RELI 1311 Final Exam Review Guide

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Canon lists

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Vindication

1a : to free from allegation or blame. b(1) : confirm, substantiate. (2) : to provide justification or defense for : justify. c : to protect from attack or encroachment : defend. 2 : avenge.

Parchment

1 : the skin of a sheep or goat prepared for writing on. 2 : strong, tough, and often somewhat translucent paper made to resemble parchment. 3 : a parchment manuscript also : an academic diploma.

First Amendment to the Constitution

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Free Exercise Clause

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Abraham

God suddenly tells Abraham to move his family to Canaan. After a long journey, they arrive to find people already living there, but God appears again and tells him that his descendents will inhabit it. A famine comes, so they travel further south to Egypt. They meet the Pharoah's men and Abraham tricks them by saying he's Sarah's brother. They give him lots of expensive gifts in exchange for Sarah, who joins Pharoah's harem. But then everyone gets sick and they realize something is amiss. Abraham's lie is revealed, Sarah is kicked out, and both leave Egypt safely. Abraham and Lot are blessed with lots of silver, gold, cattle, and other riches, but since they are living right next to each other, their servants begin to fight, presumably over water and grazing issues. Abraham tells Lot he can choose whatever land he wants, and he chooses to go live outside the Promised Land. Again, God promises Abraham he will have many descendents and plenty of land to support them. Abraham gets involved in a dispute between two groups of kings, wins a battle, and then a priest, Melchizedek, generously provides a feast for him, reminding him that his mission is spiritual, not militaristic. Abraham (Genesis 15) When Abraham worries about not having an heir, God reassures him, promising that he would have as many descendents as there are stars in the sky. Abraham (Genesis 16) Sarah tells Abraham to impregnate her servant, Hagar, since she is barren. Hagar gets pregnant right away and Sarah immediately becomes jealous. Hagar flees but is stopped by an angel, who gives her hope and convinces her to return. Abraham (Genesis 17) God blesses Abram and Sarai by changing their names to Abraham and Sarah. Abraham (Genesis 18:1-15) Strangers (God's messengers) visit Abraham and Sarah, say that they will be back in a year, and let them know that Sarah will have a baby in her arms by then. She laughs with surprise and joy! Abraham (Genesis 18:16-33) Abraham talks with God about the people of Sodom. He says there must be at least a few righteous people there, despite the depravity of the majority. Abraham asks God to consider saving some Sodomites, and He agrees. Abraham (Genesis 19) Angels save Lot and his daughters when God destroys the city of Sodom. Lot's wife would have been saved, too, had she not looked back as the angels were leading her away to safety. Abraham (Genesis 20) Abraham plays a trick on Abimelech by saying his wife Sarah is his sister. Thankfully, Abimelech realizes what's going on, confronts Abraham about his lie, and returns Sarah without touching her. This sequence of events is suspiciously similar to those in Genesis 12, involving Pharoah in that instance. Abraham (Genesis 21) Sarah and Abraham joyously welcome Isaac into their family, despite their old ages. But Sarah's jealousy forces Abraham to send Hagar and her son, Ishmael, out into the wilderness. God preserves them there and she goes on to have many descendents. Abraham (Genesis 21b) Abraham and Abimelech make a deal about rights to a well called Beersheba, giving Abraham full ownership of the water. Abraham makes the land around it his permanent home. Abraham (Genesis 22:1-2) This is the climax of Abraham's story where he is asked by God to sacrifice his beloved son Isaac. Abraham (Genesis 22:3-8) Abraham and Isaac continue their journey up the hill preparing for the sacrifice. When Isaac questions Abraham, he assures his son God will provide a lamb for the sacrifice. Abraham (Genesis 22:9-19) When Abraham put forth his hand to slay his son, the angel said, "Do not put forth your hand against the young man, do not do anything to him." Isaac is safe. Abraham and His Family Abraham was willing to listen to God and obey him. Abraham was a prophet. He performed the first healing in the Bible. He died at age 175.

Good Friday

Good Friday is a Christian holiday commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary. It is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum on the Friday preceding Easter Sunday, and may coincide with the Jewish observance of Passover. It is also known as Holy Friday and Great Friday.

Hades

Hades, according to various Christian denominations, is "the place or state of departed spirits"., also known as Hell, borrowing the name of the Greek God of the Dead.

Passover

Passover is one of the most important religious festivals in the Jewish calendar. Jews celebrate the Feast of Passover (Pesach in Hebrew) to commemorate the liberation of the Children of Israel who were led out of Egypt by Moses

Solomon

God loved Solomon. David's final advice to Solomon was that he should be strong, show yourself a man, and observe what the Lord your God requires: walk in his ways, and keep his decrees and commands, so that you may prosper.

Promise and Fulfillment

When we come to the New Testament writings, all the promises are fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth. "For no matter how many promises God has made, they are 'Yes' in Christ" (2 Cor 1:20 NIV). The genius of the gospel is that everyone can share in the promise-in Christ. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Matthean Priority Theory

A Matthean priority will show that the Gospel writers did not develop from a 'man' Jesus to a 'God Jesus'. Hence, if the Matthean Priotity is indeed what it is, those who claim that the earliest Christians deny the divinity of Christ has nothing more than armchair theories to keep the discussion moving.

Papyrus

A New Testament papyrus is a copy of a portion of the New Testament made on papyrus. To date, over 130 such papyri are known. In general, they are considered the earliest witnesses to the original text of the New Testament.

Service of the Word

A Service of the Word is the result of careful thinking about a new approach to Sunday worship. Sunday is the weekly festival of the Resurrection of Christ. It is the day when the people of God meet to celebrate the presence of the Risen Jesus who promised to be "where two or three are gathered together" in his Name. It has become widely recognized that there are occasions when the prescribed services of Morning and Evening Prayer or Holy Communion may not meet the needs of a particular congregation. There have been experiments with less formal orders of service variously called "family" or "all-age" services and in some places "evangelistic" services to which members of congregations invite friends who may have little Christian commitment.

Scroll

A Torah scroll, in Hebrew Sefer Torah, is a handwritten copy of the Torah, meaning: of the Pentateuch, or the five books of Moses. It must meet extremely strict standards of production. The Torah scroll is mainly used in the ritual of Torah reading during Jewish prayers

Canon

A biblical canon or canon of scripture is a set of texts (or "books") which a particular Jewish or Christian religious community regards as authoritative scripture. The English word canon comes from the Greek κανών, meaning "rule" or "measuring stick".

Manuscript

A biblical manuscript is any handwritten copy of a portion of the text of the Bible.

Expiation

A blotting out or removal of sin; hence, the renewal of communion with God. The supreme act of expiation is Christ's death on the cross, the meaning of which is illuminated by a number of Old Testament themes. This article deals first with the idea and practice of expiation in Old Testament times, then with relevant New Testament texts.

Haggadah

A haggadah is a prayer book that is used during the Jewish festival of Passover. ... Written in Hebrew, the haggadah also outlines the Passover rituals, in which special foods are eaten, songs are sung, stories are told, and the concept of freedom is celebrated.

Martyrdom

A martyr is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, refusing to renounce, or refusing to advocate a religious belief or cause as demanded by an external party : the suffering of death on account of adherence to a cause and especially to one's religious faith

Jewish Sectarianism

A notable development in Hasmonean times was the emergence of identifiable religious sects. The term "sect" requires some clarification, as it usually is used in regard to Christian groups that periodically broke way from the Church for social and ideological reasons. In this period, only the Essenes of Qumran come close to fitting that definition. Other groups, such as the Pharisees, Sadducees, Hasidians of Maccabean days, Sicarii, and early Christians, all operated in Jerusalem and wider Judean society and were not a priori opposed to the religious establishment. The term "sect" is thus not the most appropriate for our historical context. Nevertheless, we have retained it out of convenience, since it is universally used with reference to these groups.

Scribe

A sofer, sopher, sofer SeTaM, or sofer ST"M is a Jewish scribe who can transcribe sifrei Torah, tefillin, and mezuzot, of the Five Megillot and other religious writings. By simple definition, a sofer is a copyist, but the religious role in Judaism is much more.

Tablet

A tablet, in the religious context, is a term traditionally used for religious texts. Jews and Christians believe that Moses brought the Ten Commandments from Mount Sinai in the form of two stone tablets. According to the Book of Exodus, God delivered the tablets twice, the first set having been smashed by Moses in his anger at the idol-worship of the Israelites. The first set contained the detailed instructions for the construction of the Tabernacle, the making of priestly vestments, etc.; the replacement set contained the Ritual Decalogue, one of the three versions of the Ten Commandments given in the Old Testament.

Targum

A targum was an originally spoken translation of the Hebrew Bible that a professional translator would give in the common language of the listeners when that was not Hebrew.

Deuteronomic Paradigm

A version of the documentary hypothesis, frequently identified with the German scholar Julius Wellhausen, was almost universally accepted for most of the 20th century, but the consensus has now collapsed.[7] This was triggered in large part by the influential publications of John Van Seters, Hans Heinrich Schmid, and Rolf Rendtorff in the mid-1970s.[8] These "revisionist" authors argued that J was to be dated no earlier than the time of the Babylonian captivity (597-539 BCE),[9] and rejected the existence of a substantial E source.[10] They also called into question the nature and extent of the three other sources. Van Seters, Schmid, and Rendtorff shared many of the same criticisms of the documentary hypothesis, but were not in complete agreement about what paradigm ought to replace it.

Aaron

Aaron, Moses' older brother, is so often overlooked. Moses and Aaron were quite the team - Moses was like a god to Pharaoh; Aaron was like a prophet.

Day of Judgment

According to Jewish belief, the Day of Judgement , or Yawm ad-Din , will occur after the coming of the Messiah . Jews believe that God judges how good or bad people have been in order to decide their destiny in the afterlife . This is often seen as motivation to behave well and obey all of God's rules. This day will be a day of judgment of Israel and all nations, as it will inaugurate a kingdom of the Lord. Christianity teaches that all will stand to be judged by God at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ

Maccabean Martyrs

According to one tradition, their individual names are Habim, Antonin, Guriah, Eleazar, Eusebon, Hadim (Halim), Marcellus, their mother Solomonia, and their teacher Eleazar.

E (lohist)

According to the documentary hypothesis, the Elohist (or simply E) is one of four source documents underlying the Torah,[4] together with the Jahwist (or Yahwist), the Deuteronomist and the Priestly source. The Elohist is so named because of its pervasive use of the word Elohim to refer to the Israelite god. The Elohist source is characterized by, among other things, an abstract view of God, using Horeb instead of Sinai for the mountain where Moses received the laws of Israel and the use of the phrase "fear of God".[5] It habitually locates ancestral stories in the north, especially Ephraim, and the documentary hypothesis holds that it must have been composed in that region, possibly in the second half of the 9th century BCE.[5]

Akedah

Akedah, (Hebrew: "Binding") referring to the binding of Isaac as related in Genesis 22. Abraham bound his son Isaac on an altar at Moriah, as he had been instructed by God.

Feast of Unleavened Bread

Also placed on the table are three pieces of matzah — a cracker-like unleavened bread — that represent the bread the Israelites took with them when they fled Egypt, and salt water to represent the tears of the slaves The Feast of Unleavened Bread is the first appointment in the year designated by YAHWEH our God to meet with Him in a holy convocation. ... The seventh day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it" (Leviticus 23: 4-8) See also Exodus 13: 4-10; Numbers 28:16-25; Deuteronomy 16: 2-4, 8.

Common Era

Anno Domini The terms anno Domini and before Christ are used to label or number years in the Julian and Gregorian calendars.

Anointing Ritual

Anointing is the ritual act of pouring aromatic oil over a person's head or entire body.[1] By extension, the term is also applied to related acts of sprinkling, dousing, or smearing a person or object with any perfumed oil, milk, butter, or other fat.[2] Scented oils are used as perfumes and sharing them is an act of hospitality. Their use to introduce a divine influence or presence is recorded from the earliest times; anointing was thus used as a form of medicine, thought to rid persons and things of dangerous spirits and demons which were believed to cause disease.

