the Trinity was found to be foreshadowed in the “three men” who appear to Abraham in Genesis

Connected to the Four Assumptions

Question 10

“According to the letter”

Answer 10

According to the laws outlined in the Torah
Taking it literally
Associated with Jews

Question 11

“According to the spirit”

Answer 11

Looking for more spiritual meaning, allegorical/typological significance
– Became preferable and superior way of reading scripture for early Christians

Question 12

Four Assumptions

Answer 12

1) The Bible is a fundamentally cryptic text
2) The Bible is a book of lessons directed to modern day readers
3) The Bible has no contradictions or mistakes (Perfect book)
4) The Bible is a divinely given text, with God speaking directly to us or through the prophets

Question 13

Fourfold Interpretation

Answer 13

Led to many issues due to the differences in interpretation
1) The literal sense - teaches the facts or deeds
2) The allegorical - what you should believe
3) The moral sense - what you should do
4) The anagogical - where you are headed

Question 14

Historical-Critical Method

Answer 14

Allows us to access the diversity that these texts contain
– Can see the nuances, meanings, & emphases in the texts
– Create opportunities to set the record straight by identifying mistaken interpretations

Question 15

Textual Criticism

Answer 15

study of the bible/ancient texts in original languages in addition to translations

Question 16

Historical Criticism

Answer 16

deals with actual historical content of scriptural/early Christian texts by way of historiography & archaeological discovery

Question 17

Source Criticism

Answer 17

deals with the study of written sources that lie underneath the Bible/early Christian texts in order to see the hidden layers (assumption that Gospel writers are creating narratives)

Question 18

Form Criticism

Answer 18

emphasizes the oral tradition & looks for the least common denominator (searching for basic story & how it has changed over time - like telephone)

Question 19

Tradition Criticism

Answer 19

method for analyzing biblical literature & looks at the way a text develops before reaching its final form, looking at multiple versions

Question 20

Redaction Criticism

Answer 20

concentrates on the way an author adapts early materials to their own theological ends

Question 21

Augustus Caesar

Answer 21

Rules from 27 BCE - 14 BCE
– (Aka Octavian, Julius’ nephew)
– supported laws that allowed Jews protection to worship as they chose

Question 22

Babylonians

Answer 22

An ancient region based in Mesopotamia who destroyed the Temple

Question 23

Canon

Answer 23

An accepted list of scripture
– Fixed set of books
– Establishing boundaries
– Books considered sacred & in the Bible

Question 24

Circumcision

Answer 24

Jews believed in circumcision 8 days after the birth of a boy (had religious significance)
– Circumcision was enjoined upon the biblical patriarch Abraham, his descendants and their slaves as “a token of the covenant” concluded with him by God for all generations, an “everlasting covenant” (Genesis 17:13), thus it is commonly observed by two (Judaism and Islam) of the Abrahamic religions.

Question 25

Covenant

Answer 25

Special agreement made between Jews and God, who led them out of Egypt via Moses

Question 26

Diaspora

Answer 26

Consequence due to the destruction of the Jerusalem temple (both times)
– Led Jews to become scattered all over the Mediterranean after Alexander the Great’s reign
– Urbanites take in Greek culture/environment
– Jews living in Israel are more hesitant to Hellenization

– A Greek word that means “dispersion” or “scattering”
– State of being for Jews who did not live in Judea but still regarded it as their homeland and themselves as Jews

Question 27

Disciple

Answer 27

Dedicated follower of Jesus
– Was baptized and has faith

Question 28

Emperor Cult

Answer 28

Power and legitimacy of the state was personified in the Emperor
– Point was not necessarily to believe in the emperor
– Sacrifice was necessary to show your political allegiance

Honoring the emperor during his reign or in Rome after his death Emperors in Rome could be declared divus/divine after their death, thereby elevating them to the level of the gods or demigods.
– This cause a problem with Jews as they only worship their God and what was told in the Hebrew bible

Question 29

Essenes

Answer 29

Believed in living life away from hustle & bustle (isolated in caves usually)
– a Judaism activist group that rejected the Sadducee high priests as illegitimate and avoided the Temple. They also thought the Pharisees were not strict enough. They were a closed and secretive society that is described as monastic. Eager to see a fight between jews and gentiles.

