New Testament Theo Test #3

Examples of flawed arguments from the Prosperity Gospel

1. Jesus was wealthy at birth because he received a vast sum of gold from kings. Some translations indicate that a caravan of 200 kings visited Jesus, so there must have been a dump load of gold given. 2.because he received a vast sum of gold from kings. Some translations indicate that a caravan of 200 kings visited Jesus, so there must have been a dump load of gold given ("common purse" because everyone put into it) 3. Jesus never said that it was difficult for rich people to enter heaven. (misinterpretation of the "Eye of the Needle" 4. Jesus must have had a ton of money to support his disciples throughout a three-year ministry, and to have supported his mother after his father's early death. 5. Jesus was not homeless. He must have had a fine home, because he was a carpenter 6. Jesus must have worn the finest clothing; otherwise the Roman soldiers would not have gambled over his garments when he was being crucified. (People sometimes gamble over small sums, or items of relatively little value.)

Key Theme in Luke-Acts: Economic Justice

1. Jesus' general attitude about the rich and the poor 2. Specific criticisms of the rich 3. Economic realities of the time of Jeuss 4. Can the rich be saved? 5. Importance of earning an honest living

Goodacre's "Ten Reasons to Question Q"

1. No one has ever seen Q 2. No one has ever heard of Q 3. Narrative sequence of Q 4. Occam's Razor - no assumptions more than necessary 5. Major Agreements between Matt./Luke against Mark 6. Minor Agreements between Matt./Luke against Mark 7. Minor Agreements in the Passion Narrative - no one thinks Q has a passion narrative but Matt./Luke have similarities 8. The Phenomenon of Fatigue 9. Legacy of Scissors and Paste Scholarship 10. Recognizing Luke's literary ability - Luke's order could have been done by himself

The 3 Phases of Paul's Mission

1. Paul as a Jewish missionary; persecutor of Christians -then-Revelation to Paul by Jesus on the road to Damascus; Paul is told to bring the gospel to the Gentiles 2. Paul as Jewish-Christian missionary 3. Paul as a Gentile Christian missionary -Paul and Barnabas meet with Peter and James in Jerusalem to decide the issue of all the requirements of Judaism in order to be Christian -Paul sees himself as the 'apostle' to the Gentiles' journey throughout the Greco-Roman world and founds numerous churches

The Gospel of "Luke"

Although we don't know exactly who wrote the gospel of Luke, we do know that this author also wrote another New Testament book, the Acts of the Apostles. Indeed, the introduction to that book makes it clear that the gospel and Acts were meant to be read together, as two parts of the same work. Because of this, scholars group these two books together and refer to the single work as "Luke-Acts."

Proof from Prophecy: Micah 5:2

•Micah 5:2 contains the following prophecy: "But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, who are one of the little clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel, whose origin is from old, from ancient days." (Jewish accepted prophecy) •The wise men find Jesus in Bethlehem, in part based on the prophecy.

Was Jesus Rich?

No. This is not really a close call. First, the arguments in favor of a rich Jesus from advocates of the "Prosperity Gospel" are deeply flawed. They take quotes from the Bible out of context, they invent details that are not actually in the biblical text, they twist the meaning of words and phrases to produce their preferred conclusions, they ignore the historical context in which the books of the Bible were written, they make assumptions that cannot be justified, and they flat-out lie. Second, they ignore a wide body of evidence that contradicts their central thesis.

Source Criticism

•a crucial element to solving the Synoptic Problem is figuring out which gospel came first, and was thus available to be copied by later gospel writers-based off contents, the only two contenders are Matthew and Mark-Matthean and Markan Priority

Who is the only disciple who identifies Jesus as "God" in the gospel of John?

Thomas - At first "doubting Thomas" does not believe in Jesus' resurrection, but after Jesus appears to him and Thomas is able to put his fingers in Jesus' wounds, he proclaims, "My Lord and my God!"

Which parable contains major agreements between Matthew and Luke against Mark?

the parable of the Mustard Seed

Triple Tradition

when all 3 synoptic gospels have word-for-word similarities with in a story, most common pattern of agreement in the data set accounting for 40-75%

Two Source Hypothesis or Farrer Hypothesis?

•15% scholars support the Farrer Hypothesis and the number is growing •Although a minority, the Farrer Hypothesis demonstrates a lot of evidence against Q that some scholars are not aware of •99% of scholars believe in Markan Priority and that Matthew and Luke copied from Mark

Proof from Prophecy: 2 Samuel 7

•2 Samuel 7 shows the prophet Nathan speaking to King David and saying, "When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me." (Jewish accepted prophecy) •expectation that the messiah would be a descendant of King David, Matthew tries to prove this by listing Jesus' genealogy all the way to Joseph •This could be a potential problem because Jesus was not Joseph's biological son, however, at that time if a person was accepted into a family, clan, or tribe, then they were accepted "in name and in blood." That meant that the adopted child could claim the family name and could count his/her "legal" father's ancestors as his own ancestors. •Does Joseph claim Jesus as his own son? After Joseph is persuaded not to divorce Mary by an angel - Joseph agrees to give Jesus his name, then the process is complete and he has become Jesus' legal father. This means that Jesus can claim Joseph's ancestors as his ancestors. Unbelieving Jews DID NOT dispute that Jesus could claim these ancestors as his own, but that he did not have Davidic ancestry

Markan Priority

•99% of scholars support this, proposed by biblical scholars in the 19th century •Mark contains the most grammatical errors, has a misquote of Isaiah/Malachi, and is problematic (in the hemorrhage story Jesus does not know who touches him) •based on argument from GRAMMAR, LENGTH, and THEOLOGICAL EVOLUTION (Mark has the most passages that are theologically difficult, puzzling, or problematic)

The "Suffering as a Test of Faith" Theodicy: Strengths

•Can explain innocent suffering in a way that the Divine Justice theodicy could not: All people are tested, not just bad people. Bad things happen to good people, like Job. •God remains "sovereign"—in control of events. His omnipotence is maintained. •A "testing" God might be seen as less negative than a "punishing" God. God's benevolence seems more assured.

The "Free Will" Theodicy: Weaknesses

•Cannot God act to prevent particularly monstrous occurrences of evil from happening? •The Bible is full of examples of God taking such action, such as the Exodus, where God's miracles save the Israelites from slavery and the murder of their children •See Elie Wiesel's Night, pp. 64-65. Elie thinks that God has done nothing to help the Jews during the Holocaust. Why would He not act in such a dire situation?