Apocalyptic

Apocalyptic literature is a genre of prophetical writing that developed in post-Exilic Jewish culture and was popular among millennialist early Christians. Apocalypse (ἀποκάλυψις, apokálypsis) is a Greek word meaning "revelation", "an unveiling or unfolding of things not previously known and which could not be known apart from the unveiling".[1] As a genre, apocalyptic literature details the authors' visions of the end times/end of the age as revealed by an angel or other heavenly messenger.[2] The apocalyptic literature of Judaism and Christianity embraces a considerable period, from the centuries following the Babylonian exile down to the close of the Middle Ages.[3]

Apocrypha

Apocrypha is a plural word that originally denoted hidden or secret writings, to be read only by initiates into a given Christian group. It comes from Greek and is formed from the combination of apo and kryptein.

Sacrificial

Anything sacrificial has to do with a sacrifice. In some cultures, people were once thrown in volcanoes to appease the gods: this was a sacrificial ritual, because the person's life was taken for a higher purpose. ... In Christianity, Jesus dying for other people's sins is a sacrificial act.

Apocalypse

Apocalypse (ἀποκάλυψις, apokálypsis) is a Greek word meaning "revelation", "an unveiling or unfolding of things not previously known and which could not be known apart from the unveiling". The Book of Daniel is the apocalyptic book of the Hebrew bible. Its sister book would be the Book of Revelation. And in fact the Book of Revelation is largely a Christian interpretation of the Book of Daniel. Daniel [the character] comes to us from the Babylonian exile.

Apostles

Apostle, (from Greek apostolos, "person sent"), any of the 12 disciples chosen by Jesus Christ. The term is sometimes also applied to others, especially Paul, who was converted to Christianity a few years after Jesus' death.

Apsu

Apsu is a primeval Sumero-Akkadian god, representing the sweet waters underneath the earth (opposite Tiamat, the salt waters of Chaos). Later myths tell that the sweet and salty waters came together with a third element—possibly cloud—and created the first gods.

Esau

As firstborn, Esau is the real heir and Isaac's successor. Readers already know that Jacob will be given that privilege.

Assyrian Conquest

Assyria's conquest of the northern kingdom of Israel began approximately 740 BC under King Pul. First Chronicles 5:26 notes, "So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, the spirit of Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and he took them into exile, namely, the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, and brought them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and the river Gozan, to this day." These tribes, located east of the Jordan River, were the first ones conquered by Assyria.

Astartes

Astarte/Ashtoreth is the Queen of Heaven to whom the Canaanites burned offerings and poured libations (Jeremiah 44). Astarte, goddess of war and sexual love, shared so many qualities with her sister, Anath, that they may originally have been seen as a single deity.

Baal

Baal, god worshipped in many ancient Middle Eastern communities, especially among the Canaanites, who apparently considered him a fertility deity and one of the most important gods in the pantheon. ... As such, Baal designated the universal god of fertility, and in that capacity his title was Prince, Lord of the Earth.

Baruch

Baruch was Jeremiah's secretary, and his name means "blessed by Yahweh."

Critical Apparatus

Bowers was also influential in defining the form of critical apparatus that should accompany a scholarly edition. In addition to the content of the apparatus, Bowers led a movement to relegate editorial matter to appendices, leaving the critically established text "in the clear", that is, free of any signs of editorial intervention. Tanselle explained the rationale for this approach:

Christ

Christ comes from Christos, a Greek word that means "the anointed one," or "the chosen one." The Hebrew word meaning the same thing is Mashiach, or as we know it—Messiah. So Christ is really more a title than it is a name, although the Bible uses it both ways. For example, the Bible often refers to Jesus by name as "Jesus Christ," just as we do in modern usage (see Matthew 1:1, 18; Mark 1:1; John 1:17; 17:3; Acts 3:6; Romans 3:24, etc.). But it also speaks of Jesus as "the Christ," meaning "the anointed one," the Messiah. When Jesus asked His disciples who they thought He was, Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Matthew 16:16). At Jesus' interrogation by the Jews just before His crucifixion, the high priest demanded, "Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!" (Matthew 26:63). And Luke records that on one occasion when Jesus cast demons out of individuals, the demons cried out, " 'You are the Christ, the Son of God!' and He [Jesus] rebuking them, did not allow them to speak, for they knew that He was the Christ" (Luke 4:41). The New Testament's story of Jesus is as fascinating as it is inspiring. Born and raised in the "backwaters" of the Roman Empire, Jesus begins a religious movement that eventually overtakes the Empire. According to the New Testament, Jesus is the Messiah ("anointed one," Greek "Christos"), the promised deliverer of Israel, whose death on the cross brings deliverance from sin, and whose eventual return to earth will bring deliverance from oppression by ushering in God's kingdom. Jesus' message of caring for the downtrodden, extending kindness to strangers, and loving one's enemies is still unrivaled for its profound insight and penetrating simplicity.

Received tradition

Christian faith is a received tradition, not a 'make it up as you go' private spirituality. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0040571X6606955602?journalCode=tjxa

LXX (Septuagint)

Collection of Greek Jewish Books, some translated from the Hebrew . Basis of Christian OT sections and order. LXX = 70, Because legend of how it got to be written. The collection of 70 elders from Jerusalem who were isolated in their individual chambers and produced identical translations into greek of the Hebrew Bible. 1. Law = Torah: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. 2. Historical Books: from Joshua (ca. 13th century BCE) to the Maccabees (early 2nd century BCE) 3. Wisdom Literature - "poetic books" 4. Prophets = Nevi'im (prophets), but rearranged with four "Major Prophets" first (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel. and a few shorter writings associated with them, such as Lamentations and Baruch). Followed by the twelve "Minor Prophets" (shorter books.)

Septuagint (LXX)

Collection of Greek Jewish Books, some translated from the Hebrew . Basis of Christian OT sections and order. LXX = 70, Because legend of how it got to be written. The collection of 70 elders from Jerusalem who were isolated in their individual chambers and produced identical translations into greek of the Hebrew Bible. 1. Law = Torah: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. 2. Historical Books: from Joshua (ca. 13th century BCE) to the Maccabees (early 2nd century BCE) 3. Wisdom Literature - "poetic books" 4. Prophets = Nevi'im (prophets), but rearranged with four "Major Prophets" first (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel. and a few shorter writings associated with them, such as Lamentations and Baruch). Followed by the twelve "Minor Prophets" (shorter books.)

Cross

Cross, the principal symbol of the Christian religion, recalling the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ and the redeeming benefits of his Passion and death. ... The cross is thus a sign both of Christ himself and of the faith of Christians.

Crucifixion

Cross, the principal symbol of the Christian religion, recalling the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ and the redeeming benefits of his Passion and death. The cross is thus a sign both of Christ himself and of the faith of Christians.

Critical Interpretation

Crucial: We believe that the question of religion remains absolutely essential to our thinking about what it means to be human, and especially what it means to be human in relationship, in what we can now only call a post-secular 21st century. Exercising careful observation and judgement: For us, religion must be examined with utmost rigour, not taking for granted pre-conceived notions or inherited traditions, but carefully examining the ideas of religion, with all their variegated histories, both in theory and in praxis, in order to uncover both the complexities and profundities that 'religions' have always embodied, as well as the new possibilities that the term 'religion' (or its substitutes) might now afford. Discerning the limits: Following upon Kant's notion of Kritik in his famous three Critiques, we interrogate the nature of thinking "religiously" with a view to its own internal limits. How far can the concept of 'religion' take us before it must, perhaps necessarily, leave its own conceptual framework behind? Can a religion, in its particularised, organised, institutional form, be conserved amid the realities of our modern, or postmodern, or post-postmodern, world? Or must the limits and limitations of these concepts give way to new modes of thinking, which nevertheless may still be deemed somehow religious, even if under different terms (such as spirituality), and, more significantly, as informed by different disciplines? For us being critical with religion is an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary mode of engagement: incorporating many disciplines, but also going beyond the limits of any one discipline, whether of theology, biblical studies, philosophy, sociology, anthropology, literature, the visual arts, hermeneutics, postcolonialism, feminism, gender studies, politics, history, cultural studies, and critical theory itself. Of the nature of a crisis: Few will contest, from whatever position, that religion, however construed, is presently in the midst of a crisis, whether in Western or global contexts. Many would argue that religion is still flourishing in the world. But the contentious nature of religion has never been more palpable as it is now, intellectually, culturally, ideologically, politically, and militarily. We feel this is an important time to be studying religion, not to relieve religions of their crises, as if this were desirable or could ever be done comprehensively, but to understand and appreciate the gravity and far-reaching influence these crises have on our perceptions of reality and on our subsequent actions within our local, national and transnational spheres of existence. Critical mass: a point at which some action, property or condition passes over into another: In drawing upon a broad range of ideas, theories, and disciplines, we hope that our approach at Stirling goes some way to forming a critical mass with respect to the question of religion. We feel that 'religion' and thinking 'religion' is at a crucial point in what we might call our 'Western world', as well as in all other contexts. The impact of globalisation, arising from colonialism and the intrusion of capitalist systems into all parts of the world, means that ideas of religion and its inherited history of ideas and practices is of global import. We feel it is in the process of passing over into something 'other' and 'new' - but the exact nature of this 'other' and 'new' is yet undetermined. However, through our various yet connected research interests and teaching commitments, we hope to contribute to determining its features and the implications they will have - socially, culturally, ethically - on the world we inhabit.

Long live the king!

Daniel 6:21

Daniel

Daniel is one of the few Bible books that takes place during a period of judgment (many books foretell it and a few look back on it) and in a foreign nation. Whether it's in the contrast between the culture's idol worship and Daniel's faithful purity or in the account of the arrogant Nebuchadnezzar and his humbling encounter with God, the pagan backdrop in Daniel makes the Lord's power shine through in a magnificent and majestic way that stands out in Scripture. The book of Daniel makes it clear that the true God is the supreme ruler over heaven and earth (Daniel 4:17), even when all seems lost and the consequences of sin seem overwhelming.

Daniel's visions

Daniel receives an explanatory vision from God: Nebuchadnezzar had seen an enormous statue with a head of gold, breast and arms of silver, belly and thighs of bronze, legs of iron, and feet of mixed iron and clay, then saw the statue destroyed by a rock that turned into a mountain filling the whole earth.

David

Daniel saved his own life by interpreting the king's dream. He took no credit for it, attributing all wisdom to God.

Feast of Weeks

Described in Leviticus 23, The Feast of Weeks is the second of the three "solemn feasts" that all Jewish males were required to travel to Jerusalem to attend (Exodus 23:14-17; 34:22-23; Deuteronomy 16:16). This important feast gets its name from the fact that it starts seven full weeks, or exactly 50 days, after the Feast of Firstfruits. Since it takes place exactly 50 days after the previous feast, this feast is also known as "Pentecost" (Acts 2:1), which means "fifty."Each of three "solemn feasts"—Passover, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles—required that all able-bodied Jewish males travel to Jerusalem to attend the feast and offer sacrifices. All three of these feasts required that "firstfruit" offerings be made at the temple as a way of expressing thanksgiving for God's provision. The Feast of Firstfruits celebrated at the time of the Passover included the first fruits of the barley harvest. The Feast of Weeks was in celebration of the first fruits of the wheat harvest, and the Feast of Tabernacles involved offerings of the first fruits of the olive and grape harvests.

Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy stresses the uniqueness of God, the need for drastic centralisation of worship, and a concern for the position of the poor and disadvantaged.[19] Its many themes can be organized around the three poles of Israel, Israel's God, and the covenant which binds them together. Israel The themes of Deuteronomy in relation to Israel are election, faithfulness, obedience, and God's promise of blessings, all expressed through the covenant: "obedience is not primarily a duty imposed by one party on another, but an expression of covenantal relationship."[20] Yahweh has chosen ("elected") Israel as his special property (Deuteronomy 7:6 and elsewhere),[21] and Moses stresses to the Israelites the need for obedience to God and covenant, and the consequences of unfaithfulness and disobedience.[22] Yet the first several chapters of Deuteronomy are a long retelling of Israel's past disobedience - but also God's gracious care, leading to a long call to Israel to choose life over death and blessing over curse (chapters 7-11).

Ea

Ea, the Akkadian counterpart of Enki, was the god of ritual purification: ritual cleansing waters were called "Ea's water." Ea governed the arts of sorcery and incantation. In some stories he was also the form-giving god, and thus the patron of craftsmen and artists; he was known as the bearer of culture.

Greek: paschein

Easter, also called Pascha (Greek, Latin)or Resurrection Sunday,[is a festival and holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in the New Testament as having occurred on the third day after his burial following his crucifixion by the Romans at Calvary c. 30 AD. It is the culmination of the Passion of Jesus, preceded by Lent (or Great Lent), a 40-day period of fasting, prayer, and penance.

