Epistolography
Rhetoric
History, Canon Formation, etc.
Gospels
Judaism
100

amanuensis 

What is a scribe?

100

paideia

What is education?

100

In what year was the temple in Jerusalem destroyed?

When is 70 CE?

100

euangelion

What is good news, gospel?

100

Ioudaios

ethno-religious identity; could refer to Jewish religious persons and/or people from Judea

200

superscriptio

sender/author of a letter

200

progymnasmata

What are rhetorical exercises used in ancient education? (Often involved imitating someone's writing style, making an argument for a hypothetical situation, etc)

200

Anagignoskomena

What are books that are considered "worthy of reading" but non-canonical?
200

initial text (Ausgangtexte)

text from which a tradition proceeds 

200

Pharisees

Who were Jewish members of the artisan class who served as readers and interpreters of the law?

300

papyrus

What is a writing material made from weaving strands of the papyrus plant that preserves many of our NT texts today?


300
Definition of rhetoric according to Aristotle

What is "the art of persuasion"?

300

What is syncretism? How is it important to NT studies?

Syncretism is the blending of multiple ideas/beliefs/religions into one. It is important to NT studies because it is one of the oldest attempts to solve the Synoptic problem, by blending the 3 gospels together (ex: Tatian's Diatesseron).

300

Synoptic

"appearing the same,"

Gospels of Mark, Matthew, and Luke

300

Qumran

Jewish community that withdrew to the desert and produced the Dead Sea Scrolls. They believed that the priestly elite was corrupt and had a very apocalyptic worldview.

400

Name the parts of an ancient letter

What are the prescript, thanksgiving, body, and ending?

400
What are Aristotle's 3 means of rhetoric?

ethos, pathos, logos

400
Who was Josephus? How does he demonstrate a complicated relationship with empire?
Jewish historian who previously served as a leader in the Jewish revolt until he was captured by Vespasian. Attempted to write history of Jewish revolts without angering either Jews or emperor by blaming them.
400

Q

What is the abbreviation for German quelle, a hypothetical sayings source that Matthew and Luke may have had access to when compiling their gospels?

400

Ritual impurity

Contact with something (bodily fluids, death) that renders one unable to enter the temple. Usually resolved by waiting for period of time or doing small rituals.

500
What do letters do (e.g. why are they sent)? What was the process for sending a letter in antiquity?

Letters are occasional, meaning they are sent at a specific time for a specific purpose. They help to create connection and intimacy across distance. In antiquity, a letter was dictated orally by the author to a scribe who wrote it down. The letter was then given to someone to carry and deliver to the recipient, who would have the letter read aloud, either by the messenger or another literate person.

500

What were the 3 forms of rhetoric according to Aristotle and to which situations were they applied?

1. Judicial/forensic: discussing something that has already happened (past)

2. Deliberative: discussing a decision to be made (future)

3. Epideictic: discussing present situation

500

Explain the difference between apocalyptic and eschatological texts.

Apocalyptic: unveiling, revealing (as of prophecy)
Eschatology: concerned with the ending of the world

500

Explain the difference between textual criticism and textual variants.

Textual variants appear when multiple manuscripts of a text differ. Textual criticism refers to the larger field that studies these variants.

500

Mishnah

earliest collection of Rabbinic texts, dated to 3rd century CE

M
e
n
u