Summary of Problems with Proof from Prophecy

•Citation of non-existent prophecies •Mistranslation of prophecies from original Hebrew creates misinterpretation •Taking prophecies out of context •Clearly non-messianic prophecies presented as if they are about the messiah •Contradictions between gospels with respect to the fulfillment of certain prophecies •Questions raised about whether stories are "invented" so that it will appear as though Jesus fulfilled prophecies

The Stilling of the Storm: Mark

•Disciples call Jesus "Teacher" •"Do you not care that we are perishing?" •Jesus asks "Why are you afraid?" after the storm has been calmed and the danger is past •Jesus asks if the disciples have "still no faith •After Jesus challenges them not to be afraid, the disciples respond by becoming more afraid than ever: they "feared a great fear"

The "Free Will" Theodicy: Strengths

•Does the best job (so far) of getting God "off the hook" for evil. He may have created humans and given them free will, but he does not "cause" evil to occur •Forces human beings to take responsibility for their own actions •Does not encourage passivity as a response to evil and injustice in the way that the divine justice and testing theodicies seem to do (by suggesting that it is God's will that people should be punished or tested)

Solutions to the Problem of Double Tradition Material

•Double-tradition material is comprised of stories (mostly sayings) common to Matthew and Luke with word-for-word similarities, but not included in Mark. •Where could they have come from? Logically, there are three possibilities. •Either (1) Matthew was the first to write these down, and Luke copied them from Matthew; (2) Luke was the first to write these down, and Matthew copied them from Luke; or (3) Matthew and Luke each independently copied this material from another source that was the first to have written them down. •The dominant solution to this—supported by about 80% of scholars—is that Matthew and Luke did not copy from each other, but that they both copied from a third source, which is called Q.

Women in the Gospel of Luke (Luke 8:1-3)

•First, it is extraordinary that Jesus has women followers at all. Luke is the only gospel to mention some of these women by name (Joanna, Susanna), and is the only gospel to assert that they accompanied Jesus throughout his ministry. Usually women could not travel unchaperoned and could not live "independent" lives where they had the freedom to decide where to go and who to associate with. •These women played one crucial role in Jesus' ministry: they "provided for them out of their resources." What does this mean? •It means that they supported Jesus' ministry financially—they "bankrolled" Jesus' ministry. •They could only do this if they had control over money/property, and usually this was only true for widows. •Usually widows were urged by Jewish society to remarry, but many of them chose not to do so. •Jesus' acceptance of their financial assistance means that (a) he was OK with women controlling property, and (b) he was OK with widows not remarrying but living single, independent lives.

The Greater Good Theodicy

•God allows or causes (a certain amount) of evil, but only so that He can derive from that evil an amount of good that exceeds the original evil and would not have been possible without it. •Based on the idea that God has a plan, and God is arranging things so that everything works out for the best in the end.

The "Divine Justice" Theodicy

•God allows or causes bad things to happen to punish people for their sins, in an attempt to guide them back to the path of righteousness. •God is in control of human events, and he arranges things so that the righteous are rewarded and the wicked are punished. •All suffering, then, is deserved. Bad things only happen to bad people. •Illustrated by Joshua 6-7

The Greater Good Theodicy: Strengths

•God allows or causes evil (unlike the Free Will theodicy), but the reason He does so is the best offered—to derive good out of evil, rather than to punish or to test •This protects God's "sovereignty" (omnipotence) without sacrificing God's benevolence

The "Free Will" Theodicy

•God is not responsible for evil, human beings are. God created humans and invested them with free will—the capacity to understand the difference between good and evil and to choose between them. Sometimes humans choose to do evil, but that is not God's fault. •This theodicy is obviously designed to explain the existence of "moral evil" (bad things for which humans are directly responsible, like murder and rape), not "natural evil" (things like earthquakes, hurricanes, diseases, etc.) •As seen in Genesis 2-3

Traditional Judaism's stance on: Gentiles

•Idolaters and Sinners •Jews looked down on Gentiles as inveterate sinners who were unlikely to repent and be saved. •Part of this was due to the polytheism that was characteristic of all pagan religions. •Gentiles were also seen as unclean because of their diet and social practices. •Jews also regarded Gentiles as sexually immoral, because of their tolerance for homosexuality, sex outside of marriage, and non-procreative sexual activities.

Theodicy

•If God is all-powerful (omnipotent), then He has the ability to prevent evil and human suffering from occurring. •If God is perfectly good (benevolent), then it seems as though He should want to prevent evil and human suffering from occurring. •But the reality is that evil and human suffering do occur. •One conclusion some draw from this is that God does not exist, or that God exists but is not omnipotent, or not benevolent. •The alternative is to come up with some good reason why a perfectly good, all-powerful God would allow evil and human suffering to exist. The effort to formulate such a "good reason" is called theodicy. •This poses a problem for the Judaism/Christian God because if he is omnipotent and benevolent, then there would be no evil in the world.

The "Divine Justice" Theodicy: Strengths

•If believed, it provides a powerful incentive for people to behave morally. •It portrays God as being completely in charge (aka the "sovereignty" of God). •Punishment is not always a negative thing; sometimes it is necessary to correct dangerous and self-destructive behavior.

First Pillar of Q: Independence of Matthew and Luke from each other

•If neither copied from the other, then the only logical possibility left is that they each copied from a common source. But what makes Q supporters so sure that neither Matthew nor Luke copied from the other? •The first is that it seems unlikely that either evangelist would have omitted so much "great stuff" from the other gospel if he had access to it. Remember that 20% of Matthew and 35% of Luke is unique to each gospel. (Matthew omit the story of the census, manger, parables of the Samaritan/ Rich Fool, ascension) (Luke omit wise men/star, laborers in the Vineyard, posting of guards at Jesus' tomb, shorter sermon on the mount) •The second argument for the independence of Matthew and Luke is that they seldom agree against Mark when all three contain the same story. •When two people copy from a source independently, they are each likely to make some changes, but not the same exact changes word-for-word. Not finding such common changes is a sign of independence. •Matthew and Luke each made "corrections" to Mark. But they tend to make different corrections, not the same exact ones word-for-word.

The Stilling of the Storm: Matthew

•Improves the Portrayal of the Disciples •"Teacher" changed to "Lord" •Matthew adds the disciples asking Jesus to "save" them •Jesus asks "Why are you afraid?" while the storm is still raging and the boat is being swamped •Jesus calls his disciples "men of little faith" •After Jesus calms the storm, the disciples "marveled"

Peter's Confession and the First Passion Prediction in Mark and Matthew

•Improves the Portrayal of the Disciples •Peter makes a better confession (a stronger statement of faith) in Matthew, calling Jesus the "Christ" and the "Son of the Living God" instead of just "Christ" •In Matthew, Jesus praises him for his insight, something not found in Mark. Jesus even suggests that Peter is a conduit for revelation, for "flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven." •Peter receives great power and authority in Matthew, being appointed the "rock" on which Jesus' church will be built. This is a much more positive take on the symbolism of Peter's name than in Mark, where it is suggested that he is called "Rock" because he exemplifies the "rocky ground" with his shallow faith and cowardice in the face of persecution. •Peter is given the "keys to the kingdom" and is told that whatever he "binds" (prohibits) on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever he "looses" (permits, allows) will be loosed in heaven. •When Peter rebukes Jesus after he predicts his passion, he seems to do so out of concern for Jesus' well being ("God forbid, Lord! This should never happen to you!"), and while Jesus rebukes him, he also calls him merely a "hindrance."