Easter Sunday

Easter, also called Pascha or Resurrection Sunday, is a festival and holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in the New Testament as having occurred on the third day after his burial following his crucifixion by the Romans at Calvary c. 30 AD.

Pascha

Easter, also called Pascha or Resurrection Sunday, is a festival and holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in the New Testament as having occurred on the third day after his burial following his crucifixion by the Romans at Calvary c. 30 AD.

Eleazar

Eleazar is the third son of Aaron and Elisheba. He is in charge of the entire tabernacle, including its holy furnishings and articles. He becomes the eldest son when his older brothers disobey God.

Elijah

Elijah was the one who was in conflict with King Ahaz about worshipping Baal, who was eventually proved to be impotent. Elisha was Elijah's successor. He's the one who healed Naaman (captain of the king of Syria's army) of leprosy.

Enneateuch

Enneateuch: David Noel Freedman (1922-2008) proposes, instead, that the first part of the Bible contains the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings. It is, thus, a set of nine books (obviously considering Samuel and Kings as individual books and not divided into two parts). Hence the word Enneateuch, i.e. "a book divided into nine parts." The central theme of this work - called by Freedman Primary history - is the "ground". After an introduction (Gn 1-11), the land is promised to the fathers (Gn 12-50); Jews then walked towards it (Exodus-Deuteronomy); In Joshua the land was conquered; in Judges the land is defended; in the books of Samuel the land becomes a real kingdom. Then it splits, in the Northern Kingdom and the Southern Kingdom and finally the earth is destroyed.

Enuma Elish

Enuma Elish is a fanscinating, detailed Babylonian creation myth.

Eschatology

Eschatology is a part of theology concerned with the final events of history, or the ultimate destiny of humanity. This concept is commonly referred to as the "end of the world" or "end times".

Exegesis

Exegesis is a critical explanation or interpretation of a text, particularly a religious text. Traditionally the term was used primarily for work with the Bible; however, in modern usage biblical exegesis is used for greater specificity to distinguish it from any other broader critical text explanation

Ezekiel

Ezekiel prophesied from roughly 993-971BCE. Ezekiel was a priest. There is no information on what happened to him after 971.

Eve

God creates Eve to be of help to Adam. Learn more about Eve, the Garden of Eden, and the serpent.

Assumption (taken up to heaven)

For Mary, although declared divinely-revealed dogma only in 1950, documentation of belief in the Assumption dates to at least the 5th century.

Historical-Critical Method

For purposes of this chapter, historical-critical methods are those which take account of the fact that the biblical texts were written long ago, in a cultural matrix very different from our own, and that attempt to understand the texts first of all in the context of that ancient setting.

Scribal copying

From then on, the Jewish scribes solidified the following process for creating copies of the Torah and eventually other books in the Old Testament. They could only use clean animal skins, both to write on, and even to bind manuscripts. Each column of writing could have no less than forty-eight, and no more than sixty lines. The ink must be black, and of a special recipe. They must verbalize each word aloud while they were writing. They must wipe the pen and wash their entire bodies before writing the word "Jehovah," every time they wrote it. There must be a review within thirty days, and if as many as three pages required corrections, the entire manuscript had to be redone. The letters, words, and paragraphs had to be counted, and the document became invalid if two letters touched each other. The middle paragraph, word and letter must correspond to those of the original document. The documents could be stored only in sacred places (synagogues, etc). As no document containing God's Word could be destroyed, they were stored, or buried, in a genizah - a Hebrew term meaning "hiding place." These were usually kept in a synagogue or sometimes in a Jewish cemetery. The final item is why we have no original manuscripts of the Old Testament today. After Jerusalem was sacked by Rome in the First Century, the process was lost. While a Hebrew version of the Old Testament continued to exist, the language wasn't spoken by many. Greek and eventually Latin versions continued to be copied.

Sacrifice of the firstborn of the flock

Genesis 4:4, ESV: "and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering," Cain and Abel both have a relationship with the God who made their parents with His own hands. Both are bringing offerings to him. The previous verse tells us that Cain, the farmer, brought crops to the Lord: the fruit of the ground. Abel, the keeper of sheep, brought fat portions from a firstborn lamb from his flock.Details are scarce in this part of Scripture. Only the most basic information is being given. So, we don't know if God required some particular form of sacrifice, sacrifice at certain times, or of some quantity. As far as we know from this text, God may or may not have expressed His will about the kinds of offerings He would accept.Later, under the Law of Moses, God will require Israel to bring very similar offerings as part of their worship of Him and to receive atonement for their sin. Those details are not mentioned in this passage, and we have no way of knowing if God gave such a requirement to Cain and Abel. That being said, it seems Abel's offering (Genesis 4:4; Exodus 13:12 more closely matches the requirements of this future law than Cain's (Genesis 4:3; Leviticus 2:12; Numbers 18:12). This may help to explain why the Lord approved of Abel's offering and looked on Abel with favor, above his older brother.

Hasmoneans

Hasmonean Dynasty, also spelled Hasmonaean, dynasty of ancient Judaea, descendants of the Maccabee (q.v.) family. The name derived (according to Josephus, in The Antiquities of the Jews) from the name of their ancestor Hasmoneus (Hasmon), or Asamonaios.

Lucan Priority Theory

He also established a theory of Lukan priority which argues: "Luke was written first and was used by Mark, who in turn was used by Matthew who did not know Luke's Gospel." Lindsey's theory suggests that there were two non-canonical documents (documents not included within a canon or group of rules) unknown to the scholars within the field of synoptic gospels. The two non-canonical documents were: A Hebrew biography of Jesus A literal Greek translation of that original Those two documents provided background source material.

Holy Saturday

Holy Saturday, the Saturday of Holy Week, also known as Great and Holy Saturday, the Great Sabbath, Black Saturday, Hallelujah Saturday, Glorious Saturday or Easter Eve, and called "Joyous Saturday" or "the Saturday of Light" among Coptic Christians, is the day after Good Friday

Roman

In Biblical Names the meaning of the name Roman is: Strong; powerful. To the Romans, Jesus was a troublemaker who had got his just desserts. To the Christians, however, he was a martyr and it was soon clear that the execution had made Judaea even more unstable. Pontius Pilate - the Roman governor of Judaea and the man who ordered the crucifixion - was ordered home in disgrace.

Wisdom

In Christian theology, "wisdom" (From Hebrew: חכמה transliteration: chokmâh pronounced: khok-maw', Greek: Sophia, Latin: Sapientia) describes an aspect of God, or the theological concept regarding the wisdom of God.

Justification of sin

In Christian theology, justification is God's righteous act of removing the guilt and penalty of sin while, at the same time, declaring the ungodly to be righteous, through faith in Christ's atoning sacrifice.

Redemption

In Christian theology, redemption is a metaphor for what is achieved through the Atonement; therefore, there is a metaphorical sense in which the death of Jesus pays the price of a ransom, releasing Christians from bondage to sin and death. In Judaism, redemption (Hebrew ge'ulah) refers to God redeeming the Israelites from their exiles, starting with that from Egypt. This includes the final redemption from the present exile. In the Torah, redemption referred to the ransom of slaves (Exodus 21:8).

Prophet

In Christianity the figures widely recognised as prophets are those mentioned as such in the Old Testament and the New Testament. It is believed that prophets are chosen and called by God. The main list below consists of only those individuals that have been clearly defined as prophets, either by explicit statement or strong contextual implication, (e.g. the purported authors of the books listed as the major prophets and minor prophets) along with the Biblical reference to their office. The second list consists of those individuals who are recorded as having had a visionary or prophetic experience, but without a history of any major or consistent prophetic calling. The third list consists of unnamed prophets. The fourth list contains the names of those described in the Bible as prophets, but are presented as either misusing this gift or as fraudulent.

Holy Week

In Christianity, Holy Week is the week immediately preceding Easter. It is also the last week of Lent, in the West, - Palm Sunday, Holy Monday, Holy Tuesday, Holy Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday - are all included. However, Easter Day, which begins the season of Eastertide, is not.

Salvation

In Christianity, salvation (also called deliverance or redemption) is the "saving [of] human beings from sin and its consequences, which include death and separation from God" by Christ's death and resurrection, and the justification following this salvation. In Judaism, salvation is closely related to the idea of redemption, a saving from the states or circumstances that destroy the value of human existence. God, as the universal spirit and Creator of the World, is the source of all salvation for humanity, provided an individual honours God by observing his precepts.

Lamb

In Christianity, the lamb represents Christ as both suffering and triumphant; it is typically a sacrificial animal, and may also symbolize gentleness, innocence, and purity. When depicted with the LION, the pair can mean a state of paradise. In addition, the lamb symbolizes sweetness, forgiveness and meekness.

Twelve Tribes

Jacob's first wife, Leah, bore him six sons: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. Each was the father of a tribe, though Levi's descendants (among whom were Moses and Aaron), the priests and temple functionaries, were dispersed among the other tribes and received no tribal land of their own.

Authoritative interpreters

In Christianity, the term biblical authority refers to two complementary ideas: the extent to which one can regard the commandments and doctrines within the Old and New Testament scriptures as authoritative over humans' belief and conduct the extent to which Biblical propositions are accurate in matters of history and science The case for biblical authority stems from the claim that God has revealed himself in written form through human authors and that the information contained in canonical books is not of human origin.[1] It entails, but is not exhausted by, questions raised by biblical inerrancy, biblical infallibility, biblical interpretation, biblical criticism, and Biblical law in Christianity.

Firmament

In biblical cosmology, the firmament is the vast solid dome created by God on the second day to divide the primal sea (called tehom) into upper and lower portions so that the dry land could appear: ... And God called the firmament Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day.

Ancient Hebrew Cosmology

In fact, numerous biblical passages state or affirm the geocentric cosmology that prevailed in much of the ancient world until Greek and Roman times, and, of course, which was not fully modernized until Copernicus and Galileo [Aune2003; Berlin2011]: The Earth itself is flat and immovable, encompassed by a circle (like a coin), and set on a foundation of pillars. Above the Earth stands a "firmament" (later thought to be a system of crystalline spheres), a few hundred (or at most a few thousand) feet above the Earth, on which the stars, planets, sun and moon revolve. Heaven or the realm of God is a set of chambers just above the firmament. Above the firmament and the heavenly chambers lie

Divine Throne/Chariot

In other cases where the divine body is depicted, the focus is on God's extremities; only here is the virtual gaze of the reader directed at God's indistinct genital region. This emphasis is repeated in 8:2, when Ezekiel encounters the divine chariot again. This reference to seeing God's loins stands in distinction to the creatures bearing the divine throne, each of whom had a pair of wings modestly covering its body. No wonder the rabbis had their issues with this text, Eilberg-Schwartz argues. From Beasts to Cherubs: From Babylon to Jerusalem The progressive unfolding of Ezekiel's comprehension of the creatures transporting the divine throne is one of the threads that helps bind together the book.[29] In chapter 1, Ezekiel sees the divine chariot approaching. In chapter 2, God's presence addresses him; while in chapter 3 the chariot departs

Michael, the archangel

In the Epistle of Jude, Michael is specifically referred to as "the archangel Michael". Sanctuaries to Michael were built by Christians in the 4th century, when he was first seen as a healing angel. Over time his role became one of a protector and the leader of the army of God against the forces of evil.

King of the Jews

In the New Testament, Jesus is referred to as the King of the Jews, both at the beginning of his life and at the end. In the Koine Greek of the New Testament, e.g., in John 19:3, this is written as Basileus ton Ioudaion. Both uses of the title lead to dramatic results in the New Testament accounts.

Jesus' Trial

In the New Testament, the Sanhedrin trial of Jesus refers to the trial of Jesus before the Sanhedrin following his arrest in Jerusalem and prior to his dispensation by Pontius Pilate

Film: "The Prince of Egypt"

In this animated retelling of the Book of Exodus, Egyptian Prince Moses (Val Kilmer), upon discovering his roots as a Jewish slave, embarks on a quest to free his people from bondage. When his plea is denied by his brother Rameses (Ralph Fiennes), the new pharaoh, a series of horrific plagues strike Egypt. Moses finally leads the Israelites to freedom by parting the Red Sea and drowning the Egyptian army. God then gives Moses the Ten Commandments, a list of rules for his people to live by.