Question 30

Eusebius of Caesarea

Answer 30

Among the first few Church historians
– Wrote Ecclesiastical History between 312-314 (CE?)
– Trying to write a history that begins at the time of the holy Apostles until his own time ~ 4th century
– Begins with Jesus

Question 31

Gentiles

Answer 31

Non-Jews

Question 32

Gnosis

Answer 32

knowledge; used to refer to secret, mysterious, mystical knowledge only given to certain people

Question 33

Gnosticism

Answer 33

– Gnosticism: pessimistic about material universe and human beings
– Unknown and untouchable God who emanated an outflow of other beings
– Something terrible happened resulting in something divine escaping and material culture
– Divine element is present, people are unaware until the redeemer (Christ) brings forth knowledge and ascends back into heaven
– Saved by gnosis/knowledge → those who become aware claim to have secret religious knowledge arising from personal insights (radical change)
– Knew who Jesus was, who they are, & how to escape oppressive powers the rule the universe
– Gnostics do not care about Hebrew scripture

EX: The Gospel of Mary is a gnostic text

Question 34

Docetism

Answer 34

appear; Jesus only appeared to be human to interact with ignorant human beings including the disciples who could not quite comprehend his divinity

Question 35

Harmonization

Answer 35

Attempt to compile the canonical gospels of the Christian New Testament into a single account
– Either a single, merged narrative or rather a tabular format with one column for each gospel (aka synopsis)

Question 36

Hebrew Bible

Answer 36

Hebrew Bible/Tanakh & the Old Testament are essentially identical
– Consists of the Torah/Pentateuch
– Before this, we have 3 sacred books: Law, Prophets, & Writings

Question 37

Hellenization

Answer 37

Spread or permeation of Greek culture throughout Mediterranean (process of living like a Greek)
– Began with Alexander the Great

– Important to Christianity: because this was a time when Jews were hellenized, some jews were in favor of it and some were not in favor of it. Those in favor supported a ruler who placed Greek gods in the Jewish Temple and said no to sacrifices. Those who were not in favor of the ruler went into war. The cause of this war caused a long lasting effect of superiority from Jews and non-jews. (connect this to Paul and how he didnt want that to happen) And at the same time these non-jews or outsiders were called Gentiles.

Question 38

Ignatius

Answer 38

Bishop of Antioch in Syria, arrested in 110 CE
– Wanted to be a martyr
– Saw his imminent execution and death as a gift/opportunity
– Eager to die and imitate Christ’s passion, believing that it would grant him true discipleship
– Asks that the Christians of Rome do not interfere with his trial

Question 39

Jerusalem

Answer 39

Heartland of Jews

Question 40

Jesus

Answer 40

Main biblical figure
– Jew from Galilee
– Begins to preach at 30
– Executed in 29 CE & rose on third day
– Stuck around for 40 days before ascending into heaven & is said to come back to judge the living & the dead
– Considered as the Messiah & the Son of God
– Jesus movement begins in 1st century
– Christology: the investigation of the meaning and significance of Jesus Christ

Question 41

Jews

Answer 41

Palestine, Israel
– Monotheistic (worship one God, Yahweh)
– Acknowledge existence of other gods, just did not worship them
– Less about belief, more about practice
– Special agreement/covenant with God who led them out of Egypt via Moses
– Believed that through moses, God gave them a Law they needed to obey in order to maintain their side of the covenant
– Promised Land = Israel
– Sacrifice to God in Jerusalem temple