The "Free Will" Theodicy: Genesis 2-3

•In Genesis 2, God creates humans and gives them a single command: not to eat of the fruit of the tree (the tree of knowledge) •The serpent tempts Adam and Eve and they violate God's command •Each tries to disclaim responsibility and blame someone else: Adam blames Eve, Eve blames the serpent •God does not accept their excuses and they suffer the consequences of their free choice

Major Differences between John and the Other Three (Synoptic) Gospels: Jesus' Teachings In John

•In John, there is a last supper, but there is no bread and wine/body and blood. Instead Jesus washes the feet of his disciples. •There are no parables in John, at least no recognizable ones. •Jesus does not engage in rabbinic debates over the interpretation of the Torah. His many disputes with the Jews have to do with his identity instead—who he is, where he comes from, and where he is going. •Jesus does not speak of the kingdom of God, the apocalypse, or a second coming. John seems to suggest that Jesus has accomplished everything that he wanted or needed to when he came down from heaven the first time.

The "Divine Justice" Theodicy: Joshua 6-7

•In Joshua 6, the Israelites win a crucial battle, conquering the city of Jericho with the help of their warrior-God Yahweh. •In Joshua 7, the Israelites suffer a humiliating defeat at the battle of Ai, a much smaller city. •The Israelites complain that Yahweh has let them down and broken his promise to use his great power to guarantee their conquest of the promised land. •The text explains that Yahweh had imposed one rule on the Israelites during battle: they were "banned" from taking any of the spoils of war for themselves. They had to gather the valuables and destroy them as a sacrifice to God. •At the battle of Jericho, one man (Achan) steals some of "devoted things" (the valuables constituting the spoils of war) for himself, and buries them at his house. •Yahweh indicates to the Israelite leader, Joshua, that the reason he allowed their military defeat at the battle of Ai was because he was angry at the violation of his rule and punished the Israelites accordingly. •The Israelites cast lots (throwing the "sacred dice" Urim and Thummim) and determine that Achan is the culprit. He confesses his sin and turns over the stolen "devoted things," which are then destroyed. Then Achan and his whole family are slaughtered. The wicked are punished. •The Israelites go back to the city of Ai and easily defeat their opponents in this second battle, proving that the righteous are rewarded.

Matthew and Luke: Why do Mary and Joseph go to Bethlehem?

•In Matthew, Mary and Jesus are from Bethlehem, and that is why Jesus is born there. They leave Bethlehem only because Herod is killing all of the children under two years of age in that region. They flee to Egypt. After Herod dies, Joseph is told in a dream that he can return to Israel with his family. But he is afraid of Herod's son Archelaus, who is ruling over Judea, so he relocates the family to Judea. •In Luke, Joseph and Mary are from Nazareth. They journey to Bethlehem only because of a Roman census that requires everyone to go back to their "ancestral" home in order to be counted. This is why they need to find a place to stay, and are forced to lodge in a stable and lay Jesus in a manger when he is born, because there is "no room at the inn."Then they return to Nazareth after the census is completed.

The Greater Good Theodicy: Weaknesses

•In some cases it is difficult to see how any good has resulted from a particularly terrible event. •Even if some good can be derived, does that good always outweigh the original evil? •Could the resulting good have been achieved by God without causing all the suffering that seems to have led up to it?

Luke-Acts: Jesus' general attitude about the rich and the poor

•In the "beatitudes" (statements that pronounce God's blessing and favor upon a particular group of people and wish them well), Luke begins with the poor and the hungry. •Matthew's gospel had shown Jesus blessing the "poor in spirit" and those who "hunger and thirst for righteousness." Luke's gospel shows Jesus speaking of those who are actually without food and money. •Moreover, Luke's gospel contains the opposite of blessings, namely curses. These are usually translated as Jesus saying "woe to you" to a particular group. But a better, more accurate translation is "Damn you." •So we can see in the second passage at left that Jesus literally damns those who are wealthy and comfortable, pronouncing God's disfavor on them and wishing them ill.

Luke-Acts: Specific criticisms of the rich - Parable of the Rich Fool

•In the Parable of the Rich Fool, what does the rich man do that leads to God calling him a fool? •Greed: He is already rich, and when he receives a windfall, he keeps it all for himself, never considering there might be others in need. •Hoarding: He already has more than he could ever need. That is the point of providing the information that his barns are already full, and he will need to tear them down and build bigger ones in order to store all of his excess grain. •Ignorance of his own mortality: He seems to think that he is going to live forever (or at least a good long time). But no one's life is guaranteed. •Emphasis on the material dimension of life to the exclusion of the spiritual. What is odd about his "soliloquy?" Perhaps this explains the parable's final judgment: he is "not rich toward God."

The "Free Will" Theodicy: Modern World

•In the case of the Holocaust, the Free Will Theodicy would suggest that the fault likes not with God but with the Nazis themselves •At the Nuremberg trials, top Nazi officials like Hermann Goering were found guilty of crimes against humanity and executed •All criminal justice systems presume the concept of free will and human responsibility for their own actions

Luke-Acts: Specific criticisms of the rich - Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus

•In the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus (16:19-31), why does the rich man end up in Hades? •Lack of compassion for those less fortunate: the rich man cannot possibly have been ignorant of Lazarus' desperate poverty and hunger, or his sickness. Lazarus lays at the very gate of the house of the rich man. •The rich man could easily have afforded to help Lazarus, given his luxurious lifestyle, but he gives him nothing. •Sense of entitlement: Even after being sent to hell, the rich man still thinks that Lazarus should be willing (or compelled) to help him, even though he never lifted a finger to help Lazarus during life.

Luke-Acts: Specific criticisms of the rich - story of the Rich Ruler

•In the story of the Rich Ruler (18:18-27), why does the rich man become sad and find himself unable to follow Jesus? •The problem of attachment: the more you have, the more you think you need. Often rich people seem to others to have tremendous wealth and an excess of possessions, but just as often they are not willing or able to part with any of their money or things. •Jesus' teaching about the camel and the eye of a needle—does this suggest that salvation for the rich is difficult/near impossible, or that it can be achieved with relative ease? •The reaction, "Then who can be saved?" (which other gospels attribute to the disciples), is based on the idea that rich people must be good people, else why would God shower them with such blessings? But Jesus indicates here and elsewhere that this is faulty reasoning.