Prince of Egypt

In this animated retelling of the Book of Exodus, Egyptian Prince Moses (Val Kilmer), upon discovering his roots as a Jewish slave, embarks on a quest to free his people from bondage. When his plea is denied by his brother Rameses (Ralph Fiennes), the new pharaoh, a series of horrific plagues strike Egypt. Moses finally leads the Israelites to freedom by parting the Red Sea and drowning the Egyptian army. God then gives Moses the Ten Commandments, a list of rules for his people to live by.

Prophet-Sage Messiah

In this text, the Messiah is presented as a wisdom teacher, who can rule the world "by the strength of his word" and does not need the horses, riders and archers that were a prerequisite for the military Messiah. What kind of wisdom the Messiah had to possess, was another question, but it may be assumed that the claim of the Talmudic sages that the Messiah was to give the true interpretation of the Law of Moses, was already current in the first century BCE.

Isaac

Isaac the son of Abraham and Sarah, He married Rebekah and Jacob and Esau's father.

Isaiah

Isaiah was a prophet for King Ahaz right before the Assyrian conflict began.

Ishmael

Ishmael was Abraham's firstborn son. His mother was Sarah's handmaiden, Hagar.

Sacrificial Cult

It is the unique figure of the prophet who repeatedly indicts the royal and priestly establishments for having done violence to God's commandments. When Ahab, the powerful king of the Northern Kingdom, runs into the prophet Elijah after a long absence, he addresses him as "you troubler of Israel (I Kings 18:17)." The epithet is not inaccurate, for that is precisely what the prophet was: an uninhibited purveyor of the divine perspective. Revered by the masses, tolerated by the authorities, and driven by God's call, the prophet denounced uncompromisingly the shortcomings and perversions of a society destined to serve as an exemplar for humanity. In this role, the prophets never countenanced the cult as an end in itself. If not predicated on the moral order envisioned by the Torah, no amount of ritual exactitude was of any benefit. The prophets never let Israel forget that the progeny of Abraham were to be set apart by "doing what is just and right (Genesis 18:19)." Thus in last week's haftara, Samuel condemns his newly anointed King Saul, the first monarch in the history of Israel, for defying God's explicit instructions to annihilate the people of Amalek and all their possessions. Instead, the best of their livestock were spared to be sacrificed to God. Samuel rebukes Saul bitterly: "Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obedience to the Lord's command? Surely, obedience is better than sacrifice, compliance than the fat of rams.... Because you rejected the Lord's command, He has rejected you as king (I Samuel 15:22-23)." There is scarcely a later classical prophet who does not reiterate the condemnation that a public cult within a context of pervasive immorality can never sustain or repair the Covenant. Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, orders Amos out of the country (the Northern Kingdom) because he places social justice ahead of cultic solemnity (Amos 5,7). And Hosea accuses the Israelites in the north of proliferating altars and temples in direct proportion to their disobedience of God's teachings (Hosea 8:11-14). Indeed, no one repudiates more incisively than Micah the mind set of those who regard the cult as the pinnacle of religion. Piety is not a function of piling on ever more sacrifices or raising the ante to include even human sacrifices.

Two Source Theory

It posits that the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke were based on the Gospel of Mark and a hypothetical sayings collection from the Christian oral tradition called Q. The two-source hypothesis emerged in the 19th century.

I am who I am (Ex 3:14)

Its context is the encounter of the burning bush (Exodus 3:14): Moses asks what he is to say to the Israelites when they ask what God ['Elohiym] has sent him to them, and YHWH replies, "I am who I am", adding, "Say this to the people of Israel, 'I am has sent me to you.

Hebrews

Its purpose was to exhort Christians to persevere in the face of persecution. At this time, certain believers were considering turning back to Judaism (the Jewish system of law) to escape being persecuted for accepting Christ as their saviour, now following this system of grace (saved by Jesus' sacrifice on the cross).

Joseph

Jacob's beloved wife Rachel died after giving birth to Benjamin. Jacob dearly loved Joseph, and showed favoritism towards him, thus separating his sons.

Jeremiah

Jeremiah was a prophet for five different kings. He wrote a lot about repentance and did many symbolic acts to teach people lessons.

Disciples

Jesus called 12 disciples to serve as his closest helpers and companions. John 1:37-49 relates the calling of Andrew, Peter, James, John, Philip and Nathaniel. Matthew threw a party after he joined the group. Philip brought Nathaniel, also known as Bartholomew

Messiah

Jewish: The Messiah in Judaism is a savior and liberator figure in Jewish eschatology, who is believed to be the future redeemer of the Jewish people. The concept of messianism originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible a messiah is a king or High Priest traditionally anointed with holy anointing oil. Christian: Messiah. [ (muh-seye-uh) ] In Judaism and Christianity, the promised "anointed one" or Christ; the Savior. Christians (see also Christian) believe that Jesus was the Messiah who delivered mankind from original sin (see also original sin). Jews (see also Jews) believe that the Messiah has not yet come.

Joshua

Joshua was the successor to Moses. He was one of the spies sent to check out the Promised Land. He was the one to apportion the land among the tribes.

Shadrach/Hananiah, Meshach/Mishael, & Abednego/Azariah

King Nebuchadnezzar set up a golden image in the plain of Dura (a word meaning simply "plain") and commanded that all his officials bow down before it. All who failed to do so would be thrown into a blazing furnace. Certain officials informed the king that the three Jewish youths Hanania, Mishael, and Azariah, who bore the Babylonian names Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and whom the king had appointed to high office in Babylon, were refusing to worship the golden statue. The three were brought before Nebuchadnezzar, where they informed the king that God would be with them. Nebuchadnezzar commanded that they be thrown into the fiery furnace, heated seven times hotter than normal, but when the king looked he saw four figures walking unharmed in the flames, the fourth "like a son of God." Seeing this, Nebuchadnezzar brought the youths out of the flames and promoted them to high office, decreeing that anyone who spoke against God should be torn limb from limb. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are figures from the biblical Book of Daniel, primarily chapter 3. In the narrative, three Hebrew men are thrown into a fiery furnace by Nebuchadnezzar II, King of Babylon, when they refuse to bow down to the king's image; the three are preserved from harm and the king sees four men walking in the flames, "the fourth ... like a son of God".[2] They are first mentioned in Daniel 1, where alongside Daniel they are brought to Babylon to study Chaldean language and literature with a view to them serving at the King's court, and their Hebrew names are replaced with Chaldean or Babylonian names.[3]

Kingdom of God

Kingdom of God, also called Kingdom Of Heaven, in Christianity, the spiritual realm over which God reigns as king, or the fulfillment on Earth of God's will. The phrase occurs frequently in the New Testament, primarily used by Jesus Christ in the first three Gospels.

Kingdom of Heaven

Kingdom of God, also called Kingdom Of Heaven, in Christianity, the spiritual realm over which God reigns as king, or the fulfillment on Earth of God's will. The phrase occurs frequently in the New Testament, primarily used by Jesus Christ in the first three Gospels.

Kingu

Kingu, in Babylonian mythology, the consort of Tiamat. The creation epic Enuma elish tells how Tiamat, determined to destroy the other gods, created a mighty army and set Kingu at its head. When Kingu saw Marduk coming against him, however, he fled.

Leviathan

Leviathan (/lɪˈvaɪ.əθən/; Hebrew: לִוְיָתָן‎, Līvəyāṯān) is a creature with the form of a sea serpent from Jewish mythology. It is referenced in several books of the Hebrew Bible, including Psalms, the Book of Job, the Book of Isaiah, and the Book of Amos; it is also mentioned in the apocryphal Book of Enoch.

Liberation Theology

Liberation theology is a synthesis of Christian theology and socio-economic analyses, that emphasizes "social concern for the poor and political liberation for oppressed peoples.

Logos (Greek)

Logos, (Greek: "word," "reason," or "plan") plural logoi, in ancient Greek philosophy and early Christian theology, the divine reason implicit in the cosmos, ordering it and giving it form and meaning.

Luke

Luke was a companion of Paul, and he was quite familiar with the different interpretations of the life of Jesus held by different groups within the Christian community. His purpose was to minimize the differences between the various groups and thus promote harmony within the church.

Protestant Bible Canon Provenance

Luther removed the books of Hebrews, James, Jude and Revelation from the canon partially because some were perceived to go against certain Protestant doctrines such as sola scriptura and sola fide),[65][failed verification] while defenders of Luther cite previous scholarly precedent and support as the justification for his marginalization of certain books,[66] including 2 Maccabees[67] Luther's smaller canon was not fully accepted in Protestantism, though apocryphal books are ordered last in the German-language Luther Bible to this day. All of these apocrypha are called anagignoskomena by the Eastern Orthodox per the Synod of Jerusalem. The Anglican Communion accepts "the Apocrypha for instruction in life and manners, but not for the establishment of doctrine",[68] and many "lectionary readings in The Book of Common Prayer are taken from the Apocrypha", with these lessons being "read in the same ways as those from the Old Testament".[69] The Protestant Apocrypha contains three books (3 Esdras, 4 Esdras and the Prayer of Manasseh) that are accepted by many Eastern Orthodox Churches and Oriental Orthodox Churches as canonical, but are regarded as non-canonical by the Catholic Church and are therefore not included in modern Catholic Bibles.

Marcan Priority Theory

Marcan priority, the hypothesis that the Gospel of Mark was the first-written of the three synoptic gospels and was used as a source by the other two (Matthew and Luke) is a central element in discussion of the synoptic problem - the question of the documentary relationship among these three gospels.

Marduk

Marduk was the patron god of Babylon, the Babylonian king of the gods, who presided over justice, compassion, healing, regeneration, magic, and fairness, although he is also sometimes referenced as a storm god and agricultural deity.

Mark Martyr

Mark the Evangelist is the traditionally ascribed author of the Gospel of Mark. Mark is said to have founded the Church of Alexandria, one of the most important episcopal sees of early Christianity. His feast day is celebrated on April 25, and his symbol is the winged lion.

Matzah

Matzo, matzah, or matza is an unleavened flatbread that is part of Jewish cuisine and forms an integral element of the Passover festival, during which chametz is forbidden. As the Torah recounts, God commanded the Jews to create this special unleavened bread.

Maundy Thursday

Maundy Thursday is the Christian holy day falling on the Thursday before Easter. It commemorates the Washing of the Feet and Last Supper of Jesus Christ with the Apostles, as described in the canonical gospels. It is the fifth day of Holy Week, preceded by Holy Wednesday and followed by Good Friday.

Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris-Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent, in modern days roughly corresponding to most of Iraq, Kuwait, the eastern parts of Syria, Southeastern Turkey, and regions along the Turkish-Syrian and Iran-Iraq borders

Midrash

Midrash is biblical exegesis by ancient Judaic authorities, using a mode of interpretation prominent in the Talmud. The word itself means "textual interpretation", "study"

Mizpah

Mizpah (מִצְפָּה miṣpāh, mitspah) is Hebrew for "watchtower". As mentioned in the biblical story of Jacob and Laban, making a pile of stones marked an agreement between two people, with God as their watching witness.

Moses

Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt. He performed incredible miracles that showed God had appointed him to lead the people. The Hebrew Bible describes Moses as the greatest prophet who ever lived, and for good reason. Moses is born during hard times for ancient Israel. They're enslaved in Egypt, and their growing population so alarms the Egyptians that the Egyptian king orders all newborn Israelite males drowned in the Nile River. Moses' mother saves her son's life by placing him in the Nile in a reed basket, where he is soon discovered by Pharaoh's daughter, who ironically raises Moses in the royal palace. After he's grown, Moses must flee Egypt for killing an Egyptian who was beating an Israelite slave. Eventually, God appears to Moses in a burning bush and tells him that he must return to Egypt to deliver the Israelites from their slavery. With God's help, Moses succeeds in his mission, bringing the Israelites to Mount Sinai, where God first appeared to Moses. At Mount Sinai, God gives Moses the Law, including the Ten Commandments. Moses eventually leads the Israelites to the edge of their Promised Land (ancient Canaan; later Israel), where he dies at the ripe old age of 120.

