New Testament Exam 1

Historical Criticism

Historical Criticism is used as an umbrella term for the approach of studying the New Testaments composition. In another sense, the term historical criticism refers to ways in which a historian might use the New Testament to learn about history.

Maccabee's

"Maccabees" (" hammers") led a revolt against Antiochus and won independence. The Maccabees established a Jewish state ruled by the Hasmonean dynasty. Jewish sects, including those that would eventually be known as "Pharisees" and "Sadducees," emerged at this time.

Hellenistic Period

(332 - 167 BCE) With the conquests of Alexander the Great, Palestine came under Greek control; after Alexander's death, Palestine came first to be part of the empire of the Ptolemies, whose power was centered in Egypt (320- 198 BCE). Then it became part of the empire of the Seleucids, whose power was centered in Syria (198- 167 BCE). The Seleucid period was a reign of terror: the Jews were severely persecuted under Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who sought to exterminate the Jewish religion by inflicting horrible atrocities upon anyone who professed or practiced the faith.

Second Temple Period

(515 BCE - 70 CE) Cyrus of Persia allowed the Jews to return and build a new temple, which was dedicated in 515 BCE and much later destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE. Thus, the span of Jewish history from 515 BCE to 70 CE is often referred to as the Second Temple period.

Persian Period

(537 - 332 BCE) Throughout this period the Jewish nation was ruled by high priests with minimal interference from the Persian kings. It was at this time that synagogues emerged as significant sites for teaching and worship. The Jews became increasingly focused on faithfulness to Torah as the hallmark of their religion.

Hasmonean Period

(63 BCE - 70 CE) Jewish rebels nicknamed "Maccabees" (" hammers") led a revolt against Antiochus and won independence. The temple (defiled by Antiochus) was rededicated in an event that would come to be commemorated through the Festival of Hanukkah. The Maccabees established a Jewish state ruled by the Hasmonean dynasty. Jewish sects, including those that would eventually be known as "Pharisees" and "Sadducees," emerged at this time.

Roman Period

(63 BCE- 70 CE) Civil war among the Hasmoneans left the Jewish state ripe for conquest by the growing Roman Empire. The Roman general Pompey annexed the territory without much of a struggle in 63 BCE, and Palestine would remain under Roman rule to the end of the Second Temple period— and beyond.

Augury

A field of science or sorcery devoted to discerning the future, usually through the use of oracles, mediums, or the observation of stars and other phenomena.

Epicureanism

A philosophical system that emphasized free will, questioned fate, and encouraged the attainment of true pleasure through avoidance of anxiety, concentration on the present, and enjoyment of all things in moderation.

Cynicism

A philosophical system that emphasized radical authenticity, repudiation of shame, simplicity of lifestyle, and a desire to possess only what is obtained naturally and freely.

Stoicism

A philosophical system that emphasized the attainment of virtue through acceptance of fate, based on the notion that all things are predetermined and that there is logic to all that transpires in the universe.

Gnosticism

A religious movement or perspective that regarded "spirit" as fundamentally good and "matter" as fundamentally evil.

Testament

A written account of a covenant. In the sense of the bible, there are parts called the Old Testament and New testament.

Gentiles

Any person who was not a Jewish descendant. Mostly looked down upon by Jews.

Animism

Belief in the existence of spirits that can possess people, animals, and other entities (trees, brooks, rocks, etc.).

Dualism

Dualism refers to the tendency to separate phenomena into sharply opposed categories, with little room for anything in between.

Form Criticism

Form criticism is the discipline of trying to classify different materials found in the new testament according to the literary genre or type and draw conclusions relevant to interpretation based on these classifications. Form critics usually are interested in seeing what type of life settings each literature would have served.

Septuagint

Greek translation of the Jewish Bible is called the "Septuagint" (the word means "seventy," and a common abbreviation for the Septuagint is "LXX," Supposedly translated by 70 different people.