Question 42

Jewish Christians

Answer 42

Jews who accepted Jesus as the Messiah

Question 43

Judaizers

Answer 43

Forced people to live like Jews
– Paul believed that they should not be imposing their way of living/customs onto others, especially when they themselves do not follow it all the way through

Question 44

Logos

Answer 44

Related to stoicism
– Logic/Reason
– Also used as a term to refer to Jesus by John (logos emanates from the “one”)
– The “one” = perfect, no direct contact with the world, & brought the world into emanation

Question 45

Maccabean Revolt

Answer 45

167 BCE
– Political rebellion
– Led by priest, occured in Israel
– Tired of rulers forcing them to become more Greek
– Drove out rulers, rededicating the temple, & reclaiming the promised land

Question 46

Marconite Christianity

Answer 46

Marcion of Synope (85-164 CE?; excommunicated in 144)
– Mild view but negative view of Jewish God
– Concluded that the God in the Old Testament was not the good father of Jesus
– Father unknown to us until Jesus revealed him
– Did not accept the religious authority of the Old Testament (believed it had no connection to Christianity, but did accept it as a historical document)
– Wanted to disentangle Christianity from the early Jewish God

Question 47

Martyrdom

Answer 47

Martyr - someone incredibly devout, faithful until death
– Choose to die for their faith (sacrifice)
– Martyrdom was seen as a communal practice, grounded in eucharistic practices
– Imitatio Christi (imitating Passion)

Question 48

Truths of

Answer 48

“The truth that: The whole social order of the (Roman) world is in serious malady. Their God is more powerful and more just than the emperor. The confession of believers can defeat not only earthly rulers but cosmic powers of injustice and violence. Women as well as men, old and young, slave and free can be fearless and bold,
enduring and victorious. Believers suffer no pain; Satan’s
minions and surrogates cannot harm them, no matter what
their lengths of cruelty and depravity. Violent revenge is
morally justified, divinely sanctioned—or not: revenge and
violence, cynicism and despair are always the tools only of
unjust powers. Every story is a story of God’s compassion.
Death is life.”

“But I think, perhaps most
importantly, the truth they tell, the truth we may need most
to hear, is the reality of compassion in the midst of all the
lies, the body’s pain, the agony of human cruelty, our
complicity and complacency, death itself. The reality of
compassion.”

Question 49

Mary Magdalene

Answer 49

One of the individuals Jesus appeared to after his death
– The Gospel of Mary: other disciples are grieving Jesus’ death
– Mary attempts to comfort them & describes a vision where Jesus appears to her
– They don’t believe her

Question 50

Sacrifice

Answer 50

Sacrifice was often used as way to demonstrate political allegiance to the Roman empire

Sacrifice also connects to Martyrdom

Jesus’ sacrifice via the crucifixion

Question 51

Messiah

Answer 51

Jesus; a title given to the person believed to be the saviour, who has been chosen to bring salvation to humankind.

Question 52

Monotheism

Answer 52

Worship of one God
– Jews were monotheistic

Question 53

Non-canonical

Answer 53

Aka apocryphal texts
– EX: Proto-Gospel, The Gospel of Peter - written around 2nd century, dismissed for being too heretical, carried anti-jewish sentiment

Question 54

Dead Sea Scrolls

Answer 54

– Hebrew manuscript that had regulations and religious writing that did not appear in the Hebrew Bible
– Important to Christianity: because it’s one of the most convincing methods of proof of Jesus’ existence. Because they date back so closely to the time of Christ, they are all the more solidified as honest records of the Hebrew Bible

Question 55

Nag Hammadi

Answer 55

– Both considered gnostic texts (referring to the secret, mystical, mysterious knowledge only bestowed onto certain people)

Question 56

Pagan/Paganism

Answer 56

Term used in 4th century
– Referred to people within the Roman empire who practiced polytheism or ethnic religions other than Judaism

Question 57

Passion Narratives

Answer 57

Referring to the death, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus
– 3 different accounts: synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke are considered synoptic gospels)