Horeb

Mount Horeb is the mountain at which the Book of Deuteronomy in the Hebrew Bible states that the Ten Commandments were given to Moses by Yahweh. It is described in two places as הַר הָאֱלֹהִים the "Mountain of God". The mountain is also called the Mountain of YHWH

Standardization of biblical books

No longer are there compelling reasons to assume that the history of the canon must have commenced very late in Israel's history, as was once accepted. The emergence in Mesopotamia, already in the second half of the 2nd millennium BCE, of a standardized body of literature arranged in a more or less fixed order and with some kind of official text, expresses the notion of a canon in its secular sense. Because Babylonian and Assyrian patterns frequently served as the models for imitation throughout the Middle East, sacred documents in Israel may well have been carefully stored in temples and palaces, particularly if they were used in connection with the cult or studied in the priestly or wisdom schools. The injunction to deposit the two tables of the Decalogue (Ten Commandments) inside the Ark of the Covenant and the book of the Torah beside it and the chance find of a book of the Torah in the Temple in 622 BCE tend to confirm the existence of such a practice in Israel.

Jonah

No one knows if Jonah was a real person or if his life is just a story. The story of Jonah reminds us of the importance of listening to God and that God loves us all.

Numbers

Numbers, Hebrew Bemidbar ("In the Wilderness"), also called The Fourth Book Of Moses, the fourth book of the Bible. The English title is a translation of the Septuagint (Greek) title referring to the numbering of the tribes of Israel in chapters 1-4. The book of Numbers was written to demonstrate that God's covenant plan stays on track even when His people don't. The instances of sinful complaining and rebellion and the resulting judgment are so pronounced and widespread that it seems like they will never make it (Num. 14:2-4, 26).

Orthodox Bible Canon

OT Unique to the Orthodox Tewahedo canon are the Paralipomena of Jeremiah (4 Baruch), Jubilees, Enoch, and the three books of Meqabyan. The books of Lamentations, Jeremiah, and Baruch, as well as the Letter of Jeremiah and 4 Baruch, are all considered canonical by the Orthodox Tewahedo churches.

Enoch

Only two people in the Bible appear to be taken straight to heaven, without having to experience death (if you don't speculate that these two people are the witnesses in Revelation who do in fact experience death briefly in Revelation 11:7-12). From the Bible, we know that Enoch was Adam's great-great-great-great grandson (and Noah's great grandfather) who lived a holy and faithful life to the Lord (Genesis 5). He also becomes the father of Methuselah, the longest-living man (Genesis 5:27). Throughout his three-plus centuries on earth, he has numerous other offspring. After 365 years on earth, God "takes (him) away" (Genesis 5:24). The verb for "take" appears to mean snatched up or carried away. Perhaps similar to the way God had taken away Elijah the prophet.

Oral transmission

Oral gospel traditions, cultural information passed on from one generation to the next by word of mouth, were the first stage in the formation of the written gospels. These oral traditions included different types of stories about Jesus. For example, people told anecdotes about Jesus healing the sick and debating with his opponents. The traditions also included sayings attributed to Jesus, such as parables and teachings on various subjects which, along with other sayings, formed the oral gospel tradition.

1-2, 4 Maccabees

Originally written in Hebrew and later translated into Greek This book begins with two letters written by Jews of Palestine to those in Egypt

Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday is a Christian moveable feast that falls on the Sunday before Easter. The feast commemorates Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem, an event mentioned in each of the four canonical Gospels.

Paul

Paul (or Saul, as he is first called) is arguably the person most responsible for spreading Christianity throughout the Mediterranean region, on its way to becoming the religion of the Roman Empire. Paul's efforts to convert people to Christianity are all the more remarkable since, when we first meet Paul, he is vigorously attempting to stamp out this movement because he believes that its message contradicts the teachings of the Hebrew Bible. Then, one day, while Paul is traveling to Damascus to arrest Christians, Jesus appears to him in a blinding flash of light and tells Paul his efforts against Christianity are what contradict the teachings of the Hebrew Bible, because Jesus is God's promised Messiah. Paul spends the rest of his life spreading the "good news" about Jesus' life and teachings throughout the Roman world, suffering intensely for a movement he was once bent on destroying.

Pentateuch

Pentateuch means the first five books of the Bible. These books are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The word Pentateuch comes from two Greek words that mean "five books" or "five scroll" According to tradition, the books were written by the Israelite leader, Moses.

Scandalous death

Perhaps the closest biblical connection is to 1 Corinthians 1:23:we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles (ESV) Ravi Zacharias makes this connection in an article entitled "The Scandal of the Cross": To the Greek, the cross was foolishness. To the Jew, it was a stumbling block. What is it about the cross of Christ that so roundly defies everything that power relishes? Crucifixion was humiliating. It was so humiliating that the Romans who specialized in the art of torture assured their own citizenry that a Roman could never be crucified. But not only was it humiliating, it was excruciating. In fact, the very word "excruciating" comes from two Latin words: ex cruciatus, or out of the cross. Crucifixion was the defining word for pain. Mark Baker and Joel Green, in Recovering the Scandal of the Cross, also see a connection between this passage and the "scandal" of the crucifixion: Paul himself provides evidence that we have too easily made sense of the scandal of the death of God's Messiah. In 1 Corinthians 1:18-25, Paul outlines a perspective on the cross many of us have learned to overlook. Here he testifies to the lunacy of the cross for the first-century Roman, matched by its ignominious character among the Jewish people. [...] In Paul's argument with the Corinthians the cross does not have the appearance of "good news" but of absurdity. (33) And finally, D. A. Carson titles his 2010 book on the crucifixion and resurrection Scandalous, emphasizing the ironies and absurdities associated with the crucifixion (cf. Matthew 27, Romans 3, and Revelation 12). So to many Christian writers, the typical understanding of the word scandalous as "shocking" and "upsetting" (see Merriam-Webster) is perfectly, even eminently, applicable to the cross.

Pontius Pilate

Pontius Pilate was the fifth governor of the Roman province of Judaea, serving under Emperor Tiberius from the year 26/27 to 36/37. He is best known today for being the official who presided over the trial of Jesus and ordered his crucifixion

Pseudepigrapha

Pseudepigrapha are falsely attributed works, texts whose claimed author is not the true author, or a work whose real author attributed it to a figure of the past

Rabbinic

Rabbinic Judaism, also called Rabbinism, Rabbinicism, or Judaism espoused by the Rabbanites, has been the mainstream form of Judaism since the 6th century CE, after the codification of the Babylonian Talmud

Redaction Criticism Redactor

Redaction criticism, also called Redaktionsgeschichte, Kompositionsgeschichte or Redaktionstheologie, is a critical method for the study of biblical texts. Redaction criticism regards the author of the text as editor of the source materials. Unlike its parent discipline, form criticism, redaction criticism does not look at the various parts of a narrative to discover the original genre. Instead, it focuses on how the redactor shaped and moulded the narrative to express theological and ideological goals.

Samuel

Samuel was the one God called three times during the night. As an adult, he served as a judge of the people.

Satan

Satan occupies a far more prominent place in Christian theology than in traditional rabbinic sources. The Book of Revelation, in the New Testament, references an "ancient serpent" — commonly understood as the snake that tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden — "who is the Devil and Satan." It describes a reg dragon with seven heads and 10 horns that stands opposite a pregnant woman about to give birth in order to devour the child — that is, Jesus. Revelation further describes a war in heaven in which Satan is hurled to earth, where he proceeds to lead the world astray. (In the New Testament's Book of Luke, Jesus says he saw Satan "fall like lightning from heaven.") According to Christian prophecy, Satan will be bound by a chain for 1,000 years after the return of Jesus. Some of these Christian ideas are echoed in Jewish tradition, but some also point to fundamental differences — most notably perhaps the idea that, in the Hebrew Bible at least, Satan is ultimately subordinate to God, carrying out his purpose on earth. Or that he isn't real at all, but is merely a metaphor for sinful impulses. The kabbalistic and Hasidic literature complicate this view, offering a closer parallel to Christian eschatology. Both the kabbalistic/Hasidic and Christian traditions describe the forces of the holy and the demonic as locked in a struggle that will culminate in God's eventual victory. According to some scholars, this is born of the considerable cross-pollination between Christian and Jewish thinking in the so-called "golden age" of Jewish culture in Spain during the Middle Ages, from whence many of the early kabbalistic texts, including the Zohar, emerged.

King of Israel

Saul Author of Introduction to the Old Testament. Saul, Hebrew Shaʾul, (flourished 11th century bc, Israel), first king of Israel (c. 1021-1000 bc). According to the biblical account found mainly in I Samuel, Saul was chosen king both by the judge Samuel and by public acclamation

Last Supper

Scriptural basis. The last meal that Jesus shared with his apostles, or disciples, is described in all four canonical Gospels (Mt. 26:17-30, Mk. 14:12-26, Lk. 22:7-39 and Jn. 13:1-17:26). This meal later became known as the Last Supper.

Moses in Western art

See Worksheet in Drive

Seven Sons' speeches (2 Maccabees)

She watched her seven sons die in the space of a single day, yet she bore it bravely because she put her trust in the Lord." Each of the sons makes a speech as he dies, and the last one says that his brothers are "dead under God's covenant of everlasting life".

Sheol

Sheol (/ˈʃiːoʊl/ SHEE-ohl, /-əl/; Hebrew: שְׁאוֹל‎ Šəʾōl), in the Hebrew Bible, is a place of darkness to which the dead go. Under some circumstances they are thought to be able to be contacted by the living. Sheol is also called Hades in Greek.

Paul's plant seed metaphor of resurrection

The metaphor of the grain of wheat suggests two bodies because the ancient world thought that the seed disappeared and was reborn. Other parts of the passage suggest a single body transformed.

Decalogue structure

Some of us look to the Ten Commandments as a summary of Biblical theology and ethics, even viewing the commandments as a Table of Contents for the rest of the mitzvot. Rabbi Fohrman explores this concept by dissecting the layers of meaning hidden in the structure of the Ten Commandments, and uncovers some core principles for the Torah's many lessons. The structure of the Tablets is designed to convey a deeper meaning about the fundamental values of the Torah than the content of the Ten Commandments communicates alone.

Source Criticism

Source criticism, in biblical criticism, refers to the attempt to establish the sources used by the authors and redactors of a biblical text. ... The ultimate aim of these scholars was to reconstruct the history of the biblical text and also the religious history of ancient Israel.

Jacob

Stories about Jacob in the Bible begin at Genesis 25:19. According to the Old Testament, Jacob was the younger twin brother of Esau, who was the ancestor of Edom and the Edomites. ... As it turned out, Jacob, by means of an elaborate double deception, managed to obtain his older brother's birthright from their father.

Vicarious Atonement

Substitutionary atonement, also called vicarious atonement, is the idea that Jesus died "for us," as propagated by the classic and objective paradigms of atonement in Christianity, which regard Jesus as dying as a substitute for others, 'instead of' them.

Feast of Tabernacles (Booths)

That structure is a sukkah, which means "booth" in Hebrew. The sukkah is erected in honor of Sukkot, or Feast of Tabernacles, a Jewish holiday held in the fall to celebrate the gathering of the harvest as well as the Jewish exodus from Egypt. "Feast of the Ingathering," Exodus 23:16

Astral Immortality

The Astral body is a subtle body posited by many philosophers, intermediate between the intelligent soul and the mental body, composed of a subtle material.

Babylonian Exile

The Babylonian captivity or Babylonian exile is the period in Jewish history during which a number of people from the ancient Kingdom of Judah were captives in Babylon, the capital of the Neo-Babylonian Empire

Translation of biblical books

The Bible has been translated into many languages from the biblical languages of Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. As of September 2020 the full Bible has been translated into 700 languages, the New Testament has been translated into an additional 1,548 languages and Bible portions or stories into 1,138 other languages. Thus at least some portions of the Bible have been translated into 3,386 languages.[1] The Latin Vulgate was dominant in Western Christianity through the Middle Ages. Since then, the Bible has been translated into many more languages. English Bible translations also have a rich and varied history of more than a millennium. (See also List of English Bible translations.) Textual variants in the New Testament include errors, omissions, additions, changes, and alternate translations. In some cases, different translations have been used as evidence for or have been motivated by doctrinal differences

Christian Bible

The Bible is a collection of religious texts or scriptures sacred to Christians, Jews, Samaritans, Rastafari and others. It appears in the form of an anthology, a compilation of texts of a variety of forms that are all linked by the belief that they are collectively revelations of God

Hebrew Bible

The Hebrew Bible, which is also called the Tanakh, or sometimes the Miqra, is the canonical collection of Hebrew scriptures, including the Torah. These texts are almost exclusively in Biblical Hebrew, with a few passages in Biblical Aramaic.