Apostolic

Having to do with the earliest followers of Jesus and/or the apostle Paul. Apostolic writings are ones produced by people who knew Jesus or Paul.

Herod Agrippa I

Herod Agrippa I ruled Galilee (like Herod Antipas) from 37 to 41 CE and then became king over all Palestine (like his grandfather Herod the Great) from 41 to 44 CE. He is also simply called "Herod" in the New Testament, which can be confusing for readers who do not realize there are three different people who bear that name.

Herod Antipas

Herod Antipas ruled Perea and Galilee from 4 BCE to 39 CE. Sometimes confused to be Herod the Great, as the New Testament refers to them both as "Herod". Ruler that Beheaded John the Baptist.

Herod the Great

Herod the Great ruled all of Palestine from 37 BCE to 4 BCE.Though Herod the Great appears to have been a competent ruler in many respects, he was famously paranoid. Herod was ruler of Palestine at the time Jesus was born (Matt. 2: 1), and he remains known to Christians for the biblical story in which he confronts the magi and orders a massacre of babies in Bethlehem (Matt. 2: 1- 19).

Narrative/Literary Criticism

Narrative/Literary Criticism is used mostly with gospels. It draws upon insights of modern literary analysis to determine the particular effects the biblical stories were expected to have on their readers.

Pontus Pilate

Pontius Pilate ruled Judea as a prefect or procurator from 26 to 36 CE. He was, in essence, a governor who served as the representative of Caesar. The New Testament reports that Pilate was the governor who sentenced Jesus to be crucified while also declaring him to be innocent.

Redaction Criticism

Redaction criticism is used mostly in gospel studies. These critics usually try to determine the intentions of of new testament authors by looking at how they arranged and edited their their source material. For this they use composition analysis and emendation analysis.

Source Criticism

Source criticism is the discipline of looking into what materials the biblical authors might have used in writing the texts. They try to identify these materials and sometimes try to recreate them.

Text Criticism

Text critics analyze different scriptures of the New Testament that have been preserved. They compare them, date them, and employ techniques to see which are the most reliable.

Essenes

The Essenes were ascetic separatists who lived in private communities. They probably are to be connected with the group that lived in the desert at Qumran and preserved the library known as the Dead Sea Scrolls.The Essenes are never mentioned in the New Testament, and there is no sure indication that any New Testament figure knew about them or had any contact with them. Nevertheless, scholars like to compare and contrast Essene beliefs and practices with those of Christianity.

Herodians

The Herodians were a political coalition of Jews who supported the family and dynasty of Herod, which included many Roman leaders who ruled various areas of Palestine at various times. In the New Testament they are mentioned as collaborating with Pharisees to trip Jesus up politically and to establish grounds for having him banished or destroyed (see Mark 3: 6; 12: 13).

Pharisee

The Pharisees emphasized faithfulness to Torah, including the study of scripture and obedience to the law. Their interpretations of the law seem to have been driven by a conviction that all of God's people should live with the utmost sanctity. Many Pharisees were synagogue leaders, and some are referred to as "rabbis" (i.e., teachers [cf. Matt. 23: 6- 8]). Jesus (who also is called "rabbi") probably had more in common with the Pharisees than with any other Jewish group of his day, which could explain why most of his arguments were with them:

Sadducee's

The Sadducees probably were the most powerful Jewish group of the day. They seem to have controlled the temple system and to have often dominated the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling body. The high priest and the chief priests whom we hear about in the New Testament probably were Sadducees.

Acrophya

The Septuagint contained fifteen additional books written in Greek in the years after the writing of the Hebrew scriptures (what Christians generally call the "Old Testament"). These extra books are often called the "Apocrypha"; their status as scripture was disputed among Jews at the time of Jesus, as it is among Christians today. In the New Testament, the Apocrypha is never cited as scripture, but Paul and other authors do appear to have read some of these books and to regard their teaching favorably.

Zealots

The Zealots were radical anti-Roman Jews who advocated armed rebellion against the Roman forces.

