Do you remember?
Who's Asherah & what is she doing here?
Asherah was a goddess and in ancient Israel there's scholarly debate about her being paired with Yahweh. Jeremiah refers to her as "queen of heaven" (Jeremiah 44:19, "The women added, "When we burned incense to the Queen of Heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, did not our husbands know that we were making cakes impressed with her image and pouring out drink offerings to her?")
Like other people of the Ancient Near East Canaanite religious beliefs were polytheistic. They worshipped Baal and El, Asherah and Astarte. Baal, a god worshipped in many ancient Middle Eastern communities, especially among the Canaanites, was considered him a fertility deity and one of the most important gods in the pantheon.
Amenemope?
Instruction of Amenemope is a literary work composed in Ancient Egypt, (most likely during the Ramesside Period); it contains 30 chapters of advice for successful living. It is widely regarded as one of the masterpieces of ancient near-eastern wisdom literature and has been of particular interest to modern scholars because of its relationship to the biblical Book of Proverbs. There are questions about which book came first, and which borrowed from which? Look at your Proverbs notes if you forgot this, it shows parallels between the two texts.
What's the purpose of the book of Proverbs?
Teaching the attainment of wisdom and warning against life's pitfalls, focused on wisdom
They are wisdom literature, very similar to the Instruction of Amenemope
What's a parable?
a simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson, as told by Jesus in the Gospels
i.e. from the Gospel of Matthew 13
33 He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds[b] of flour until it worked all through the dough.”
34 Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable. 35 So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet:
“I will open my mouth in parables,
I will utter things hidden since the creation of the world.”
Both the Sadducees and the Pharisees were religious parties in Jesus’ day. Both were critical of and were criticized by Jesus.
Pharisees = lay people, remained within society, pushed for rigorous observance of laws that distinguish Jews from non-Jews, the Pharisees emerged as a party of lay people and scribes unlike the Sadducees, who were the party of the high priesthood that had traditionally provided the sole leadership of the Jewish people. The basic difference that led to the split between the Pharisees and the Sadducees lay in their respective attitudes toward the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible) and the problem of finding in it answers to questions and bases for decisions about contemporary legal and religious matters arising under circumstances far different from those of the time of Moses.
the apostle Paul was a Pharisee before he started following "the Way" of Jesus
Sadducees = were wealthy aristocrats, collaborated with Roman rule, they controlled the Jerusalem temple and the Sanhedrin (were assemblies of either twenty-three or seventy-one rabbis appointed to sit as a tribunal in every city in the ancient Land of Israel), powerful institutions. The Sadducees were important as a political force they accepted only the written Law of Moses as authoritative and rejected subsequent revelation. As a result, the Sadducees denied many of the doctrines held by the Pharisees and by Jesus, including the resurrection of the dead, the existence of angels and spirits, and the meting out of rewards and punishment after death, along with oral teachings, and the Prophets, and the Writings.
(Background: In 539 BCE the Persians conquered Babylon, and in 537 BCE Cyrus the Great allowed Jews to return to Judea and rebuild the Temple. He did not, however, allow the restoration of the Judean monarchy, which left the Judean priests as the dominant authority. Without the constraining power of the monarchy, the authority of the Temple in civic life was amplified. It was around this time that the Sadducee party emerged as the party of priests and allied elites.
What book opens with a prologue poem?
The Gospel of John
Matthew, Mark, Luke
Synoptic Gospel writers
What's "the Way?"
"The Way" refers to the way of Jesus Christ.
This is what followers of Jesus called themselves, followers of The Way. Jesus in the Gospel of John 14:6 says, "I am the way, the truth and the life."
Remember Christianity comes out of the Jewish tradition and they don't become separate until after the first century CE, the Apostolic Age has Christianity emerging within the Jewish tradition
This then becomes problematic later, 100 CE-325CE when questions like circumcision for Christians emerge, etc. In 325 CE is the Nicene Creed, spelling out the Trinity (God as 3 persons in One), which is different than the monotheism of Judaism (who do not claim the Holy Spirit nor Jesus Christ as the messiah)
What's it doing here in the Lit of the Bible?
