Bible Final 14-28

Canon

No additional books outside of the part of the canon we call the OT were viewed as authoritative and canonical by the Jewish people at the time of Jesus

John's Epistles

3 epistles written to 3 diff. audiences for 3 diff. purposes at 3 diff. times; Gives us insight into the church at large at the end of the 1st century; Church had grown, and depended on traveling teachers; Opposition of false teachers who were passing themselves off as the real thing, whom John called antichrists; With the deaths and departure of the apostles, the church was transitioning to new leadership with the pattern Paul had laid out

Nehemiah's Godly Leadership Approach

1st step is prayer; Spent days surveying the lay of the land before taking action; Approached leaders about the job he had in mind; Gave evidence that solution would work by showing what God had done to that point; Organized people so that each group felt identity in their part of the project

Antioch Church

1st to share gospel predominantly with Gentiles; Believers were brought here to a large degree as a result of stoning of Stephen and persecution; Believers were 1st called Christians here; Served as something of a home church or sending church for Paul's missionary journeys

Paul's ministry in Corinth

1st went to synagogue to present Jesus as the Messiah; Rejection + abuse from some of the Jews, so Paul told 'em he would now go to the Gentiles; Began the Corinth church in the house of Titus Justus, a Gentile who worshiped God; Crispus the synagogue leader became a believer along with his family; God gave Paul special encouragement and a promise of protection

Not Canon

Apocrypha, Mishna, Talmud, Pseudepigrapha

Essay Qs

4 complete sentences

John's Gospel

A thoughtful evaluation 50 yrs later of the implications of all Jesus did and said; Writes to demonstrate the deity of Jesus in the face of increasingly strong false teaching; John's account is complementary to the synoptic gospels and offers greater insight into some issues and what it meant; Clear purpose is expressed at the end of the gospel in John 20:30-31; John's entire gospel covers only 20 days of Jesus' life, with chapters 13-19 covering 1 day

Paul's Letter to the Galatians

Addressed the question of circumcision and Jewish ritual for Gentile believers; Is likely written to the churches in the cities of the southern province where Paul had just visited on his first missionary journey; IS written after Paul's return from the 1st missionary journey, but before the Jerusalem Council took place; Has sharp tone, reflecting that Paul is in the midst of debate on the Gentile/circumcision issue in Antioch; A major theme is justification by faith in Jesus, not of obeying OT laws

1st Wave of Returnees

Brought back with them to Jerusalem many of the utensils Neb had taken from the sanctuary; Group included everyone whose heart God had moved; 2 key figures were Prince Zerubbabel (grandson of Jehoiachin) + priest Joshua; Made good start by building and dedicating an altar, and began sacrifices and festivals; Began rebuilding the temple, but stopped work largely because of conflict with Samaritans

Crucifixion of Jesus

After He was beaten and humiliated, Jesus was forced to carry the crossbeam to the execution site; He reached Golgotha around 0900 and had been up for over 24 hrs; Crucifixion involved nails through the wrists and feet and the usual cause of death was the inability to breathe; Jesus died on the cross at the same time the High Priest was sacrificing Passover lambs in temple; Since Jesus was already dead, instead of breaking his legs as normal, the soldiers pierced him with a spear

Founding of Church on Pentecost

After Jesus' ascension, back in Jerusalem, 120 believers, including the disciples, had remained gathered together in prayer; Sound of a strong wind filled house and neighborhood, tongues of fire rested above each head, and the disciples began speaking in other languages; People in Jerusalem for the feast from 15 diff. ethnic groups heard their own languages; Peter preached Jesus as the Messiah, people were convicted, repented, and were baptized, and 3 000 were added to their number

Paul's Ministry in Philippi 23.