Major Differences between John and the Other Three (Synoptic) Gospels: Miracles

•In the synoptic gospels Jesus performs a great many miracles, a large number of which are exorcisms. •In John, Jesus' miracles are referred to as "signs," and there are far fewer than in the synoptics (only seven). Far more of John is taken up with long speeches by Jesus. -None of these miracles are exorcisms. Satan and his demons are almost entirely absent in this gospel. There is no temptation of Jesus by Satan in the wilderness either. -The miracles in John tend to be quite powerful. Jesus changes 150 gallons of water into wine at the wedding at Cana (John 2), he is able to heal the royal official's son from miles away in John 4, and most impressively in John 11 he is able to raise Lazarus from the dead after he has been in the tomb for four days and is literally starting to rot.

Major Differences between John and the Other Three (Synoptic) Gospels: Geography and Chronology

•In the synoptic gospels Jesus spends his entire ministry in Galilee, with the exception of the last week of his life, when he is in Jerusalem after making a single journey to Judea. -After arriving in Jerusalem, Jesus cleanses the Temple, and shortly thereafter he is dead. -The synoptic gospels are vague about how long Jesus' ministry is, but it may have been less than a year. •In John, Jesus makes five separate journeys to Judea, and his Judean ministry is at least as extensive as his Galilean ministry. -Jesus cleanses the Temple during the first of these visits, in John 2. It does not "trigger" Jesus' death, as it does in the synoptics. -The temporal markings in John suggest a ministry of three years.

Major Differences between John and the Other Three (Synoptic) Gospels: Jesus' Teachings In the Synoptic Gospels

•In the synoptic gospels Jesus takes bread and wine at the last supper and says they are his body and blood. This is the basis for the central Christian ritual: the Eucharist. •Jesus often teaches through parables. •Many of Jesus' teachings have to do with the correct interpretation of the Torah. •Jesus teaches that the end of the world will occur when he makes his second coming, whether that will be sooner (Mark) or later (Matthew and Luke).

Gentiles in the Gospel of Luke: Parable of the Prodigal Son

•In this parable, the father represents God, while the older son represents the Jews. The younger son symbolizes the Gentiles. The son is still a sinner (like the Jews think), but he gains salvation - How does a Gentile do this? •They need to sincerely repent of their sins and then trust in the infinite mercy and forgiveness of the Lord. •Repentance and forgiveness are two key themes in the teaching of Jesus. True repentance requires (1) an acknowledgement of guilt, (2) a sincere commitment not to repeat the offense, and (3) some attempt to restore what has been broken or damaged by one's wrongdoing.

Some of the Problems with Proof from Prophecy: Matthew 2:16-23

•In verses 17-18, the source of the prophecy is quite clear, and one can easily find it in the book of Jeremiah (Jer 31:15). The prophecy cited in verse 23 is much more problematic. •Matthew 2:23. "There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, "He will be called a Nazorean." •the quotation "echoes" passages such as Isaiah 11:12 and Judged 13:5 BUT in reality no - Footnote of the New Oxford Annotated Bible, "This citation has no known source." •So, Matthew made a mistake and quoted a prophecy that is not in fact in the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible. •The citation of a nonexistent prophecy did nothing to persuade unbelieving Jews or pagans that Jesus must have been the messiah because he fulfills OT prophecy

John's Jesus Lacks any "Human Failings"

•Jesus does not cry out on the cross, "My God, my God! Why have you forsaken me?" Instead he simply says, "It is finished," and then "gives up" his spirit. •Jesus does not pray in the Garden of Gethsemane that he not have to go through with the crucifixion. •There are no passages in which Jesus does not know something or in which he cannot do something. •Jesus doesn't even need help carrying his cross.

Major Differences between John and the Other Three (Synoptic) Gospels: Jesus' Associates, Friends, Disciples

•Jesus has lengthy interactions with a Pharisee named Nicodemus (John 3) and a Samaritan woman (John 4) •There is a man named Lazarus, found only in John but identified as the brother of Mary and Martha of Bethany. Jesus "loves" Lazarus and weeps at his passing, although he eventually raises him from the dead. •There are at least two otherwise unknown disciples: Nathanael and an unnamed follower identified in the gospel only as "the disciple whom Jesus loved." •The identity of the "Beloved Disciple" is an unsolved mystery, although the gospel indicates that his testimony is the basis for the stories and teachings found in the book.

The "Divine Justice" Theodicy: Luke 19:41-44

•Jesus weeps over the impending destruction of Jerusalem •The siege: "Your enemies will set up ramparts and surround you, and hem you in on every side" •The slaughter of Jerusalem's inhabitants: "They will crush you to the ground, you and your children within you" •The destruction of the Temple: "They will not leave within you one stone upon another"

The Greater Good Theodicy: John 9

•Jesus' disciples ask: "Rabbi, who sinned, that this man was born blind, him or his parents?" •Jesus answers that neither of them sinned and gives a different explanation: "He was born blind so that the works of God might be revealed in him." •Jesus then heals the man and he recovers his sight. •As John 9 progresses, the man comes to have faith in Jesus. At first he only acknowledges him as a healer, but later he calls him a "prophet," and still later he affirms that Jesus is "from God." At the end he "worships" Jesus and calls him "Lord" •Others who witness this or hear this story come to faith in Christ as well, so the "greater good" keeps growing. •None of this "good" would have been possible without the original evil, because it would have been impossible for Jesus to heal someone if they were not afflicted with a malady.

Gentiles in the Gospel of Luke: Simeon (Luke 2:27-32)

•Jews had long maintained that at some point all of the peoples of the earth would be invited to be part of God's covenant people, based on a promise God made to Abraham: "Through your offspring all the nations of the earth will be blessed" (Gen 22:18). •Here in Luke 2:27-32, the prophet Simeon announces that Jesus will be the means by which the promise of salvation will be extended to the Gentiles. "a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel"

The "Suffering as a Test of Faith" Theodicy: The Book of Job

•Job is described as a righteous and upright man whose faith in the Lord is total. •One of God's angels, known as the Accuser (ha Satan), is responsible for spying on human beings and calling their sins to God's attention. •God brags to the Accuser that he can find nothing wrong with Job's conduct. •Satan responds by saying that God has blessed Job greatly with children, flocks, and houses. If those were taken away, Satan wagers, Job would abandon his faith and curse God. •God takes the bet and tells Satan to go ahead and take away all that Job has. •All of Job's flocks are stolen or destroyed, and all of his children are killed when Satan causes the roof to collapse on the house they are in. •Job mourns his losses but never loses faith in God. "The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord." •The scenario between God and Satan in heaven repeats itself. This time Satan suggests that Job has only remained faithful because God did not cause him any bodily pain. "Skin for skin! Only stretch out your hand now and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face!" •God accepts this second wager, and Job is afflicted with terrible disease, covered with "loathsome sores" and left to sit in pain. •Again Job refuses to curse the name of the Lord. He has "passed" the test. •At the end of the book, all of Job's property is restored to him two-fold, and he has more children—equivalent to the number he previously lost.

How did the Logos become Jesus of Nazareth?