Pharaoh

The Bible makes reference to various pharaohs of Egypt. These include unnamed pharaohs in the legends of the Israelite settlement in Egypt, the subsequent oppression of the Israelites, and the period of the Exodus. They also include several later rulers, some of whom can be identified with historical pharaohs. The identity of Pharaoh in the Moses story has been much debated, but many scholars are inclined to accept that Exodus has King Ramses II in mind

Binding of Isaac

The Binding of Isaac (Hebrew: עֲקֵידַת יִצְחַק‎) Aqedat Yitzhaq, in Hebrew also simply "the Binding", הָעֲקֵידָה‎ Ha-Aqedah, -Aqeidah) is a story from the Hebrew Bible found in Genesis 22. In the biblical narrative, God tells Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac, on Moriah.

Jubilees

The Book of Jubilees, sometimes called Lesser Genesis (Leptogenesis), is an ancient Jewish religious work of 50 chapters, considered canonical by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church as well as Beta Israel (Ethiopian Jews), where it is known as the Book of Division (Ge'ez: መጽሐፈ ኩፋሌ Mets'hafe Kufale).

Judges (as in the book of)

The Book of Judges is the seventh book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. In the narrative of the Hebrew Bible, it covers the time between the conquest described in the Book of Joshua and the establishment of a kingdom in the Books of Samuel, during which biblical judges served as temporary leaders.

Sirach

The Book of Sirach, also called the Wisdom of Sirach or simply Sirach (/ˈsaɪræk/), and also known as the Book of Ecclesiasticus (/ɪˌkliːziˈæstɪkəs/; abbreviated Ecclus.)[1] or Ben Sira,[2] is a Jewish work originally in Hebrew of ethical teachings, from approximately 200 to 175 BCE, written by the Jewish scribe Ben Sira of Jerusalem, on the inspiration of his father Joshua son of Sirach, sometimes called Jesus son of Sirach or Yeshua ben Eliezer ben Sira.

Pentecost

The Christian holiday of Pentecost, which is celebrated the 50th day from Easter Sunday, commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and other followers of Jesus Christ while they were in Jerusalem celebrating the Feast of Weeks, as described in the Acts of the Apostles.

Codex

The Codex is the remains of a huge hand-written book that contained all the Christian scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, together with two late 1st-century Christian texts, the Shepherd of Hermas and the Epistle of Barnabas. ... All the texts written down in the Codex are in Greek.

Red Sea

The Crossing of the Red Sea forms an episode in the biblical narrative of The Exodus. It tells of the escape of the Israelites, led by Moses, from the pursuing Egyptians, as recounted in the Book of Exodus. Moses holds out his staff and God parts the waters of the Yam Suph.

Davidic Lineage

The Davidic line or House of David refers to the lineage of King David through the texts in the Hebrew Bible, in the New Testament, and through the succeeding centuries. It is the bloodline that the Hebrew Messiah is said to descend from according to Judaism and Christianity

TaNaK

The Hebrew Bible, which is also called the Tanakh, or sometimes the Miqra, is the canonical collection of Hebrew scriptures, including the Torah. These texts are almost exclusively in Biblical Hebrew, with a few passages in Biblical Aramaic.

Genesis

The essential message of Genesis is that God created the earth and gave it to man, who he made in his image, to rule. Repeatedly, however, the reader sees that man falls short of God's expectations and is punished accordingly, particularly in the Fall in the Garden of Eden and in the case of the Noahic flood.

D (euteronomist)

The Deuteronomist, abbreviated as either Dtr[1] or simply D, may refer either to the source document underlying the core chapters (12-26) of the Book of Deuteronomy, or to the broader "school" that produced all of Deuteronomy as well as the Deuteronomistic history of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings and also the book of Jeremiah.[2] The adjectives "Deuteronomic" and "Deuteronomistic" are sometimes used interchangeably; if they are distinguished, then the first refers to the core of Deuteronomy and the second to all of Deuteronomy and the history.[3][4] The Deuteronomist is one of the sources identified through source criticism as underlying much of the Hebrew Bible. Among source-critical scholars, it is generally agreed that Deuteronomy and the Deuteronomistic history originated independently of the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers (the first four books of the Torah, sometimes called the "Tetrateuch", whose sources are the Priestly source and the Jahwist), and the history of the books of Chronicles; most scholars trace all or most of it to the Babylonian exile (6th century BCE), and associate it with editorial reworking of both the Tetrateuch and Jeremiah.[5]

Deuteronomistic History

The Deuteronomistic History (DH) is a modern theoretical construct holding that behind the present forms of the books of Deuteronomy and Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings (the Former Prophets in the Hebrew canon) there was a single literary work.

Romans (Paul's letter to)

The Epistle to the Romans or Letter to the Romans, often shortened to Romans, is the sixth book in the New Testament. Biblical scholars agree that it was composed by Paul the Apostle to explain that salvation is offered through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Establishment clause

The First Amendment's Establishment Clause prohibits the government from making any law "respecting an establishment of religion." This clause not only forbids the government from establishing an official religion, but also prohibits government actions that unduly favor one religion over another.

Eden

The Garden of Eden, also called the Terrestrial Paradise, or simply Paradise, is the biblical "Garden of God" described in the Book of Genesis and the Book of Ezekiel. Genesis 13:10 refers to the "garden of God", and the "trees of the garden" are mentioned in Ezekiel 31:9.

Paschal Vigil Passion (narratives)

The Good Friday Service around 3 o'clock in the afternoon is a celebration of the Lord's passion, with the proclamation of the passion narrative from John's Gospel, because that gospel envisions a continuity between the suffering of Christ, his death and his exaltation as all one salvific moment. There are three parts of the service: 1) the Liturgy of the Word, 2) the Veneration of the Cross, and 3) Holy Communion. The presider at this service is the leader/prioress of the community, who begins the service by silently walking into chapel and prostrating in the middle aisle, symbolic of "the earliest form of the Roman Eucharistic entrance rite," followed by an opening prayer. The first reading is the fourth Servant Song from Isaiah 52:13-53:12 and the second is from Hebrews 4:14-16, 5:7-9, which speaks of Jesus the High Priest, who has gained our salvation. The Liturgy of the Word ends with solemn intercessions—prayers for "the church, the pope, the clergy and laity, candidates for initiation, unity of Christians, the Jewish people, non-Christians, unbelievers, civil authorities, and all those in need."

Jewish Revolt (against Rome)

The Great Revolt began in the year 66 CE, during the twelfth year of the reign of Nero, originating in Roman and Jewish religious tensions. The crisis escalated due to anti-taxation protests and attacks upon Roman citizens by the Jews.

Greek: Christos

The Greek name Χρίστος is derived from the earlier word χριστός (note the difference in accentuation), meaning "anointed" and which became the Christian theological term for the Messiah.

Greek: Ta Biblia

The Greek ta biblia (lit. "little papyrus books") was "an expression Hellenistic Jews used to describe their sacred books" (the Septuagint).

Jewish Bible Canon

The Hebrew Bible is often known among Jews as TaNaKh, an acronym derived from the names of its three divisions: Torah (Instruction, or Law, also called the Pentateuch), Neviʾim (Prophets), and Ketuvim (Writings). The Torah contains five books: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

Jewish Bible

The Hebrew Bible, which is also called the Tanakh, or sometimes the Miqra, is the canonical collection of Hebrew scriptures, including the Torah. These texts are almost exclusively in Biblical Hebrew, with a few passages in Biblical Aramaic

Hellenism

The Hellenistic period covers the period of Mediterranean history between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in 31 BC and the conquest of Ptolemaic Egypt the following year

Hexateuch

The Hexateuch is the first six books of the Hebrew Bible: the Torah and the book of Joshua

Patriarchal Narratives

The Historicity of the Patriarchal Narratives: The Quest for the Historical Abraham is a book by biblical scholar Thomas L. Thompson, Professor of Old Testament Studies at the University of Copenhagen

Joseph Cycle

The Joseph Cycle (Genesis 37—50) Chapters thirty seven through fifty provide an appropriate ending to the story of Israel's earliest ancestors but also provide the setting for what we see at the beginning of the next book, the story of Moses. They give an account of how the Hebrew people came to be in Egypt where they are found in slavery at the beginning of Exodus. The central character in these final chapters is Joseph—one of the two sons of Jacob and Rachel—and the narrative about him is more polished than the earlier ancestor stories. The theme of promise moves into the background, and God no longer speaks directly to the main character. Still, the narrative presupposes that God's intention lies behind the chain of events that it relates.

King of Judah

The Kings of Judah were the monarchs who ruled over the ancient Kingdom of Judah. According to the biblical account, this kingdom was founded after the death of Saul, when the tribe of Judah elevated David to rule over it. After seven years, David became king of a reunited Kingdom of Israel

Last Adam

The Last Adam, also given as the Final Adam or the Ultimate Adam, is a title given to Jesus in the New Testament. Similar titles that also refer to Jesus include Second Adam and New Adam. Twice in the New Testament an explicit comparison is made between Jesus and Adam.

Maccabean revolt

The Maccabean Revolt was a Jewish rebellion, lasting from 167 to 160 BCE, led by the Maccabees against the Seleucid Empire and the Hellenistic influence on Jewish life

Maccabees

The Maccabees (/ˈmækəˌbiːz/), also spelled Machabees (Hebrew: מכבים‎ or מקבים‎, Maqabim; Latin: Machabaei or Maccabaei; Greek: Μακκαβαῖοι, Makkabaioi), were a group of Jewish rebel warriors who took control of Judea, which at the time was part of the Seleucid Empire.

Masoretes/Masoretic

The Masoretes were groups of Jewish scribe-scholars who worked between the 6th and 10th centuries CE, based primarily in early medieval Palestine in the cities of Tiberias and Jerusalem, as well as in Iraq. The Masoretic Text is the authoritative Hebrew Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Tanakh in Rabbinic Judaism. The Masoretic Text defines the Jewish canon and its precise letter-text, with its vocalization and accentuation known as the masorah.

Hebrew: Mashiah

The Messiah in Judaism is a savior and liberator figure in Jewish eschatology, who is believed to be the future redeemer of the Jewish people. The concept of messianism originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible a messiah is a king or High Priest traditionally anointed with holy anointing oi

New Testament

The New Testament is the second division of the Christian biblical canon, the first being the Old Testament which is based primarily upon the Hebrew Bible. The New Testament discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christianity

Second Testament

The New Testament is the second division of the Christian biblical canon, the first being the Old Testament which is based primarily upon the Hebrew Bible. The New Testament discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christianity.

End of Days

The end time (also called end times, end of time, end of days, last days, final days, doomsday, or eschaton) is a future described variously in the eschatologies of several world religions (both Abrahamic and non-Abrahamic), which teach that world events will reach a climax.

Jesus

The New Testament's story of Jesus is as fascinating as it is inspiring. Born and raised in the "backwaters" of the Roman Empire, Jesus begins a religious movement that eventually overtakes the Empire. According to the New Testament, Jesus is the Messiah ("anointed one," Greek "Christos"), the promised deliverer of Israel, whose death on the cross brings deliverance from sin, and whose eventual return to earth will bring deliverance from oppression by ushering in God's kingdom. Jesus' message of caring for the downtrodden, extending kindness to strangers, and loving one's enemies is still unrivaled for its profound insight and penetrating simplicity.

First Testament

The Old Testament is the first part of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the twenty-four books of the Hebrew Bible, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites believed by most Christians and religious Jews to be the sacred Word of God

Old Testament

The Old Testament is the first part of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the twenty-four books of the Hebrew Bible, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites believed by most Christians and religious Jews to be the sacred Word of God

Triduum

The Paschal Triduum, Holy Triduum, or Easter Triduum, or the Three Days, is the period of three days that begins with the liturgy on the evening of Maundy Thursday, reaches its high point in the Easter Vigil, and closes with evening prayer on Easter Sunday.

Seder plate

The Passover Seder plate (Hebrew: קערה‎, ke'ara) is a special plate containing symbolic foods eaten or displayed at the Passover Seder.