EX:
– Luke’s account of the Passion includes a moment where Jesus speaks to his father and asks for his forgiveness towards those who are crucifying him “for they know not what they do”
– Matthew’s & Mark’s account does not include that portion, but do both mention the moment in which the inscription that reads “This is Jesus the King of the Jews” is placed over Jesus’ head

Question 58

Paul

Answer 58

Raised a Jew, was a Pharisee, converted to Christianity
– Author of many early Christian texts
– Believed that in order for a Christian to be a Christian, they did not need to abide by the laws outlined so strictly in the Torah (only needed faith & the gift of grace)
– Wanted to retain the validity of law, but also wants include Gentile converts by telling them that they do not need to observe these laws to participate
– Concerned about his apostolic authority

Question 59

Perpetua & Felicitas

Answer 59

Well-known martyrdom story
– Both smiling, joyful, modestly-dressed, looking youthful as they await and desire death
– Text meant to serve as an example for others & what it means to follow Christ until death
– Execution ad bestias: execution via wild animals, make martyrs look like barbarians

Question 60

Persecution

Answer 60

Around 250, natural disasters & political disruptions occur within the Roman empire
– Phase 1 (29-250), sporadic in terms of time and place: where the persecution took place dictated by the relationship between the Romans and Christians
– Phase 2 (250-260 CE)
Decius (249-251) places edict that require general sacrifice of wine/incense to the gods: inadvertently targeting Christians
Valerian (253-260 CE) explicitly targeted Christians because he believed they were a threat to the gods & empire

Persecution of Jesus Christ by Pontius Pilate

Question 61

Pharisees

Answer 61

Wanted to make Judaism a livable religion that could be practiced
– a Judaism activist group that were strict observers of the Law but had the desire to adapt it to changing circumstances and make it relevant to their own time. Anti-hellenic and anti-roman but did not call for war. Were skilled interpreters and rivaled with Sadducees. In the gospels it gave this group a negative reputation of being hypocrites. Were usually people with occupations and not so much of aristocrats and they devoted themselves to intense study and meditation on the Law.

Question 62

Platonism

Answer 62

427 BCE - 347 BCE
– The world of ideal forms (being) and the material world (becoming)

Question 63

The Allegory of the Cave

Answer 63

– Plato describes a group of people who have lived chained to the wall of a cave their entire lives, facing a blank wall, watching as shadows projected in front of them from objects passing in front of a fire
– Shadows are representative of their reality, but not accurate representations of the world
– One prisoner escapes & learns that the shadows on the wall are not the direct source of the images seen → tries to tell the other inmates but they don’t desire to leave or learn

Question 64

The One

Answer 64

– Origin of everything (including the universe)
– Used to refer to Jesus
– In humans, our immaterial soul is always in yearning for the One

Question 65

Body-soul Dualism

Answer 65

– Body & soul thought of as separate usually
– Body = material form
– Soul = ideal form

Question 66

Pontius Pilate

Answer 66

Roman prefect (governor) of Judaea
– Presided at the trial of Jesus and gave the order for his crucifixion
– Persecuted Jesus Christ: people dragged Jesus before Pilate to be tried for blasphemy for claiming to be the King of the Jews
– Was the only one with the power to impose a death sentence

Question 67

Pseudonymity

Answer 67

“Falsely named/ascribed”
– Practice of attributing a writing work to someone other than the actual author
– EX: 13 Paul like letters (7 agreed to be genuine and 3 pseudonymous)

Question 68

Romans

Answer 68

Depending on the area, Jews either got to live in a peaceful environment where they are allowed to practice Judaism
– In areas like Judea, there was tension between Jews and Romans
– This is significant as Romans and Jews will eventually go into war and then later on in the future
– Romans would persecute Christians (depends on the officials in the area…but an example of persecution was Ignatius)

Question 69

Sadducees

Answer 69

Main focus was on the temple & ritualistic practices
– a Judaism activist group that believed solely on the Torah and with the unclear teachings of resurrection of the dead, angels, and a coming Messiah in the 5 books of Moses it resulted in a denial to those beliefs. Mostly aristocrats and major landholders who brought Jews interest to the Roman authorities and Roman authorities to their people in Palestine.