•John 1:14 indicates that the pre-existent, heavenly divine being called the Logos became Jesus of Nazareth by assuming a human body, by "taking on flesh," in a process that comes to be known as Incarnation ("carne" is the Latin word for flesh; a "carnivore" is a flesh-eater). •The idea that a God became a human being is one of the "signature" doctrines of Christianity, meaning that it is one of the most important but also among the most distinctive.

The Pre-Existence of Logos

•John makes it clear that Jesus' existence did not start with his human birth, but that he existed in heaven from the beginning of time. This point is made twice in the first two lines of the Prologue to the gospel. •John the Baptist testifies that Jesus is a pre-existent divine being. •In John 8, Jesus tells his Jewish opponents that he knows Abraham. They are incredulous, and point out that Jesus is not even 50 years old, and Abraham lived 1700 years ago. That is when Jesus makes his linguistically odd statement.

How and why does Matthew lay a more solid foundation for the church as an institution than Mark does?

•Mark never mentions the word "church" and betrays no interest in having an institutional structure that would grow and supervise the Christian community and guarantee its long-term survival and flourishing. •Matthew does use the word "church" (Gk. ekklesia, which literally means "assembly"). •Matthew shows that Jesus approved of the founding of a church in his name (". . . on this rock I will build my church") •Jesus appoints the leadership of his church. Here it is Peter who is singled out; later Jesus will give authority to all of his disciples/apostles. •Jesus indicates that the church will play a crucial role in the process of salvation. As the leader of the church, Peter holds "the keys to the kingdom," suggesting that membership in the church and submission to its leaders is essential for salvation. •Jesus also invests in the church a tremendous amount of authority. The ability to "bind" and to "loose" refers to the authority to make the rules that all Christians are required to follow.

The Farrer Hypothesis

•Markan Priority without Q •This theory (supported by about 15% of scholars) posits that Mark was written first and was used as a source by both Matthew and Luke. This accounts for triple-tradition material. •But it also claims that Luke copied from Matthew, and this is how double-tradition material came to be. •In this theory, there is no need to posit a common source to Matthew and Luke (besides Mark); in other words, the need for Q is obviated. •This theory is also supported by two pillars. The first of these is Q skepticism.

Some of the Problems with Proof from Prophecy: Matthew 1:22-23

•Matthew: "Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel." •a "prophecy" from Isaiah 7:14 •Isaiah speaks of a "young woman" who is pregnant and about to give birth to a son, while Matthew quotes the passage as being about a "virgin" who will at some point conceive and bear a son. (When the Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek in the 2nd century BCE, the transaltors of the Septuagint (LXX) made a mistake, converting the Hebrew word for "young woman" into the Greek word for "virgin.") •it is clear that the original prophecy did not say anything about a "virgin" conceiving and giving birth. •ALSO look at whether this prophecy is interpreted correctly. Matthew thinks that this is a prophecy about the messiah, and that when the prophet Isaiah uttered it (around the year 740 BCE) he was referring to a pregnancy that would take place far in the future. •He misses the political situation for King Ahaz and Judah in the 8th century, The Lord gives King Ahaz a sign about whether he should engage in war. His sign is the pregnant woman - The point of the entire "sign" is to give King Ahaz a time frame within which the Lord's promises will come to pass. Verses 15-16. They refer to certain developmental milestones in a child's development (curd/honey and good/evil)

John: The Identity of Jesus/The Word and God

•No gospel other than John states explicitly that Jesus is God. But John includes a number of statements that make it clear that Jesus is fully divine. •The prologue suggests that there is differentiation between God and the Logos ("the Word was with God"), but it also suggests they are the same being ("the Word was God") •Jesus himself makes this clear in 10:30, and one of his disciples (Thomas) calls him "God" at the end of the gospel. •Jesus uses a special linguistic form when he says "I am" to make it clear that he is referencing the name of YHWH ("I am" or "I am who I am").

Traditional Judaism's stance on: Samaritans

•Objects of Racial Hatred •Samaritans were once Israelites from the northern kingdom, but they had been conquered by the Assyrians, whose colonists intermarried with the Israelites producing a new "race" of people. They continued to worship Yahweh, but some differences developed between their religion and that of their "Jewish" neighbors. •Jews came to despise the Samaritans, claiming that they had allowed both their blood and their religion to be contaminated by "foreign" elements and that as a result their character had been corrupted. They were seen as an evil people, with a propensity for violence and wickedness of all forms. They had forfeited their claim to be part of the Chosen People and were now completely excluded. •The rivalry between Jews and Samaritans was so great that each group refused to have anything to do with the other. Jews were supposed to remain in their territory and Samaritans in theirs. Crossing these boundaries and having interactions with the "enemy" was thought to be extremely risky.

The "Suffering as a Test of Faith" Theodicy: Elie Wiesel's Night

•On p. 42 of Night, Elie says, "How I sympathized with Job!" •Then he quotes Akiba Drumer saying, "God is testing us. He is trying to find out whether we can overcome our base instincts and conquer the Satan within us. We have no right to despair. And if He punishes us relentlessly, it's a sign that He loves us all the more." •Although Elie does not think that God is fair or just, he still sees his omnipotence. He blames God for the things that happen, losses faith in a "good God" and he holds God responsible for letting these bad things happen (he does not intervene or do anything)

Paul's Letter to Philemon

•Paul is writing on behalf of Onesimus. Verse 16 indicates that he is a slave who belongs to Philemon. •Onesimus is with Paul now, and thus no longer under Philemon's control. Paul indicates that he is in prison, but that Onesimus has come to him and that he has become Onesimus' "father" (verse 10); this means that Paul has converted and baptized him. •Onesimus has become "of service" to Paul. Paul wants to keep him in this position, but does not want to do this without Philemon's permission, because Philemon is his legal owner. •Paul thinks it was Onesmius' "destiny" in a way to be in Paul's employ. The word "Onesimus" in Greek means "useful." Paul says that he is much more useful now as Paul's helper than he ever was as Philemon's slave. •Onesimus, then, is a runaway slave, and Paul is returning him to his owner. Why did he run away? And did he run into Paul by accident, or did he run precisely to find Paul? •Verses 18-19 indicate that Onesimus had gotten into some trouble, financial trouble, it seems, with his owner, and feared his wrath. He runs to Paul because he knows Paul has some influence with his master and might be able to intercede on his behalf. •It is clear from the preceding passage that Paul wants Philemon to release Onesimus so that he can return to Paul and continue to be of service to him. •Paul uses a number of rhetorical ploys to try to persuade Philemon to do this. •What is not clear is whether Paul wants Philemon to free Onesimus so that he is no longer a slave, or whether he wants Philemon to transfer ownership of Onesimus to him. •Either way, Paul seems to admit that as Onesimus's owner, Philemon has the ultimate right to decide what to do with him.