After arriving in Philippi and not finding a synagogue, Paul and Silas went looking for a place of prayer alongside the Gangites River; After Lydia and her family were baptized, she invited Paul and his companions to stay in her home, where the Philippi church began; Paul and Silas were charged and put on trial after they cast a demon out of a fortune-telling slave girl; The Philippi jailer and his family were saved as a result of his interaction with Paul + Silas; The city magistrates ended up apologizing to Paul and Silas being arrested as Roman citizens and asked them to leave town quietly

Corinth

After being in Corinth on his 2nd MJ and spending 18 months there, Paul had contact with the Corinthians through correspondence and visits before writing the letter of 1 Corinthians

Opposition of Disciples from Jewish Leadership

After healing the lame man and Peter's sermon, priests were upset with proclamation of resurrection of Christ; Peter + John were brought before Caiaphas and Sanhedrin and commanded not to teach in name of Jesus; Peter and John answered that they could not stop telling what they had seen and heard; After Peter and John returned to the group, they all prayed for boldness, and the place was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke more boldly

Problems of Early Church

Ananias + Sapphira lying about money from sale of property; Apostles being jailed, threatened, and flogged; Needs of Hellenistic widows being overlooked; Stephen being challenged by some of the Jews, put on trial, and then stoned; Believers being persecuted and scattered away from Jerusalem

Jesus' Last Week --> Crucifixion

Arrived in Bethany the Friday before and stayed with Lazarus, Mary, and Martha; Rode on a colt into Jerusalem on Sunday to present Himself as Messiah, the fulfillment of prophecy; Returned to Jerusalem on Monday, cursed the fig tree, drove money lenders out of the temple, Returned to Jerusalem again on Tuesday, taught in the temple and answered questions and challenges from Pharisees and Sadducees; On Thursday, sent Peter and John into Jerusalem to prepare for the Passover meal He would celebrate with the disciples there

Paul's Time in Ephesus 3rd MJ 24.

As a result of the miraculous signs and growing revival, people confessed their evil deeds and syncretistic worship and burned books on magic; After rejection by many of the Jews, Paul met with the disciples in the lecture hall of Tyrannus; Paul spent more than 2 yrs in Ephesus on this particular stay; After seeing their business for their Artemis idols drop off, some of the silversmiths blamed Paul and held a near violent rally for Artemis; Taught of Jesus and His baptism to a group of disciples who only knew of John's baptism

Hebrews Letter

Audience was a group of Jews who had become or professed to be Christians; Overall theme can be stated as Jesus is better; The audience had been in a rut of repentance dead works, not going deeper, and needed to go on to maturity; Jesus instituted a better covenant and performed one sacrifice good for all time; Lifestyle implications include holding fast and challenging one another, being encouraged by those who have gone before, and regarding persecution as purifying

Paul's Journey to Rome

Because of headwinds, the ship did not make the desired progress and landed at Fair Havens in Crete; Despite Paul' warning, the crew pressed on to beat the storms and get to a larger port for the winter; The ship became caught in a storm and was driven for 14 days at sea; After the ship wrecked at the island of Malta, all survived and Paul had significant ministry on the island; Upon his arrival in Rome as a prisoner, Paul called for local Jewish leaders who came to visit him

Origin of Gospel Accounts

Began with the convictions that Jesus had arisen, that He would return soon, and there was a need to spread this message; Matthew 1st wrote down his gospel in Hebrew (or Aramaic) and sometime later produced a Greek version; Luke states that others (Matthew) had written prior to him, and that he had researched the matter carefully; Mark wrote down Peter's testimony shortly before or after Peter's death in Rome; John wrote down his gospel at a later date, around 90 AD, and wanted to provide not just testimony, but an explanation

Biggest Early Church Controversy 22.

Biggest controversy within the early church and which eventually had to be resolved at the Jerusalem Council was regarding whether or not Gentiles needed to be circumcised and observe Jewish customs in order to be Christians

1 Corinthians + 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Principle

Church division; Sexual immorality; Lawsuits; Marriage; Participation in pagan meals and idol worship; Behavior in worship as the body of Christ; Spiritual gifts

Laws for Gentiles f/Jerusalem Council

Idolatry; Fornication; What is strangled; Blood

2 Thessalonians

Corrected a misunderstanding about the day of the Lord which some were claiming was already present; Paul was pleased to see them growing in faith and love, but they still needed to be encouraged in hope; Encouraged them that God would judge those who were persecuting them; Assured them that the day of the Lord had not yet come, and reminded them of what would precede it; Pointed out that he signed the letter with his own hand to avoid forgeries