Apocalypticism

The apocalyptic perspective typically was twofold: (1) a pessimistic forecast for the world at large— things will go from bad to worse; (2) an optimistic outlook for a favored remnant, those who would be rescued out of the evil world through some act of divine intervention (which was always believed to be imminent).

Docetism

The belief that Jesus was not actually a human being but only appeared to be one.

Epistle/General Epistles/Catholic Epistles

The epistle is referred to when looking at the letters in the New Testament written by other people. (James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Jude) These letters are referred to as "General Epistles (letters)" or the Catholic Epistles (letters)".

Pentateuch

The first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Supposedly written by Moses.

Torah

The law of Moses, as contained in the Pentateuch; or, frequently, a synonym for "Pentateuch" (referring, then, to the first five books of the Hebrew Bible).

Mystery Religions

The mystery religions were organized around gods and goddesses from various mythologies: Demeter, Dionysius, Orpheus, Cybele, Astarte (Ishtar), and Artemis (Diana) were particularly popular. They differed from one another but always involved participation in secret rites, such as ritual washings, common meals, and, sometimes, sexual rites related to concerns for fertility

Wisdom Theology

The wisdom tradition of Israel focused less on divinely revealed truth (prophets declaring a word of the Lord that often went contrary to human thinking) and more on common sense (truth that is gained through general insight into life and the human condition). There is a good deal of wisdom material in the Jewish scriptures (in books such as Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes).

Hellenism

The word Hellenism refers broadly to the influence of Greek culture, which was prominent in the Roman Empire (or in what is sometimes referred to as the Greco-Roman world). During the New Testament period Jewish people throughout the world were said to be "Hellenized" because they had been influenced to a greater or lesser degree by the culture of Greece and Rome.

Apocalypse

The word apocalypse means revelation. It is referred to in the The book of Revelation or in some cases, the The Apocalypse of John.

Canon

The word canon means "rule' or "standard". But when referred to by religious groups it is used to list the books that are officially accepted as a scripture.

Gospel

There are four different gospels in the New Testament. They are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. They are named for the people who were identified as their authors. The four report the life, ministry,, death, and resurrection of Jesus in their own way.

Samaritans

They claimed that they were the true Israel (descendants of the "lost" tribes taken into Assyrian captivity ca. 722 BCE), and that the Jews represented a heretical splinter group that had gotten its start when Eli set up a rival sanctuary in Shiloh (see 1 Sam. 1: 3). The Samaritans claimed that their version of the Pentateuch was the original and that the Jews had a falsified text produced by Ezra during the Babylonian exile. According to the Jews, the Samaritans were not children of Israel at all; rather, they were either descendants of foreign colonists whom the Assyrians had brought into the land after the conquest

Patron-Client Relationship

Very few people had money or power, but those who did were expected to serve as benefactors for those who did not. The wealthy might, for instance, allow peasants to live on their land or provide them with food or grain or employment. In sociological terms, such benefactors are called "patrons," and the recipients of the benefits are called "clients." In such a relationship the exchange of favors could not be mutual, but the clients were expected to offer their patron what they could: gratitude and, above all, loyalty.

Aramaic

a Semitic language similar to Hebrew that was the native tongue for Jesus and many other Jews living in Palestine during the New Testament period.

Mishnah

a collection of rabbinic discussions regarding interpretation of the law of Moses; the Mishnah forms one major part of the Jewish Talmud.

Talmud

a collection of sixty-three books (including the Mishnah) that contain Jewish civil and canonical law based on interpretations of scripture.

Sanhedrin

a ruling body of the Jewish people during the time of Roman occupation; composed of the high priest, chief priests, and other powerful Jewish leaders.

Deuterocanonical Writings

a term used primarily by Roman Catholics with reference to books Protestants call "the Apocrypha"; the books are thus regarded as a "secondary canon," part of scripture, but distinct from both Old and New Testament writings.