The "Suffering as a Test of Faith" Theodicy: Weaknesses

•People are not tested equally. Some people experience far more suffering than others. This makes God look unfair. •Some "tests" are so extreme that they make God look cruel. Think of the book of Job's efforts to shield God from direct responsibility for what happens to Job. •The fact that God needs to "find out" how people will respond to adversity suggests that he does not already know this, and some would question whether that violates the idea of God's omniscience. •God seems to use people "instrumentally" (i.e. he uses the lives and health of some people as an instrument to test others). An example would be Job's "original" ten children.

Luke-Acts: Importance of earning an honest living

•Preaching of John the Baptist •Advice to tax collectors: You do not need to stop being tax collectors, but you need to stop overcharging people on their taxes and collect only the amount prescribed. •Advice to soldiers: You do not need to stop being soldiers, but you cannot use your official position and superior skill at violence to extort money from others by threats or false accusations.

Q

•Q is a hypothetical construct. It is understood as a "lost gospel," consisting mostly of sayings, that was discovered independently by Matthew and Luke and used as a source by them. Q comes from the German word "Quelle," which simply means "Source." •The case for Q rests on two main pillars.

Key Themes in Luke-Acts:

•Salvation is for Everyone •Certain groups and individuals suffered from a degree of exclusion in the Jewish religion at the time of Jesus: Samaritans, women, Gentiles, and "sinners."

Samaritans in the Gospel of Luke: Cleansing of the ten lepers (Luke 17:11-19)

•Samaritans are also portrayed as sometimes being more faithful than Jews elsewhere in the Gospel of Luke - After Jesus heals 10 lepers only one comes back and thanked Jesus and praised God. This man was a Samaritan. •Jesus' positive attitude toward Samaritans meant that the Christian church would end up welcoming them as full members of their community. The mission to the Samaritans turns out to be very successful, as is documented in chapter 8 of the Acts of the Apostles.

The Apostle Paul

•Second Only to Jesus •Paul is the most successful missionary in Christian history, probably not in terms of numbers, but certainly in terms of influence •Paul was the most prolific author in early Christianity. 14 of the 27 books of the New Testament are included because they were believed to have been letters written by Paul, and another book (Acts of the Apostles) devotes more than half of its content to chronicling Paul's accomplishments and adventures. •Modern scholars believe that only 7 of the letters attributed to Paul were actually written by him. Most of the others were written by his "team" after his death. These are known as the "deutero-Pauline" letters.

Traditional Judaism's stance on: Women

•Second class citizens •Of course women could be part of the Jewish people, but they were never considered full covenant partners in their own right. They only became part of the covenant as a consequence of their relationship to a man (father, husband, brother, uncle, etc.) •The way to enter into the covenant was through circumcision, and this was only performed on males. •The exclusion of women from "signing" the covenant contract was not a technicality; it was a result of the traditional Jewish view that women were naturally inferior to men and therefore suited only to subordinate roles in the religion and society. •In ancient Israel, women were considered property; this is why daughters could be sold into slavery and men could accumulate multiple wives (polygamy). •By Jesus' time, both of these practices were either abandoned or in decline, but it was still the case that women were severely restricted. •Women could not be priests or rabbis; women could not receive an education; women could not (usually) own or inherit property; women were (usually) not allowed to work outside the home. •It was a woman's job to get married in her early teens and have as many children as possible, to raise those children, to maintain the household (cooking, cleaning, and serving her husband and any guests), and to "please" her husband sexually.

The High Christology of John

•Seen in the •prologue (John 1:1-18) •Seen in the identity of Jesus, The Word, and God •The Pre-existence of Logos

Traditional Judaism's stance on: Sinners

•Sinners did not refer to ordinary people—all of whom commit sins from time to time—but to (1) people whose very occupations were sinful by nature, like tax collectors and prostitutes, and (2) people whose sins were so severe that God had cursed them with a severe physical or mental disability—the blind, the deaf, the lame, demoniacs, etc.

Second Pillar of Q: Plausibility of Q

•Some skeptics doubt the existence of Q because no copies of it survive and there is no physical proof of its existence. But Q supporters point out that it was extremely common for books in antiquity to become "lost," that is, to drop out of existence. •This was due to (1) the small number of copies in existence, (2) a book's popularity waning and the cessation of new copies being created. Q supporters make the claim that the incorporation of Q into Matthew and Luke rendered Q itself "obsolete." •Another thing Q skeptics sometimes point to is the odd structure Q seemed to have, being composed almost entirely of sayings. But the discovery of the Coptic Gospel of Thomas indicates that "sayings gospels" were not unheard of.

Unique Material

•Stories just in that Gospel •Luke: 35% unique, includes 1. census and the manger at Jesus Birth 2. the parable of the good Samaritan 3. parable of the rich fool 4. Jesus' ascension into heaven •Matthew: 20% unique, includes 1. the wise men (never says 3 or kings) 2. King Herod/ slaughter of children 3. parable of the laborers in the vineyard 4. posting of Roman guards at Jesus' tomb •Mark: 3% unique, includes 1. "naked guy" 2. The healing of the blind man where Jesus needs two attempts before succeeding 3. "crazy" Jesus "out of his mind"

Proof from Prophecy: Isaiah 7:14

•The Greek translation of Isaiah 7:14 reads: "Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel." •There was no Jewish expectation based on this prophecy, because prior to Matthew, nobody thought this was a messianic prophecy. •Matthew does treat it as a messianic prophecy, and he claims that Jesus fulfills it because he is born of a virgin (even though his name is not Emmanuel, a fact that Matthew conveniently ignores). •This will prove to be controversial in Matthew 2:23

Why could Matthew and Luke not come before Mark?

•The absurdity of the other main possibility. If Matthew came first (Matthean priority), then we would have to imagine that Mark decided to "shorten" his gospel by omitting the virgin birth, the entire Sermon on the Mount (including the Lord's prayer), and Jesus' resurrection appearances. We would also have to imagine that Mark was "saving room" for the stories he added to Matthew, namely the naked guy, "crazy Jesus," and the healing of a blind man where Jesus needs two attempts to complete the miracle. •Why does no one think that Luke could have come first? For the same reasons Matthew appears to be later than Mark. Luke is the longest of the synoptic gospels, it is the best-written, and it is the most theologically "evolved."

Arguments in favor of Markan Priority

•The argument from grammar: Mark has the most grammatical mistakes, awkward constructions, and stylistic inelegance. Matthew and Luke have far less. It is more probable that Matthew and Luke copied from Mark, noticing Mark's mistakes and correcting them as they incorporated Mark's material into their gospels, and less probable that the opposite occurred. •The argument from length: Mark is the shortest gospel overall. Matthew and Luke seem to have expanded upon Mark as they copied from his gospel. •The argument from theological evolution: Mark has the most passages that are difficult, puzzling, or problematic from a theological point of view. Matthew and Luke seem to have smoothed over difficulties, resolved problems, and eliminated puzzling sentences, ideas, and passages. •Examples of this include Matthew's revision of the healing of the woman with a hemorrhage (where he chops out the part where Jesus doesn't know who touched him), the story of Jesus' rejection at Nazareth (where Matthew changes the story so that Jesus chooses not to do many miracles, instead of being unable to do them), and the story of Jesus' baptism (where Matthew shows John the Baptist admitting Jesus' superiority).

Christology

•The different titles used for Jesus each have their own christological significance. One way to rank them is on a scale of low to high. •The title that would reflect the highest christology is "God." Only the gospel of John calls Jesus "God" more or less directly. But other titles on the higher end of the scale are "Lord" and "Son of God." •On the lower end of the scale are titles like "Teacher," "Rabbi," "Master," and "Prophet." •Titles like "son of Man" (a phrase that comes from the book of Daniel and refers to the being sent by God to act as the judge at the Apocalypse) and "Christ" are somewhere in the middle. •We find that in Mark the disciples usually refer to Jesus as "Teacher," and that Jesus usually refers to himself as the "son of Man." •In Matthew, the disciples usually refer to Jesus as "Lord," and Peter elevates Jesus in his confession from "Christ" to "Christ, the Son of the Living God."

Major Similarities between John and the Other Three Gospels

•The events of Jesus' passion (arrest, trial, crucifixion, and resurrection) are quite similar. Jesus has a more extensive conversation with Pontius Pilate in John, and he has more "company" while he is being crucified. But John is similar to Matthew and Luke in saying that Jesus makes multiple resurrection appearances, one to Mary Magdalene and others to his remaining eleven disciples. •Some of the miracles are much the same: Jesus walking on water, and multiplying loaves and fishes (at least once). •Some of the characters are familiar: Peter, Andrew, James, and Judas from among the Twelve; Jesus' mother, Mary Magdalene, and Mary and Martha of Bethany from among his female followers.

Samaritans in the Gospel of Luke: The Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-27)

•The first thing to notice about the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) is that the parable emphasizes the ethnic identity of the various characters—the priest and the Levite are Jews, indeed among the most respectable of Jews. The "victim" of this crime is also almost certainly a Jew. He is travelling from Jerusalem to Jericho, two cities in the Jewish region of Judea. His rescuer is of course a Samaritan. •The priest and the Levite are portrayed in a very negative way. One of their own countrymen and co-religionists is badly hurt and perhaps dying, and neither of them lifts a finger to help him. This characterization suggests that Jesus is not a believer in the moral superiority that Jews claimed they held over other groups like Samaritans and Gentiles. •The Samaritan, by contrast, is the hero of the story. He shows an incredible amount of compassion to the victim of this crime, and it is all the more surprising that he does so for a Jew—supposedly his sworn enemy. He is a living example of Jesus' teaching that you must love your enemies.

Second Pillar (The Farrer Hypothesis): The Plausibility of Luke Copying from Matthew

•The idea that all of the things Luke would have to have omitted or shortened from Matthew comprise "great stuff" is a subjective judgment that is subject to question. •Is Matthew's much longer Sermon on the Mount really superior to Luke's shorter Sermon on the Plain? Or is Matthew's sermon just too long and boring? •Can we make a good case for why Luke may have wanted to omit, for example, a story like the one about the wise men and the star? •Similar kinds of arguments can be made for Luke's other omissions and alterations.

Luke-Acts: Can the rich be saved? - Zacchaeus

•The story of Zacchaeus shows that salvation for the rich is not impossible, as he is a rich man and Jesus says at the end that "salvation has come to this house." But what did Zacchaeus need to do in order for this to occur, and how does this jibe with Jesus' earlier teaching about how salvation is nearly impossible for the wealthy? •Zacchaeus demonstrates four qualities that seem to be rare among the wealthy. •Compassion: The fact that Zacchaeus thinks about the poor and feels empathy with those he has defrauded proves that he does not care only about himself. •Generosity: Zacchaeus gives away half of his wealth to the poor, and with the remaining 50% vows to repay anyone he defrauded four times over (the Torah only requires one to repay twice as much). In the end, Zacchaeus clearly gives away the vast majority of his fortune. •Non-attachment: Zacchaeus does all this without even being asked by Jesus (unlike the Rich Ruler). He volunteers to surrender the majority of his fortune at the drop of a hat. Clearly he is not excessively "attached" to his wealth. •Commitment to earning an honest living: At least implicity, Zacchaeus is committing himself to stop defrauding those from whom he collects taxes. How a person makes money is important to Jesus—it has to be done honestly, and ethically.

Major Differences between John and the Other Three (Synoptic) Gospels: Beginnings

•The synoptic gospels begin with either Jesus' birth (Matthew and Luke) or his baptism (Mark). Either way, the gospels begin in the relatively recent past. •The gospel of John begins the story of Jesus at the very dawn of the universe, when Jesus (or "the Logos," as his heavenly incarnation is known in John's gospel) participates in the creation of the world.

Sinners in the Gospel of Luke

•The treatment of Gentile sinners parallels the treatment of other groups of people considered sinners in Jewish society—they too can be forgiven if they sincerely repent of their sins. •The one exception to this involves people who are blind, deaf, lame, or possessed. Jesus apparently did not believe they were sinners who had been cursed by God with their afflictions as punishment for wrongdoing. He does not single them out to call for their repentance but instead treats them with compassion and empathy. •Two groups of people who definitely fall into the category of sinners are prostitutes and tax collectors. The passage with Simon and women who anoints Jesus feet shows a woman who is probably a prostitute gaining forgiveness. •The parable of the Two Debtors also highlights the problem of those who are proud of their righteousness and feel like they do not need to repent or ask for forgiveness.

Redaction Criticism

•The word "redact" means "to edit." Redaction criticism considers the later evangelists (Matthew and Luke) who used an earlier gospels (Mark) as a source to be editors, and is based on the idea that one can determine these later authors' purposes and themes by examining how they edit Mark. •Redaction criticism compares Matthew or Luke to Mark and identifies the significant additions, deletions, and alterations. •So the difference between literary criticism and redaction criticism is that (1) literary criticism understands the evangelists as authors, while redaction criticism sees them as editors; (2) literary criticism examines each gospel in isolation, while redaction criticism looks at two or more gospels at the same time, in comparison with each other, and (3) in literary criticism, the important meaning-producing phenomena are things like plot, character, allusions, themes, motifs, etc. while in redaction criticism the keys to understanding the meaning of a gospel involve the alterations a later gospel writer made to his source(s)—the additional passages, the stories chosen for omission, and modifications within the same passage.

First Pillar (The Farrer Hypothesis): Q Skepticism

•There are no surviving copies of Q. Not even a fragment. •There are no surviving references to Q in other literature (not counting Matthew and Luke). No early Christian author quotes from Q or refers to it. If it disappeared after becoming obsolete, its disappearance was complete and total, and unusually sudden. •Q supporters claim that Matthew and Luke "seldom" agree against Mark. But any agreements against Mark are unlikely, and Q skeptics point out that such agreements are far more extensive than Q supporters admit.

What are some complicating factors of proof from prophecy?

•There are very few explicitly messianic prophecies in the Old Testament. There are many prophecies that might foretell something about the messiah, but they might be about something else altogether. •Whether they are explicitly messianic or not, each prophecy is subject to interpretation. •It is often the case that a large number of individuals might fulfill one prophecy or another. So to make a persuasive case that a given candidate was the messiah it was important to show that the person fulfilled all of the prophecies, or at least a great many of them, rather than just one or two. • It was relatively easy for proponents of a particular messianic candidate to claim that he had fulfilled certain prophecies without having solid proof that he had done so. Many of these things are notoriously difficult to "fact-check."

The Synoptic Problem

•There is high degree of word-to-word similarity between the synoptic Gospels, explaining the similarities is called the "synoptic problem"-non-scholarly attempts think the 3 evangelists were eye-witnesses to the events, or that the Holy Spirit inspired them to produce the same thing however this cannot be true because the Gospels are written too late and there are many things still different in the gospels •this could account for similarities but it would still be difficult to say that they wrote word-for-word documents •only alternative explanation is that there was copying done among 3 gospels. Source Criticism looks at who copied from whom and if early gospels used another source and drew materials from them.

Luke-Acts: Economic realities of the time of Jesus

•There was a huge gap between rich and poor. The rich tended to be fabulously wealthy, while the poor tended to be desperately poor. •Rich people often gained and maintained wealth by immoral means: land theft, corruption, and especially the exploitation of labor. •Slaves received no compensation at all and had no freedom and few rights. Workers who were free still had to work long hours, usually engaged in backbreaking and sometimes dangerous tasks, received low wages, and usually had no savings to fall back on in the event of sickness, unemployment, or disaster. •The wealthy were not renowned for their work ethic or inventiveness. They usually lived lives of leisure and allowed others to manage their affairs. •The concept of "limited good" was prevalent among the poor. This is the idea that there is a finite amount of wealth, fame, honor, etc. in the world. Therefore anyone who takes a very large share is necessarily depriving others. (wrong, but popular at the time of Jesus) -Ex: Dunkin Donut activity

The "Suffering as a Test of Faith" Theodicy

•This theodicy argues that the "good reason" God has for causing or allowing suffering is not to punish people but to test them. •God puts people through personal trials in order to find out how they will respond to adversity. Those who remain faithful and obedient "pass" the test, and receive ultimate reward (in this life or the next). Those who curse God and lose hope "fail" the test and prove they are worthy of ultimate punishment. •As seen in the book of Job

The "Divine Justice" Theodicy: Weaknesses

•This theodicy cannot explain when bad things happen to good people. •Innocent suffering: especially obvious in the case of babies and young children. •Disproportionate suffering: When the punishment seems to far exceed the crime. •Always involves blaming the victim. •The prosperity of the wicked: sometimes people who appear to be clearly evil live long, healthy lives and achieve great success (wealth and fame)

The "Divine Justice" Theodicy: Modern Examples

•This theodicy remains somewhat popular today: Studies show that approximately 20% of Americans, when surveyed, will blame the death and destruction caused by natural disasters on the sins of the people who are affected. •Ex: 700 club on hurricane in Haiti and 9/11

Sinners in the Gospel of Luke: (Parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector)

•To be "justified" is to be in a right relationship with God, not to be "estranged" from God. •By the end of the parable, the tax collector goes down to his home "justified" but the Pharisee does not, even though the Pharisee is objectively better-behaved. What is the difference between the two? •The tax collector asks for forgiveness and he knows he is a sinner, while the Pharisee does not acknowledge his wrongdoings at all

Matthew's Geneaology or Luke's Genealogy?

•Two gospels each claim that Jesus fulfills the same prophecy, but in different and irreconcilable ways The two genealogies cannot be reconciled. Not only are there different names for many of Jesus' closest ancestors, but there are differences in the total number of generations, and the genealogies diverge immediately after King David, with one gospel tracing his lineage through Solomon and the other through David's son Nathan.

Raising the Christology from Mark to Matthew

•Using loftier titles is just one way that Matthew raises the christology from Mark's relatively low one to something higher. •In Mark, there are things that Jesus cannot do (perform miracles in his hometown) and things he does not know (he asks, "Who touched my clothes" in the story of the healing of a woman with a hemorrhage.) The fact that he needs two attempts to complete the healing of the blind man also suggests some limitation in his power. •Matthew alters or deletes all of these passages, suggesting that Jesus is more divine, and thus his power and knowledge are not limited. •The addition of the story of the virgin birth also raises the christology. Mark begins with Jesus' baptism, and as a result is open to an adoptionist interpretation. Matthew begins with the story of Jesus' birth to a virgin named Mary. This proves that Jesus was literally the Son of God, and that this was not a ceremonial title bestowed upon him at his baptism. He has only one human parent; the other "parent" is God. So Jesus was the Son of God from birth—he did not "become" the Son of God in some metaphorical sense at some point in his adult life.

Women in the Gospel of Luke: Martha and Mary

•Which of the two sisters is behaving more "properly" as a woman according to the laws and customs of Judaism at the time? Martha •Mary is violating gender norms in her behavior by not helping Martha do work around the house, and educating herself. •Jesus ends up taking Mary's side of the dispute •Jesus defends Mary's right to receive an education, an opportunity usually forbidden to women, and seems to encourage Martha to pursue the same path.

What regrets does Wiesel have about the way he and his fellow Jews responded to increasing Nazi repression and violence?

•Wiesel believed they should have been more active, not to only count on God 1. Ignoring Moshe the Beadle/ ridiculing him 2. Treatment of Madame Schacter 3. When 1st at Auschwitz some people with knives talked about fighting the Nazis but the older men said not to lose faith and to trust that God would protect them 4. Leaving Auschwitz instead of staying in the hospital

Proof From Prophecy

•a form of Christian argument in favor of the identification of Jesus of Nazareth as the messiah based on his fulfillment of the various Old Testament prophecies about the messiah. •the evangelist will be narrating the life of Jesus, and then will pause whenever he feels that something that has happened fulfills a prophecy to cite that prophecy and point out that it is being fulfilled. While all four gospels employ proof from prophecy, the gospel of Matthew does so the most often. (5 instances in the first two chapters of Matthew alone.)

Double Tradition

•agreements between Matthew and Luke-Some stories found in two of the synoptic Gospels but not the third (mostly sayings of Jesus) that are found in Matthew and Luke. •This is the second most common pattern of agreement in the data set accounting for 25% of each of these 2 gospels content •Includes: Lord's Prayer, the Beatitudes, teaching about turning the other cheek and loving one's enemies, and the details of Jesus' temptation by Satan.

Matthean Priority

•the idea that Matthew came first, popularized by St.Augustine •was the dominant theory for the most of Christian history, which is why Matthew is first in the New Testament