Why talk about it?
epistle = letter
It's often thought the apostle Paul wrote 13 of the 27 books of the Greek New Testament, nearly half of them (scholars debate how many he wrote)
9 epistles sent to churches (Romans-2 Thessalonians)
4 epistles to people (1 and 2 Timothy, Titus and Philemon)
5 parts to an epistle: opening/salutation, Thanksgiving, Body of Letter, Paraenesis (moral advice), Closing
What's the Apostolic Age?
The age of the Apostles, this is the time from the start of Jesus' ministry approximately 27-29 CE to the death of the last of the 12 disciples (100 CE)
What's the Apocrypha?
Why is it important?
The Apocrypha is the inter-testamental group of books that did not become part of the Protestant canon of the Holy Bible. Catholics do use the books from the Apocrypha, and put them in with the Old Testament books.
They're important to know about to illustrate the debate about what got into the final canon (remember canon = rule) of the Holy Bible, and which books weren't thought of as strong enough or important enough to make it in.
For example, The Gospel of Thomas did not make it into the final canon of the Holy Bible. It was seen as a list of wisdom sayings and was thought to not have enough narrative.
John
Not a Synoptic Gospel, Gospel of John came later, tied up loose theological ends,
includes the Logos in the beginning,
"In the beginning was the Word...."
What's imperial theology and what does it have to do with the literature of the Bible?
Terms used for Jesus in his lifetime were often used for the Roman emperor.
Throughout history, emperors and rulers ranging from the Western Zhou dynasty (c. 1000 BCE) in China to Alexander the Great (c. 360 BCE) to the Emperor of Japan (c. 600 CE) have assumed titles that say they're divine.
Compare these phrases:
Jesus is Lord Caesar Augustus is lord
Jesus is Son of God Augustus is son of god, son of Apollo
Jesus brings peace Augustus brings peace
Jesus' birth brings the Good News Augustus' birth brings the good news
Kingdom of God on earth Roman Rulers have divine mandate
background: John Dominic Crossan writing in God and Empire: Jesus Against Rome, Then and Now (2007), says, early in the book, that "(t)here was a human being in the first century who was called 'Divine,' 'Son of God,' 'God,' and 'God from God,' whose titles were 'Lord,' 'Redeemer,' 'Liberator,' and 'Saviour of the World.'" "(M)ost Christians probably think that those titles were originally created and uniquely applied to Christ. But before Jesus ever existed, all those terms belonged to Caesar Augustus." Crossan cites the adoption of them by the early Christians to apply to Jesus as denying them of Caesar the Augustus. "They were taking the identity of the Roman emperor and giving it to a Jewish peasant. Either that was a peculiar joke and a very low lampoon, or it was what the Romans called majistas and we call high treason. "[18]
Yes
3 types of New Testament wisdom literature : The book of James, the wisdom sayings by Jesus, and the wisdom sayings about Jesus
What stands out for you in the long narrative arc of the Holy Bible?
You decide... some ideas
*monarchy w/ Davidic Line
*covenants
*people messing up, God choosing amazing characters
*biblical poetry
*oral tradition and written tradition
*history of the remnant Israel
*leaders who are flawed but faithful (or not)
*Yahweh with the people, though the people are often homeless and wandering "A wandering Aramean was my father"
*God's steadfast love for the people despite their mess ups
*Women mentioned in a time when women were not often mentioned by name, women are even mentioned in genealogies, Ruth, Esther, Rachel, Sarah, Leah, Deborah, Mary, etc.
*Paul taking care of business by writing letters and traveling all over in a time when travel would have been dangerous and difficult
*those in the Bible who sacrificed for others
*those who kept misunderstanding what Jesus' reign would look like as "king of the Jews"
Who is Wisdom?
Why is She important?
Wisdom is personified in the Book of Proverbs in the Hebrew Scriptures.
Proverbs 8:22-31 is famous for its description of the wisdom of God as a person or entity—a deity-level figure who assists God in some way with the creation of the world.