NT Anchor

Crucifixion + Resurrection is the historical anchor point of the NT in the same way that the Passover is the historical anchor point for the OT

Paul's 1st Missionary Journey

Cyprus; Perga; Antioch of Pisidia; Iconium; Lystra; Derbe

2 Peter

Deals primarily with false teaching; Use of the word "know" 16 times directly addresses the false teaching of Gnosticism; 2 characteristics of false teachers are that they follow corrupt desire and that they despise authority; God's purpose in Jesus not yet returning is to allow more people to come to know God; The return of Jesus will be sudden, and believers should be prepared by the way they live

Decline + Fall of Southern Kingdom

During the reign of Jehoiakim, Nebuchadnezzar took Daniel, Hannaniah, Mishael, and Azariah in the 1st wave of exiles to Babylon; During the reign of Jehoiachin, he + his family + Ezekiel were taken in the 2nd wave of exiles to Babylon; During the reign of Zedekiah, Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed and burned in 586 BC + final wave of exiles taken to Babylon

Date of Crucifixion

Evidence lends support to the traditional understanding of Friday as the day when the crucifixion took place; Took place on Passover on the 14th of Nisan when we understand that the Judeans, Sadducees, and High Priest observed the day as from sunset to sunset; Year 33 AD can be calculated by overlapping leadership periods of Caiaphas and Pilate, and when 14 Nisan fell on a Friday

Necessary for Messiah 18.

Genealogical requirement: from Abraham, tribe of Judah, line of David; Prophetic strand: fulfilling prophecies; Physical evidences: public, miraculous actions and many eyewitnesses

Gospel Accounts of Jesus the Messiah

Gospels are not biographies; Gospel comes from Greek word meaning good news and the good news is tied to whether or not Jesus is the Messiah; Gospel is document that proclaims that Jesus was the promised Messiah, and gives evidence to demonstrate that claim; The primary proof that Jesus was the Son of God was the resurrection, and the Gospels focus on that event; Just as with OT, some modern scholars attempt to explain the writings of the Gospels with the theory of different sources

Queen Esther

Her family remained in Babylon long after the nation's return from exile; Account takes place under the reign of King Xerxes I of Persia; King made Esther his queen after he recklessly divorced his wife and could not undo it; Her guardian Mordecai was the one who learned of the plot against their family and urged her to act; Esther took a risk, outwitted Haman, and saved her people

Ways of Interpreting Revelations

Idealist-generally allegory and little if anything literal; Preterist-symbolic in representing the spiritual conflict faced by the early church; Historicist-each event as a symbol of the future history of the church; Futurist-portrays a distinct period of judgement that is yet to come

Ephesus

In Ephesus, Paul continued his regular pattern of evangelism in a city by going to the Jews first and visiting the synagogue

Ephesians Letter

Instead of writing to correct doctrinal issues, is written to encourage and exhort the congregation; 2 key concepts are the heavenly realm and unity; 1st half deals with theological truths while last half addresses lifestyle implications; Lifestyle implications include unity, holy lifestyle, and personal relationships; Spiritual warfare and the believer's relationship to the spiritual realm is important

Colossians Letter

Issue was the nature of Jesus in the face of new gospels that were springing up; The false gospels proposed a false view of Jesus, emphasized philosophy, and supposed the lifestyle was imposed from the outside; The antidote to the false gospels is a correct understanding of Jesus and the implications of that in lifestyle; The last half of the letter deals with lifestyle implications for the believer and relationships with others; Paul argues for a mindset that maintains an eternal perspective

Good Revivalistic Southern Kings

Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, Josiah

OT Jesus Hermeneutic Prophecies

Jeremiah 31:31-34 + Ezekiel 36:25-27

Paul's Return to Jerusalem After 3rd MJ

Jewish mob wanted to kill Paul after falsely accusing him of bringing a Gentile into the temple; Paul was saved from mob by Roman soldiers and kept in protective custody by Romans; Governor Felix was convicted by what Paul had to say, but deferred judgment and kept Paul in prison for 2 yrs; Paul claimed his rights as a Roman citizen to trial before Caesar when Governor Festus asked him to go to Jerusalem for trial; King Agrippa told Festus that Paul could have gone free, but he had to go to Caesar since he had appealed

Intertestamental Period (400 BC 'til birth of Christ) 17.