P (riestly Author)

The Priestly source (or simply P) is perhaps the most widely recognized source underlying the Torah. It is both stylistically and theologically distinct from other material in the Torah,[1] and includes a set of claims that are contradicted by non-Priestly passages and therefore uniquely characteristic: no sacrifice before the institution is ordained by Yahweh (God) at Sinai, the exalted status of Aaron and the priesthood, and the use of the divine title El Shaddai before God reveals his name to Moses, to name a few.[2] In general, the Priestly work is concerned with priestly matters - ritual law, the origins of shrines and rituals, and genealogies - all expressed in a formal, repetitive style.[3] It stresses the rules and rituals of worship, and the crucial role of priests,[4] expanding considerably on the role given to Aaron (all Levites are priests, but according to P only the descendants of Aaron were to be allowed to officiate in the inner sanctuary).[5] P was written to show that even when all seemed lost, God remained present.[

Q (uelle)

The Q source (also called Q document, Q Gospel, or Q from German: Quelle, meaning "source") is a hypothetical written collection of primarily Jesus' sayings (logia). Q is part of the common material found in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke but not in the Gospel of Mark. According to this hypothesis, this material was drawn from the early Church's oral tradition.

Second Coming

The Second Coming (sometimes called the Second Advent or the Parousia) is a Christian, Islamic, Baháʼí and Messianic Jewish belief regarding the return of Jesus after his ascension to heaven about two thousand years ago. The idea is based on messianic prophecies and is part of most Christian eschatologies.

Seder

The Seder is a ritual performed by a community or by multiple generations of a family, involving a retelling of the story of the liberation of the Israelites from slavery in ancient Egypt. This story is in the Book of Exodus (Shemot) in the Hebrew Bible.

Synoptic Problem

The Synoptic Problem is the problem of the literary relationships among the first three "Synoptic" Gospels. ... In some instances, the degree of verbatim agreement or the sequential agreement in the arrangement of episodes and sayings is so strong that one must posit some kind of literary relationship among the gospels. Possibly the greatest literary enigma in history, the Synoptic Problem has fascinated generations of scholars who have puzzled over the agreements, the disagreements, the variations and the peculiarities of the relationship between the first three of our canonical Gospels

Decalogue

The Ten Commandments (Hebrew: עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְּרוֹת‎, Aseret ha'Dibrot; Arabic: وصايا عشر‎), also known as the Decalogue, are a set of biblical principles relating to ethics and worship. ... The text of the Ten Commandments appears twice in the Hebrew Bible: at Exodus 20:2-17 and Deuteronomy 5:6-17. The purpose of the original Ten commandments was to give the Israelites a law which they could live and develop a community of common believers. When Moses first come down from the mountain with the tablets, he brought the same law that Jesus taught during his mortal ministry.

Ten Commandments

The Ten Commandments, also known as the Decalogue, are a set of biblical principles relating to ethics and worship. These are fundamental to both Judaism and Christianity. The text of the Ten Commandments appears twice in the Hebrew Bible: at Exodus 20:2-17 and Deuteronomy 5:6-17. You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make idols. You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Honor your father and your mother. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet.

United Monarchy

The United Monarchy (Hebrew: הממלכה המאוחדת‎) is the name given to the Israelite kingdom of Israel and Judah, during the reigns of Saul, David and Solomon, as depicted in the Hebrew Bible. This is traditionally dated between 1047 BCE and 930 BCE.

Dry Bones

The Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones (or The Valley of Dry Bones or The Vision of Dry Bones) is a prophecy in chapter 37 of the Book of Ezekiel. ... He is commanded to carry a prophecy. Before him, the bones connect into human figures; then the bones become covered with tendon tissues, flesh and skin.

Crucifixion as foolishness/stumbling block

The apostle Paul mentioned these obstacles in 1 Cor 1:23. "Christ crucified" was "to Jews a stumbling block, and to Gentiles foolishness." The reason for those obstacles can only be understood with an awareness of the historical background of crucifixion in the first-century Roman Empire. This essay will explain that background to enable the reader to understand why Paul's audience found the message of a crucified Savior so repulsive.

Exodus

The book of Exodus teaches that the Lord is the one true God and the ruler of all creation. And when the Lord decides to do something, no one can stop him. ... The send part of the book (14-18) includes events that happened while the people of Israel were on their way to Mount Sinai, God's holy mountain.

Revelation

The book of Revelation was written to seven churches as both encouragement and challenge. An apocalyptic letter, it relies on visions, symbols, and Old Testament references to reveal the ultimate fulfillment of God's promise given to Abraham in Genesis. https://bibleproject.com/learn/revelation/

Circumcision

The brit milah is a Jewish religious male circumcision ceremony. Today, it is performed by a mohel on the eighth day after the infant's birth and is followed by a celebratory meal known as seudat mitzvah In the Old Testament circumcision is clearly defined as a covenant between God and all Jewish males. Circumcision is not laid down as a requirement in the New Testament. Instead, Christians are urged to be "circumcised of the heart" by trusting in Jesus and his sacrifice on the cross.

Burning Bush

The burning bush is an object described by the Book of Exodus as being located on Mount Horeb. ... In the biblical narrative, the burning bush is the location at which Moses was appointed by God to lead the Israelites out of Egypt and into Canaan.

Last Judgment

The concept is found in all the Canonical gospels, particularly the Gospel of Matthew. Christian Futurists believe it will take place after the Resurrection of the Dead and the Second Coming of Christ while Full Preterists believe it has already occurred. The Last Judgment has inspired numerous artistic depictions.

Seer

The concept of the seer in the Old Testament (OT) may be connected to the priest who wore the Urim and Thummim. I don't know if all of the individuals called seers were keepers of the Urim and Thummim, but if any were priests (e.g., Zadok, 2 Sam 15:27), they probably did. Seventeen of the twenty-eight occurrences of "seer" appear in 1-2 Chronicles, which one should expect, since Chronicles is the priestly account of the kings of Judah. רֹאֶה The NIV translates two Hebrew words as "seer" in OT, רֹאֶה (rōʾěh) and חֹזֶה (ḥō∙zěh). The first word is a participle (i.e., a verb used as a noun) form of the verb "to see" in Hebrew. OT authors used the word twenty-six times. The NIV translates רֹאֶה twelve times as "seer" and twelve times generically as anyone who "saw" something in the natural way. You will find the other two occurrences in parallel passages (2 Kings 25:19, Jeremiah 52:25), where the NIV translates them as "men of the king's council," which might be a little closer to "seer" in the religious sense. The word is used of Samuel eight times. In fact, the first time the word is used of Samuel (1 Samuel 9:9), the author makes a point of bridging the gap between the era of the seer and the rise of the "prophet." The Septuagint (LXX) in seven of those eight occurrences translates this as βλέπων, "one who sees." This word by itself has no technical significance in Greek as far as I know relating to special prophetic function. The other occurrence connected with Samuel is translated προφήτης "prophet" in the LXX (1 Chronicles 26:28). Two other mentions of רֹאֶה refer to Hanani, an advisor to one of Judah's kings. The LXX calls him προφήτης.

King-Ruler Messiah

The concepts of mashiach, messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible; a mashiach (messiah) is a king or High Priest traditionally anointed with holy anointing oil.

Divine Covenant

The conditional promises made to humanity by God, as revealed in Scripture. the agreement between God and the ancient Israelites, in which God promised to protect them if they kept His law and were faithful to Him.

Ezekiel's visions

The destruction of Gog and Magog, in which Ezekiel sees Israel's enemies destroyed and a new age of peace established; The final temple vision, in which Ezekiel sees a new commonwealth centered around a new temple in Jerusalem, sometimes called the Third Temple, to which God's Shekinah (Divine Presence) has returned.

Documentary Hypothesis

The documentary hypothesis (DH) is one of the models historically used by biblical scholars to explain the origins and composition of the Torah (or Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy).

Ascension (going up to heaven)

The elevation of Christ into heaven by His own power in the presence of His disciples the fortieth day after His Resurrection is narrated in Mark 16:19, Luke 24:51, and in the first chapter of Acts.

End Time

The end time (also called end times, end of time, end of days, last days, final days, doomsday, or eschaton) is a future described variously in the eschatologies of several world religions (both Abrahamic and non-Abrahamic), which teach that world events will reach a climax.

Dead Sea Scrolls

The fame of the Dead Sea Scrolls is what has encouraged both forgeries and the shadow market in antiquities. They are often called the greatest archaeological discovery of the 20th century because of their importance to understanding the Bible and the Jewish world at the time of Jesus

Adam/First Adam

The first man and our first father. He committed Original Sin. The name "Adam" was also used in Hebrew to refer to humanity in general

Priest

The first priest mentioned in the Bible is Melchizedek, who was a priest of the Most High, and who officiated for Abraham. The first priest mentioned of another god is Potipherah priest of On, whose daughter Asenath married Joseph in Egypt. A priest is required to act as a mediator. He is one who represents the Divine being to His subjects and in return from them to their God. He acts as an ambassador, a chosen vehicle through whom Yahweh God has chosen to serve the people and represent Him, on His behalf.

Gospels

The four gospels that we find in the New Testament, are of course, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The first three of these are usually referred to as the "synoptic gospels," because they look at things in a similar way, or they are similar in the way that they tell the story.

Johannine Priority Theory

The gist of this argument is that we can actually seperate about half of the original Gospel of John, which was originally composed in Aramaic and written by an actual eyewitness, from the remaining half which were later editorial additions. This particular primitive gospel of John paints Jesus very explicitly as a man with aspirations of Messiah-hood and has the ultimate aim of expelling the Romans from Judeau and establishing a new kingdom. In short, Jesus was a political dissident and executed by the Romans for being such. The theory continues that Mark was written as a response to this primitive Johannine gospel, and done in such a way as to remove the politically incendiary aspects of Jesus and instead focus on a spritual kingdom that is not threatening to Rome. Further along, Evan suggests in his theory that Luke was written prior to Matthew, and that Matthew is aware of and draws from Lukan material (and offers some compelling examples). This removes the need for Q, and in fact Evan argues Q does not exist, and scholars' pre-occupation with this fictional, non-discovered document is limiting our ability to discern the historical nature of Jesus' character. Instead, we should be focusing on the primitive aspects of John as our starting point, and interpreting subsequent gospels in light of Johannine priority. I hope knowledgeable scholars on this sub will read the site I want to know if this theory has any merit at all. I am a lay person, and this theory flies blatantly in the face of the currently prevailing scholarly theories on the gospels. It could just be crankery, but I found his arguments compelling.

Synoptic Gospels

The gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke are referred to as the synoptic Gospels because they include many of the same stories, often in a similar sequence and in similar or sometimes identical wording. They stand in contrast to John, whose content is largely distinct.

Patriarchs

The patriarchs of the Bible, when narrowly defined, are Abraham, his son Isaac, and Isaac's son Jacob, also named Israel, the ancestor of the Israelites. These three figures are referred to collectively as the patriarchs, and the period in which they lived is known as the patriarchal age

Ten Plagues

The plagues are: water turning to blood, frogs, lice, flies, livestock pestilence, boils, hail, locusts, darkness and the killing of firstborn children. The question of whether Bible stories can be linked to archaeological discoveries is one that has long fascinated scholars.

Priestly Messiah

The practice of anointing a priest is evident in Leviticus 4:3, 5, 16; 6:20, thus placing priesthood within the bounds of the anointed (messiah). Four Jewish strands weave together to inform a priestly Messiah idea: a Mosaic-Davidic-Hasmonean pattern, Qumran's "the Messiah of Aaron," Joshua the priest of Zechariah 4, and Melchizedek. Hebrews especially develops the Melchizedekian High Priest concept. 1 John also develops a priestly Advocate role for Jesus.

Eucharistic service

The prayers and readings in a Eucharistic service remind those taking part of that final meal and of the solemn words and actions of someone standing at the edge of death. The people taking part drink a sip of wine (or grape juice) and eat a tiny piece of some form of bread, both of which have been consecrated.

Preferential option for the poor

The preferential option for the poor, in line with Liberation Theology, urges us both to care and serve the marginalized among us and to find Christ within. ... And, with the solidarity that distinguishes Liberation Theology not only opt for the poor but be one with them.

Primeval History

The primeval history, the name given by biblical scholars to the first eleven chapters of the Book of Genesis, is a story of the first years of the world's existence.

