Scripture Studies Vocab
How does fundamentalist read the Bible?
Quite literally. For example, if a fundamentalist read Genesis 1 - the world would literally be created in 7 days.
The Pentateuch (or Torah) is also know as...
the book of LAW
What does synoptice mean in it's original greek?
"seeing all together"
True or False: the synoptic Gospels deny that Jesus was the Son of God.
FALSE. The synoptic emphasize human qualities of Jesus but never deny His divinity.
What was the first Gospel to be written?
Mark - around 60 CE. You should know this as the other synoptic Gospels use Mark to write their own.
How does a contextualist read the Bible?
A contextualist will use other information to inform their interpretation of the Bible. For example, if a contextualist read Genesis 1, they would understand it as metaphor. The world would not literally be made in 7 days (as science tells us it took anout 15 million years, and history would have us understand the number "7" to represent "wholeness")
Ruth, Judges, Joshua, Kings, and Judith are all examples of what type of Biblical literature.
The Historical Books (which take a look at the history - literally and allegorically - of the nation of Israel)
What are the three synoptic Gospels
Matthew, Mark and Luke
How did Matthew Portray Jesus?
Matthew's Jesus was a teacher/New Moses. This connected will with Matthews Jewish Audience.
Who wrote Acts of the Apostles?
the same author as Luke! He was a close companion of Paul.
What are the three worlds approach to analyzing scripture? What does each world focus on?
World Behind the Text: the historical context of when and who it was written by
World Inside the Text: looking at the text itself, including the words on the page, literary styles, symbolism, etc.
World In Front of the Text: What does this passage mean for the modern reader? (Using the other two worlds to guide it.)
Where would you find a intro to a book of the Bible starting like this: " ___________ a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God— the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son "
All Letters (both Pauline and General epistles) start like this.
What were the last words of Jesus in the Gospel of John?
"It is finished."
What is sometimes considered the "5th Gospel"?
Acts of the Apostles
Who's says Jesus' last words are "forgive them, they do not know what they do."
Luke. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus is portrayed as a suffering servant. (the audience was largely gentile)
When we interpret Scripture, our goal is to develop an EXEGESIS authentic to the original author's meaning. What does this mean?
Exegesis means to "guide out of interpretation. It's a critical interpretation and explanation of the text using multiple lens of analysis to find it's meaning.
Are the following book a Pauline Epistle or a General Epistle? How do you know?
Corinthians, Galatians
Why is John's Gospel so different than the synoptics?
John places a heavy empahsis on Jesus' divinity. The other portrayals of Jesus seem to be much more earthly.
What is the only miracle which shows up in all four gospels?
The feeding of the 5000
What does the "Q" source stand for and why is it important?
Q is german for "Source". It is a long lost source used to write the Bible. We know Matthew and Luke (NOT Mark) used this source to write their Gospels, as they have overlapping content.
When we interpret Scripture, We should avoid EISEGESIS. What does this mean?
Eisegesis is when we put in our own biases or interpretations. Instead of guiding out the authentic meaning, we force scripture and interpret in a way we want it to mean - even if it wasn't meant to be read that way
Which section of the Bible may you see the following themes?
"Let justice roll down like waters"
"Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow."
The Prophetic Section. Remember the Prophets were greatly concerned with creating a just society and calling the Israelites to repent, and be more holy.
How does John describe 'miracles' in his Gospel? