Vocab 2

"King of the Jews"

Inscription over Jesus' head when he was crucified. Seen in all 4 canonical gospels.

Eschatology

"The study of the end times." Seen throughout many Christian texts, canonical and ancient; discusses the Second Coming of Christ.

Signs Source

A document, which no longer survives, thought by many scholars to have been used as one of the sources of Jesus' ministry in the Fourth Gospel; it reputedly narrated a number of the miraculous deeds of Jesus.

Fulfillment Quotations

A literary device used by Matthew in which he states that something experienced or done by Jesus "fulfilled" what was spoken of by a Hebrew prophet in Scripture.

Messiah

A title; means "the anointed one;" Hebrew equivalent to the Greek Word "Christ." There were 2 major ancient meanings of Messiah: 1. The future king of Israel who would deliver God's people from their oppressors and establish a sovereign state in Israel through God's power. 2. A cosmic deliverer from Heaven who would engage in supernatural warfare with the enemies of the Jews and bring about a divine victory over their oppressors.

James (the brother of Jesus)

Also known as "James the Just" and "camel knees." Always on his knees praying in the Temple. Josephus writes about James. In the Gospel of Thomas, it is written that Jesus says to follow James after his death.

Son of Man

Ambiguous with "Son of God." Seen sporadically in all 4 canonical texts. Used to show Jesus' human-qualities.

Son of God

Ambiguous with "Son of Man." "Divi filius" was imprinted on the coin of Augustus. In a polytheistic sense, this means that Jesus is the son of a supernatural God. Used to describe a person born to a god; can perform miraculous deeds and/or to convey superhuman teachings. In the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, the centurion who witnessed Jesus' death proclaimed that he was truly "the Son of God."

Jewish-Christianity

An ancient religion. Held the belief that Christianity is not a replacement for Judaism, but is rather an augmentation. Believe in Torah Observance (circumcision, dietary law (Kosher), Keeping of the Sabbath). Have primary focus on Gospel of Matthew.

Jesus Movement

An inner Jewish phenomenon that extended beyond early Jewish regions beyond Jordan. Jesus' crucifixion failed to destroy the Jesus movement. Visions of the risen Lord reinvigorated the disciples and followers to their task of proclamation and spreading the Word. However, what arose instead was not a uniform Christianity, but groups of diverse preachers and organizations. The movement (from the beginning) was very diverse.

Christology

Any teaching about the nature of Christ. There are many different subcategories of Christology, in which the various beliefs of Jesus' identity are explained. For instance, there is docetism, adoptionism, and the distinction between the meanings of "Jesus" and "Christ." Various christologies are found in the gospels. Ex.) Johannine Community - Jesus is all divine/even God himself

Proto-Orthodox

Definition: A form of ancient Christianity of the 2nd and 3rd centuries. Importance: Proto-Orthodox Christians became the dominant form of Christianity beginning in the 4th century. Christians of later generations inherited the proto-orthodox canon of Scripture. This shows how just one ancient Christian group was primarily responsible for choosing the books that would later become the New Testament.

Gnosticism

Definition: An ancient religious group, some Christian, that believe "gnosis" (knowledge) is necessary for salvation. Not a single entity. Gnostics believe that they are spiritual beings from the divine world who became entrapped in the realm of matter by an inferior god. The idea that "gnosis" is a necessary form of awakening from perceptual sleep; also a philosophy that transcends place and time. Importance: Gnosticism is actually a term that was formed by modern scholars to refer to this group. They were discovered along with the discovery of the Nag Hammadi Library. This group shows how there were many ancient Christian groups and how their texts didn't make it into the modern New Testament canon. NEW: Gnostics believe that Jesus' role was to be a teacher and bring knowledge; aka, his death is unimportant. Believe in separation of body and spirit. Women are very prominent in Gnostic traditions (Gospel of Mary, Holy Spirit is female, Eve is wise for eating apple of wisdom).

Canon

Definition: means "standard" or "rule" in Greek; an established collection of texts Importance: the canon of the New Testament is composed of 27 "books" by multiple authors. Before the canon, books were seen as individuals and there was no set collection of books. This made it easier for works to get lost as opposed to having a set collection of books. NEW: After reading various non-canonical texts, we can see possible reasons as to why they were not included in the canon. For instance, the Gospel of Judas portrays Judas as necessary and almost as a true follower of Christ, which is something that contemporary Christians would not be able to wrap their heads around.

Divine Spark

Gnostic belief that there is a Divine Spark within them. This spark is immortal; goal of Gnostics is to try and ignite this divine spark in order to gain knowledge and reunite with the Greater God. Spark is only within the few chosen ones/true Gnostics. Igniting this spark with knowledge is the Gnostic way to salvation. In the Hymn of the Pearl, the pearl is thought to represent the spark.

"L"

In the Four Source Hypothesis, "L" is believed to be the unique source for Luke (and ONLY Luke!). It reflects on Jerusalem traditions and a different Nativity.

"M"

In the Four Source Hypothesis, "M" is believed to be the unique source for Matthew (and ONLY Matthew!). It reflects on Jewish-Christian material.

Lord's Prayer

Included in Matthew's Sermon on the Mount (Matthew chap. 6).

Gospel

Lowercased (gospel) - the proclamation of "good news" Capitalized (Gospel)- a literary genre; a written account of "good news" brought by Jesus Christ.

Messianic Secret

Major theme in the Gospel of Mark. Involves teaching without explaining. Jesus taught to his disciples in private; he tells the people not to tell anyone after he has performed a miracle. Also relates to a major theme of Gnosticism, where only the elect had knowledge.

Logos

Means "word." Seen greatly in Gnosticism; can be synonymous with knowledge. Jesus is seen as "the word" in many texts, including the Hymn of the Pearl and the Gospel of John.

Jesus/Christ

Perceived as many different things in ancient Christianity. In Christology, Jesus and Christ refer to two different beings. Jesus is the human name and refers to the one who died on the Cross. Christ is his title, derived from the Greek word "Cristos." Christ means divine messenger from a supreme God; someone who is immortal and goes back to Heaven. "Christ" comes from the verb "anoint," and is the Greek equivalent to the Hebrew word "Messiah."

Four Source Hypothesis

Popular solution to the Synoptic Problem. This accounts for the similarities and differences in the canonical gospels of Mark, Matthew, and Luke. Says there are 4 sources that lie behind these similarities and differences - Markan Priority, "Q," "L," and "M."

"Q"

Short for "Quelle," meaning "source." "Q" is believed to be the lost source of the Four Source Hypothesis. It is a hypothetical source for shared materials in Matthew and Luke, but not in Mark. It's significance is that there is a belief that there may have been a source that Matthew and Luke had access to without ever actually meeting. However, Mark either never had access to "Q" or he just chose not to include it in his gospel. Some historians actually argue that "Q" is older than Mark.

Empty Tomb

The Empty Tomb Tradition is present in all 4 canonical gospels. Women go to Jesus' tomb on the 3rd day after his crucifixion in order to anoint him; they find the tomb empty. Although present in all 4 canonical gospels, it is not told the same. Matthew - they see "an angel" Mark - they see "a young man dressed in white" Luke - unclear, but most likely an angel John - Jesus himself

The Synoptic Problem

The attempt to explain the relationship between the gospels of Mark, Matthew, and Luke. Called this to show that these gospels can be "seen together" since they share a great amount of literary material. The most popular explanation of this problem is called the Four Source Hypothesis. This accounts for the similarities and differences in these gospels through the belief of Markan Priority and the existence of a lost source known as "Q."

Adoptionism

The belief that Jesus was not divine, but rather a flesh-and-blood human that had been adopted at baptism to be God's son. This belief was held by ancient Jewish Christians known as Ebionites. The opposition to docetism.

Destruction of Jerusalem

The destruction in 70CE ended one form of Jewish Christianity.

Sermon on the Mount

The sermon found only in Matthew 5-7, which preserves many of the best-known sayings of Jesus (including Matthew's form of the Beatitudes, the antitheses, and the Lord's Prayer). The sources for these stories may have been scattered, so it is believed that Matthew formed them into one finely crafted collection of Jesus' important teachings. Large connection between Jesus and Moses. Largely focuses on the Kingdom of Heaven. Believed to be Q material (because also seen a little in Luke, but not at all in Mark).

Redaction Criticism

The study of how authors modified or edited (i.e., redacted) their sources in view of their own vested interests and concerns. We can subject the Gospels to a redactional analysis. We can analyze these texts to determine their distinctive emphases.

Docetism

The view that Jesus was not a human being but only appeared to be, from a Greek word meaning "to seem" or "to appear;" only appeared to have a flesh and blood body. Belief of the divine Jesus rather than the human one.

Cosmology/Creation

Things known and unknown. One of the key themes of knowledge in Gnosticism. Strictly dualistic (light vs. dark, good vs. evil, etc.).

Elect

Those Gnostics chosen to have the Divine Spark. Brotherhood of the Elect. The non-elect were people without the spark.

Son of David

Used greatly in the Gospel of Matthew. Used to show the genealogy of Jesus and how David is related.

Josephus

Who: first century Jewish historian Importance: organized Judaism into 4 different groups - Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, and the "Fourth Philosophy" NEW: Wrote "The Antiquities of the Jews," where he describes the cultural, religious, and political life of first century Roman Palestine. Josephus' writings were preserved by Christians. Writes about John the Baptist and James, the brother of Jesus. Josephus writes about John the Baptist without relating him to Jesus. His text harmonizes between Jesus being known as the Messiah and John the Baptist having a very strong influence with baptism.

Demiurge

a being responsible for the creation of the universe; in Gnosticism, the demiurge is evil and created the universe; in contrast, there is the "alien god," or the Christian God of mercy NEW: In many Gnostic texts, Jesus can be seen frequently laughing. It is believed that Jesus is portrayed to be laughing at the demiurge. The demiurge thinks it has killed Jesus, however, Jesus' spirit lives on and wins.