Jews went from being fairly united to divided into several religious parties vying for power; Dominant world government transitioned from Persian to Greek to Roman; Jews went from enjoying a fair degree of self-government to less self-government; Lingua franca switched from Aramaic to Greek

Southern Prophets 14.

Joel, Isaiah, Micah, Nahum, Zephaniah, Habakkuk, Jeremiah

John 28.

John lived longer than most or all of the other apostles and writes the latest of the books we have in the canon of Scripture

Revelations

John wraps up the book with a warning from Jesus that He is coming soon, and to be aware and live expectantly; The heart and majority of Revelation is a series of visions; Revelation 1:19 provides an outline of the intent of the entirety of Revelation; The final section of the book relates to the renovation of the cosmos and the removal of the last taints of the curse; John tries to describe in physical terms something that transcended the material universe and belongs in the spiritual realm

Resurrection of Christ

Mary Magdalene + group of women were 1st to find empty tomb at around dawn on Sunday morning and were met by angels announcing His resurrection; The Jewish leaders told the soldiers to spread false story and bribed Roman leaders to smooth things over; Magdalene tells Peter and John, and the 3 rush together to the empty tomb, after which Jesus appeared to Mary; That evening, in a locked room, Jesus appeared to the disciples; Following an unspecified number of appearances to disciples and relatives, Jesus sent the disciples to Galilee where He met them

Epistles

Means letters + are communications that may have a formal or didactic character; Were occasional writings that were written on a specific occasion to a specific church with a specific issue; There were 2 authors for each biblical book--human + divine; Churches made copies and shared them so that many churches eventually had copies of most of the NT letters

Isaiah + His Prophecy

Ministered during the 4 kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, + Hezekiah; Includes the Servant Songs that give a snapshot of the death of the Messiah; Is a controversial book with some modern scholars suggesting it is really 2 or 3 works written by various authors; Divided into 2 themes--judgment and then restoration--which can account for differences in style

Paul's Letter to the Romans

Opportunity presented by Phoebe going from Corinth/Cenchrea to Rome; Greetings to friends and relatives; Need to introduce himself before he would come in the future; The importance of Rome and the desire to give them a solid theological foundation

Parable

Parable is an analogy whereby spiritual truths are presented through familiar incidents. According to Jesus, His parables are deliberately obscure so that those who are spiritually insensitive will not understand them

Paul + Silas' obedience

Paul + Silas' obedience to the Holy Spirit to not go into either Asia or Bithynia is what led them to Troas and being in the right place to receive God's vision and future direction for them

Summarize Paul's second missionary journey, especially explaining the importance of the events that led him to Troas and what the consequences of that were.

Paul and Silas traveled through Galatia, revisiting churches and distributing copies of the Jerusalem Council's letter to each, and had Timothy join their party. When they tried to visit Asia and Bithynia, the Holy Spirit didn't let them. Thus, the Holy Spirit funneled them to Troas. At Troas, Paul had a vision of a man calling for them to come to Macedonia. Consequently, Christianity would spread into Europe, resulting in the founding of many churches, including several important ones, such as Philippi and Thessalonica.

Paul and Antioch

Paul continued the connection, relationship, and accountability with the church in Antioch both before and after the 2nd missionary journey

2 Corinthians

Paul explaining why he had not yet come for his next visit; Admonition to restore the repentant man and see him as a new creation and to regard no one according to the flesh; Explanation of the new covenant and that we have this treasure in earthen vessels; As a part of defending his apostleship, refers to Paul's trials and sufferings including a thorn in the flesh and God's promise that His grace is sufficient and made perfect in weakness; Warning that he would come for another visit, and admonition for them to examine themselves

Explain how and why Paul gave so much attention to the churches he had planted and individuals he knew.