Canonization process

The process of canonization was relatively long and remarkably flexible and detached; various books in use were recognized as inspired, but the Church Fathers noted, without embarrassment or criticism, how some held certain books to be canonical and others did not. Emerging Christianity assumed that through the Spirit the selection of canonical books was "certain" enough for the needs of the church. Inspiration, it is to be stressed, was neither a divisive nor a decisive criterion. Only when the canon had become self-evident was it argued that inspiration and canonicity coincided, and this coincidence became the presupposition of Protestant orthodoxy (e.g., the authority of the Bible through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit).

Leviticus

The purpose is to underline the character of altar priesthood (i.e., those priests with power to offer sacrifices to God) as an Aaronite privilege, and the responsibilities and dangers of their position. With sacrifice and priesthood established, chapters 11-15 instruct the lay people on purity (or cleanliness).

Resurrection

The resurrection of Jesus, or anastasis, is the Christian belief that God raised Jesus on the third day[1] after his crucifixion at Calvary[2] as first of the dead,[3] starting his exalted life as Christ and Lord.[4][5][web 1] In Christian theology, the death and resurrection of Jesus are the most important events, a foundation of the Christian faith,[6] and commemorated by Easter. For Christians, his resurrection is the guarantee that all the Christian dead will be resurrected at Christ's second coming.[7] For the Christian tradition, the bodily resurrection was the restoration to life of a transformed body powered by spirit,[8][9][web 2] as described by Paul and the Gospels,[10][11][12] that led to the establishment of Christianity.[13] In the theological movement of Liberal Christianity, the post-resurrection appearances of Jesus are explained as visionary experiences[14][15][16] that gave the impetus to the belief in the exaltation of Jesus[17] and a resumption of the missionary activity of Jesus' followers

Deutero-Pauline

The term "Deutero-Pauline" refers to New Testament letters that are included in the Pauline corpus but are now viewed by most critical scholars as products, not of the apostle Paul, but of Paul's followers or perhaps of a Pauline school.

Catholic Bible Canon

The term "deuterocanonical" is used by some scholars to denote the books (and parts of books) of the Old Testament which are in the Greek Septuagint collection but not in the Hebrew Masoretic Text collection. The Canon of Scripture of the Old Testament recognized by the Catholic Church is based on the Septuagint version of the Old Testament because, while both the Hebrew scriptures and the Septuagint were used in the time of Christ, the Septuagint was used by the apostles and Early Christianity in the universal proclamation of the Gospel. Indeed, most of the quotations from the Old Testament appearing in the New Testament books are from the Septuagint, not the Hebrew scriptures A: There are seven books in the Catholic Bible — Baruch, Judith, 1 and 2 Maccabees, Sirach, Tobit and Wisdom — that are not included in the Protestant version of the Old Testament. These books are referred to as the deuterocanonical books.

Matthew

The theme of the Book of Matthew, then, is that Jesus Christ the King of Israel is the Son of God. ... King Jesus, the long-awaited Messiah, is the Son of God. In developing the case that the theme of Matthew is that Jesus the Messiah was the Son of God, we notice many trends contained in the pages of Matthew Matthew traces Jesus's ancestors back to the biblical patriarch Abraham, the founding father of the Israelite people. Matthew describes Jesus's conception, when his mother, Mary, was "found to be with child from the Holy Spirit" (1:18). Matthew focuses very little on Mary herself, and praises Joseph for not abandoning his fiancée. Jesus is born in Bethlehem, where he and his parents are visited by wise men from the East bearing gifts. The wise men follow a star to Bethlehem. Their king, Herod the Great, hears the rumor that a baby named Jesus is the "king of the Jews" (2:2). Herod orders all young children in Bethlehem to be killed. To escape the king's wrath, Joseph, Mary, and Jesus flee to Egypt. Joseph and his family return to Israel after Herod's death, but then move to Nazareth, a town in the northern district known as Galilee. Years pass, and Jesus grows up. A man in a loincloth, who lives by eating wild honey and locusts, begins to prophesy throughout Judea, foretelling of Jesus as the one who will come to "baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire" (3:11). This prophet, John the Baptist, who is likely a member of the ascetic Jewish Essene community, eventually meets Jesus. John baptizes Jesus, and Jesus receives the blessing of God, who says, "This is my Son, the Beloved" (3:17). Jesus is led into the wilderness for forty days without food or water to be tested by Satan. Jesus emerges unscathed and triumphant, and begins to preach his central, most often repeated proclamation: "Repent! For the kingdom of heaven has come near" (4:17). His ministry begins.

The tripartite canon

The threefold nature of the Hebrew Bible (the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings) is reflected in the literature of the period of the Second Temple (6th-1st century bce) and soon after it. ... The tripartite canon represents the three historic stages in the growth of the canon.

Creation Accounts (2)

The two sources can be identified in the creation narrative: Priestly and Jahwistic. The Priestly source (or simply P) is perhaps the most widely recognized source underlying the Torah. It is both stylistically and theologically distinct from other material in the Torah,[1] and includes a set of claims that are contradicted by non-Priestly passages and therefore uniquely characteristic: no sacrifice before the institution is ordained by Yahweh (God) at Sinai, the exalted status of Aaron and the priesthood, and the use of the divine title El Shaddai before God reveals his name to Moses, to name a few.[2] In general, the Priestly work is concerned with priestly matters - ritual law, the origins of shrines and rituals, and genealogies - all expressed in a formal, repetitive style.[3] It stresses the rules and rituals of worship, and the crucial role of priests,[4] expanding considerably on the role given to Aaron (all Levites are priests, but according to P only the descendants of Aaron were to be allowed to officiate in the inner sanctuary).[5] P was written to show that even when all seemed lost, God remained present. The Jahwist, or Yahwist, often abbreviated J, is one of the most widely recognized sources of the Pentateuch (Torah), together with the Deuteronomist and the Priestly source. The existence of the Jahwist is somewhat controversial, with a number of scholars, especially in Europe, denying that it ever existed as a coherent independent document.[4] Nevertheless, many scholars do assume its existence, and date its composition to the period of the Babylonian captivity (597-539 BCE) or perhaps somewhat later.[5] The Jahwist is so named because of its characteristic use of the term Yahweh (German Jahwe, Hebrew יהוה) for God.

The World to Come

The world to come, age to come, and heaven on Earth are eschatological phrases reflecting the belief that the current world or current age is flawed or cursed and will be replaced in the future by a better world, age, or paradise.

Esagila

The Ésagila was a temple dedicated to Marduk, the protector god of Babylon. It lay south of the ziggurat Etemenanki.

Theology

Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries.

Theophany

Theophany is the manifestation of a deity in an observable way. This term has been used to refer to appearances of the gods in ancient Greek and Near Eastern religions

Primordial

This essay examines select teachings from Kedumah, a contemporary mystical path in the lineage of the Primordial Torah. Kedumah, a Hebrew word that means "ancient" or "primordial," points to the nonconceptual ground that eternally abides at the heart of all our experiences, prior to all the labeling and processing of our conceptual mind. The contemporary mystical path of Kedumah is interested in accessing and including this primordial nature as an integral part of our everyday experience. Kedumah thus calls for a more integrative appreciation of all reality—including the ordinary and mundane as equally sacred expressions of the whole. In this sense, Kedumah posits a mysticism that entails the normalization of the spiritual and the equalization of the sacred and profane. In this essay ancient Kabbalistic principles and biblical texts are examined to demonstrate this radical vision.

Genesis 22

This is one of the toughest quests in the Bible. His story teaches us about Faith, Love and Trust in God. What I know is that, in our human nature,we cannot obey such a command. It is only through God's Grace that we can be able to obey such a command.

Passover papyrus

This papyrus fragment is from a letter to the leader of the Elephantine community in Egypt explaining the customs and practices of the Jewish festival of Passover. The letter is written in Aramaic, the language of the Jews in the Persian and Hellenistic periods. The word "Passover" does not survive in the text, but various practices associated with the festival, such as eating unleavened bread and refraining from work, are mentioned. These practices are consistent with rules set out in the Torah and with accepted Jewish practice. Elephantine, an island in the Nile River, housed a military garrison of mostly Jewish soldiers in the Persian period and is today part of the modern city of Aswan in southern Egypt.

Tiamat

Tiamat is the Mesopotamian goddess associated with primordial chaos and the salt sea best known from the Babylonian epic Enuma Elish.

Josephus

Titus Flavius Josephus, born Yosef ben Matityahu, was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly descent and a mother who claimed royal ancestry.

Divided Monarchy

To consider the divided monarchy, then, we must recognize that during the united monarchy, Israel and Judah were less united than the Hebrew Bible suggests. In fact, some scholars claim that Israel and Judah were never politically unified in one kingdom; the Hebrew Bible's depiction of the united kingdom must be read accordingly, as an elegy to a long-lost national unity. It is clear in both the biblical text and material culture that a variety of factors undermined the solidarity between Israel and Judah.

Jerusalem Temple

Today the Temple Mount, a walled compound within the Old City of Jerusalem, is the site of two magnificent structures: the Dome of the Rock to the north and the Al-Aqsa Mosque to the south. In the southwest stands the Western Wall—a remnant of the Second Temple and the holiest site in Judaism.

Ur-Nammu

Ur-Nammu founded the Sumerian Third Dynasty of Ur, in southern Mesopotamia, following several centuries of Akkadian and Gutian rule. His main achievement was state-building, and Ur-Nammu is chiefly remembered today for his legal code, the Code of Ur-Nammu, the oldest known surviving example in the world.

Adam's Rib

Walton says the word we translate "rib" is found about 40 times in the Hebrew Bible, but in no other passage is it an anatomical term. In 2 Samuel 16:13 it refers to the other side of the hill. It refers to planks and beams in the tabernacle, or something that has two sides: rings along two sides of the ark; rooms on two sides of the temple, the north or south side (as in Exodus 25-38; 1 Kings 6-7; Ezekiel 41).

Bible, The

We've talked so far as if there were a single Bible, when, in fact, there is a Jewish Bible (the Hebrew Scriptures, or Tanakh), and various Christian Bibles—Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox—each composed of different books, arranged in different orders. These differences are significant. Needless to say, it makes a great deal of difference if the New Testament is part of the Bible. (Of course, Judaism is a religion of the Talmud as well as of the Hebrew Bible.) Even the arrangement of books is of significance: for example, the Hebrew Bible ends with Cyrus's admonition to the Jews in II Chronicles to go to Jerusalem; the Christian Old Testament ends with Malachi's prophecy of the coming of the Messiah.

Eternal life

While it sometimes has our traditional understanding of life after death, hayei olam sometimes used in a different way, when it was contrasted with "hayei sha'a" (fleeting life). Hayei sha'a, fleeting life, is living a life that is only concerned about the short term needs of today - working, making money, eating, etc. Hayei olam, "lasting life" or "a life of eternity" refers to living a life focused on matters of eternal importance. Traditionally, Jewish people have considered the study of the Bible truly living out one's "eternal life." A story is told about a rabbi who spent years in study of the Scriptures, and then walked past farmers tilling their land. He remarked, "they have abandoned lasting life and involve themselves instead with fleeting life."

Noble Death

While the concept of "martyrdom" may have been new and unique to Christianity, the concept of a good death was nothing new to the ancient world. Moss discusses how, in the ancient world, certain terms like "Jewish," "Greek," "Roman," and "Christian" were not distinctive box categories, but that in actuality, these categories were very fluid. This can be seen in various ways, such as in the influence of Greek culture on Jewish literature and art. In the same way, it could be said that the Christian understanding of martyrdom, and what constituted a good Christian death, were influenced by the preexisting concept of a "noble death."Dying a noble death meant practicing bravery and self-control. As Epictetus would say, it was about freeing oneself from honoring one's "paltry body." Dying a good, honorable death could negate one's previous negative actions, and could serve as a sign of masculinity. It promised that one would be remembered by the community, and it ensured one's good name. For someone like Lucretia, who had been raped, suicide served as proof of her innocence. When Socrates chose suicide over exile, his death was highly praised by many philosophers. It spoke to his character, and gave him a good name. When Seneca wrote to a woman named Lucilius, who was troubled by a lawsuit, he sought to comfort and strengthen her by recalling/ praising stories of people who had died noble deaths. He wrote that "Socrates debated when in prison, and refused to accept the promise of escape, remaining there so that he could free men from their two worst fears, death a

Form Criticism

analysis of the Bible by tracing the history of its content of parables, psalms, and other literary forms.


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