The question up for debate is whether She, "Lady Wisdom," gets dropped from the final canon of the Holy Bible and only appears in these passages in Proverbs?
Proverbs 8:22-31 gets a lot of attention because of verse 30, where someone was “beside” God “like a master workman.” Christians are used to thinking in these terms because Jesus is cast as God’s agent of creation (Col 1:16; 1 Cor 8:16). But Wisdom in Proverbs seems to conflict with that for a simple reason—throughout the book Wisdom is cast as a woman. Look at Prov 1:20-22. Notice how wisdom is referred to by the pronouns “she” and “her”:
20 Wisdom cries aloud in the street, in the street plazas she raises her voice;
21 at the head of the noisy streets she calls out; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks:
Jesus
First century Jew, leader, radical in turning over what people expect in countless ways.
He's from the Davidic line, but doesn't act like they expect a king to act. He's the long awaited Messiah (anointed one) to many, although Jews today say they still await the messiah. He is Immanuel, God-with-us, he calls himself the "Son of Man," and "I am." He's called the "Son of God," like those in the Roman world called the emperor (imperial theology). He is mocked as "King of Jews" or "King of Israel." He dies on a cross, he appears again resurrected 3 days later, and his followers, the disciples, become "apostles" or "sent out ones" who have a Great Commission, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
What's the Trinity?
What are its parts?
Trinity is God in 3 persons, and they are Father (Creator), Son (Christ), and Holy Spirit (sustainer of the world)
What's a testament? Why do we call the Greek Scriptures the new testament?
testament = statement of belief, also refers to covenant
Jesus is the new covenant, the promise God has made with humanity, he's the mediator of this new covenant
Who's your favorite biblical character you've encountered so far in this literature of the Bible class, what stands out?
Your answer here:____________
Name as many types of biblical criticism as you can. In class we discussed 7 types. Go for it....
Can you discuss what 2 of them do, if you were to look at a text? What would those 2 want out it?
1. literary
2. historical
3. form
4. source
5. canonical
6. texual
7. redaction (think edited)
Preacher/Teacher/Speaker is from which book?
The lovers are from which book?
Ecclesiastes-"for everything there is a season"
Lovers and love poetry are found in The Song of Songs in the Holy Bible.
Give 3 titles for Jesus?
Messiah
Christ = Messiah = Anointed One
Logos = the Word ("In the beginning was the Word" from the Gospel of John)
Immanuel (also spelled Emmanuel) = God-with-us
"I Am"
Jesus of Nazareth
King of Kings
Son of God
Son of Man
Teacher
What's the Nicene Creed?
from 325 CE it is a statement of belief that lays out the Trinity...
"We believe in one God....We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ....We believe in the Holy Spirit...."
What worldview shifts do you think take place as we shift between the Hebrew Scriptures and the Greek Scriptures? Can you name some?
Hebrew: Earthy language, emerges from a tribal people
Greek: Organized worldview, we get the Koine Greek New Testament much later in time than the 2000 BCE stories of Abraham, etc.
Here are some very simplified differences between the Greek and Hebrew World Views
Greek: Spiritual means immaterial, not of the material world
Hebrew: Spiritual means life-giving
Greek: From Plato, via Augustine
Hebrew: From the Jews, via prophets & Jesus
Greek: Matter is sinful or, at most, tolerated
Hebrew: Matter is God-made and holy
Greek: One should limit pleasures
Hebrew: Ecstasy is a gift of the Creator
Greek: Centered around theological theme of the Fall and humankind's need for redemption
Hebrew: Creation is good, and we say thank you for it by enjoying it, and sharing the enjoyment of it
Greek: Artists choose between sacred and secular subjects, between spiritual and material expression
Hebrew: Every experience of beauty is an experience of God. Artistic expression shares the beauty of God
Greek: Humankind's relationship with God is vertical; God is up, humankind is below
Hebrew: Humankind's relationship with God is horizontal. God is all around us, throughout the whole universe.
from Matthew Fox, On Being a Musical, Mystical Bear, Paulist Press, 1976.