Paul gave so much attention to the churches he had planted and individuals he knew by having long stays with people, sometimes for 2 years. He repeated visits. Furthermore, he wrote letters to individuals/churches. When he couldn't be there, Paul would send others in his place. Why Paul did all of this was because he believed in discipleship, the ongoing relationship with others.

1st Imprisonment in Rome 26.

Paul had greater ministry opportunity and was able to share extensively during his 1st imprisonment in Rome as he was able to receive people and preach and teach about Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God

Paul's 2nd MJ

Paul's primary motivation and purpose for beginning the second missionary journey was to return to the converts and churches where they had already visited on 1st journey and see how they were doing

Cornelius + Co. 21.

Peter's visit to Cornelius' household and presentation of Jesus resulted in the Holy Spirit falling on this group of Gentiles the same way as He had upon the Jews on Pentecost

Jewish Religious Groups, forming during intertestamental period and existed during time of Jesus

Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, Scribes, Zealots

Q of NT

Q - Was Jesus the Messiah? and the Gospels were written to answer this

Ezra

Recounts the events surrounding the return of 1st group of exiles, though he lived later; Records how the temple was finally completed, with Persian funding, nearly 70 yrs after the destruction of temple in 586 BC; Was allowed by Artaxerxes I to go from Persia to Judah in order to bring and teach the law in a chaotic region; 1 o' biggest challenges faced by Ezra in Judah was intermarriage

Explain how the Old Testament and New Testament fit together, enlighten one another, and together form the entirety of God's Word. What part does the "Jesus Hermeneutic" play in this?

The Old Testament points to Christ and shows our need for Him. The New Testament reveals Christ and what He is able to do in our lives. The two testaments fit together because they form a two-act play. Without the Old Testament, the New Testament does not make sense, because the OT is the first act of the play. Conversely, the Old Testament does not make sense without the New Testament, which is the resolution.

Apocalyptic Lit.

Shows God's sovereignty over the future; Less concerned with response and more focused on what God is going to do, regardless; Not contingent upon response; Visual scenes, revelation often given by angelic beings; Rich use of symbols

Romans Key Doctrinal Elements

Sin is a rejection of God that separates us from Him + all are guilty before God as no one is without excuse; Salvation is through faith in Jesus the Messiah who atoned for our sin + through Him we are justified and restored to the relationship with God; Because of and through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we are no longer under obligation to live according to the flesh, but can now live according to the Spirit; Relationship with God has lifestyle implications for relationship with others as believers are different from the surrounding pagan culture

Single Command 20.

Single command and directive of Jesus to the disciples in the Great Commission is for them to make disciples

Political Developments Pertinent to NT + Fulfillment of Prophecy and God's plan

Spread of the Greek empire under Alexander the Great allowed for Greek to become lingua franca; Maccabean revolt, John Hyrcancus annexing Edom, and Herod eventually being appointed governor of Galilee; Judea losing semi-independence and being made a Roman province subject to Roman laws; Octavian winning undisputed control of the Roman Empire and being given the title of Augustus (Caesar) in 27 BC

King Jehoiachin

Survival of King Jehoiachin and his descendants in captivity is a testimony to God's grace, and has great significance for the future overall plan of God because it continued the line of David and the Messiah

Daniel

Taken to Babylon in 1st wave of exiles in 605 BC, along with H, M, A; 3-yr training program to become advisors to king o' Babylon; Gained approval from chief official by being courteous and proving to be healthy when refusing to eat the Babylonian food; Showed spiritual integrity in incident with the lion's den

Reasons Exile Not As Bleak 15.

The Assyrians + Babylonians wanted their captives to be both self-sustaining AND loyal; People listened to the prophets, such as Jeremiah; God blessed the people so they could work toward the coming of the Messiah

Jews' Return 16.

The Jews were released from captivity and allowed to return home not because Persia was intimidated by their growing power, but because King Cyrus issued a decree allowing all captive people to return to their native lands

Romans

The book of Romans was the 1st carefully developed written analysis of what the claims of Jesus mean

Explain the first major issue faced by the early church, how that issue was resolved through the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15, and why this was so significant.