Question 70

Septuagint

Answer 70

Greek translation of the Bible
– Christians then add & change the order of the books (Extra books known as Apocrypha to Protestants)
– Catholics call it deuterocanonical

– Jews who never saw Jeresalum kept ties to the holy city and its Temple, and had the sacred books of their ancestors. Oftentimes they read them in a Greek translation which was the Septuagint. This was used because those jews did not know Hebrew after generations of Diaspora

Question 71

Stoicism

Answer 71

Emerged in 3rd century BCE
– Ultimate materialists
– Believed in cultivating virtues
– Cyclical history
– Taught people “self-sufficiency” by encouraging them to restrict their desires
– Stoics chose to live in accord with reason, to accept their lot, and to control their desires

Romans attracted to Stoicism because it emphasized devotion to duty, which was an important cultural value for them
– Saw it as a call to do the best one could wherever one was
– Paul used Stoic terminology to explain Christian ideas
– Both a Stoic and a Christian would agree with the statements: “I must do what is right”, “I have been put here for a reason,” and “I must control my desires”

Question 72

Apatheia

Answer 72

tranquility, freedom from tension within yourself or between yourself and others

Question 73

Virtues

Answer 73

self-control, justice, etc.

Question 74

Reason/Logos

Answer 74

not a person, but rather an organizing principle
– The ordering universal law of the universe

Question 75

The Temple

Answer 75

Social places, public centers
– Only place where Jews could properly worship their God with the animal sacrifices and rituals that the Law demanded
– 586 BCE = Babylonians destroyed the first Temple

– Was built by King Solomon for Jews to worship God by sacrificing animals and was the exact temple that was destroyed by the Babylonians. Then it was rebuilt and Jew’s exile was less occurring. By then there were some Jews that did not want to move and hence why synagogues were created. The Temple at the time was Jerusalem’s major outlet for their economics and employees.

Question 76

Synagogue

Answer 76

Places of Jewish worship, community organization, teaching, & charity
– a Greek word that means “a coming together” or “houses of prayer”
– Developed to meet the religious needs of the vast majority of Jews who lived away from the Temple
– Essential to Jewish communal and religious life, including their knowledge of the law

– Created for Jews who did not live near the Temple. This was what kept Judaism alive. There’s no sacrifice involved in synagogue, what was involved was singing, charity, praying, blessings/curses, and written scribes.

Question 77

Torah/Pentateuch

Answer 77

First five books in the Hebrew Bible
Discuss the history of Israel, ancestors, and laws

Question 78

Valentinus

Answer 78

Early Christian gnostic
– Believed that only those of a spiritual nature received the gnosis (knowledge) which separated them from other “ordinary” Christians

Question 79

Zealots

Answer 79

Fourth Philosophy of Zealots - Eager to start a rebellion
– a Judaism activist group that saw the Sadducees as collaborators and the Pharisees as too peaceful. Were viewed as rebellious, terrorist, uncompromising nationalist who viewed God as their king (based on a person’s interpretatiion). Led the first Jewish-Roman war.

– Important to Christianity: because all these groups are what developed the diversity and was the developing factor of the “rivalry” between Jews and gentiles. A great example of how people’s faiths were shown differently. A bit of what Paul talks about, as long as a person has faith they can be Christian. And other leaders also show their own way of interpreting faith (example of Ignatius his faith was shown by his willingness to die). All these also used the Torah in different ways to study and pray. (statement was connected using these words: Jewish Christians, Torah/Pentateuch, Sadducees, Pharisees, Essenes, Zealots)