The first major issue faced by the early church was that Judaizers were telling the Gentiles that they had to become Jewish first before they could become Christians. The Jerusalem Council met and ruled that the Gentiles did not need to adopt Jewish customs and rituals to become Christians. Gentiles must only abstain from food sacrificed to idols, sexual immorality, what is strangled, and blood. The Council composed a letter and sent it with Paul and Barnabs. This act opened Christianity to the Gentiles.

Articulate the fundamental message of the New Testament as presented in passages such as John 15:1-5, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, and Colossians 1:27-29.

The fundamental message of the New Testament as presented in the passages is that it is Christ in you, His indwelling presence. The second part is that He is the one who works through you to accomplish every single thing that happens in your life. "I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing" (John 15:5).

Explain what the prophecies of Jeremiah 31:31-34 and Ezekiel 36:25-27 mean, and how they are fulfilled in the New Testament in passages such as Romans 8:1-4.

The message of the prophecies of Jeremiah and Ezekiel is that the law will not be external anymore. It will be internal. For, God shall put the law within us; He shall write it on our hearts. Romans explains how God put Jesus in us, because we can't fulfill the law by ourselves. This is the fulfillment of the message of Jeremiah and Ezekiel.

Temple Rebuilding

The resuming of the building of the temple (after it stopped for many years) can largely be attributed to God's prodding of the people through the prophets Haggai and Zechariah

Philemon Letter

Written to a wealthy slave owner, in whose home the church at Colossae met; Onesimus was the runaway slave who met Paul and who came to know the Lord Jesus in Rome; Onesimus and some companions hand-carried the letters of Philemon, Colossians, and Ephesians; Paul expressed deep affection for both Onesimus and Philemon; Paul's admonition is that Philemon would forgive Onesimus and now receive him as a fellow believer

1 Timothy

Tone suggests that Timothy was feeling overwhelmed by the task; Warns against false teachers, suggesting it was foundational to all other problems; Sets guidelines for church leadership; Addresses men, women, and authority in the church in discerning false teaching; Encourages Timothy as a young pastor and gives directions on how to manage the church in Ephesus

1 Peter 27.

Written to church(es) suffering persecution; Assures Christians that suffering is the process by which the church is refined; Believers are to live holy as strangers and aliens, focusing on living long-term abiding values; It is better to suffer while doing good for God than for doing evil, so be aware the end is in sight and God is in control; Leaders should serve in a manner worthy of God

Saul's Conversion

Was on his way to Damascus to bring heretic followers of Jesus to trial; Jesus Himself confronted and spoke to Saul on the road, with Saul being blinded by a bright light; Blind Saul was led into Damascus and did not eat or drink for 3 days; God told Ananias to go to Saul, pray for him, and restore his sight; After Ananias prayed for Saul, his sight was restored, and he was baptized as a believer in Jesus

Philippians letter

Written as a thank you letter to the church at Philippi for their contribution to Paul and for Ephaphroditus; Encouraged the church to a motivation in humility, illustrated by Jesus; Spoke strongly against Judaizers; Gives Paul's biographical sketch and credentials but that he considers all worthless compared to knowing Jesus; Sets the goal of knowing Jesus more perfectly as his lifelong project

Book of James

Written by James brother of Jesus; Written to Jewish believers in context of persecution; Main message is that suffering is something to rejoice in since it produces spiritual growth; Reads more like a wisdom book than a letter, addressing specific issues that would have arisen for Messianic Jews

2 Timothy

Written during Paul's 2nd imprisonment in Rome as he awaited execution; Apparently the last letter Paul wrote; Theme of the book is endurance; Warned of worse times to come in the last days; Encouraged Timothy to stand fast and preach the Word

1 Thessalonians

Written from Corinth; Paul expresses relief that they had remained steadfast in the face of persecution; Weaves the principles of faith, hope, and love with special emphasis on hope for discouraged Thessalonians; Deals with the question of what happens to those who fall asleep; Urges Christians to be prepared at all times for Jesus' return which will come like a thief in the night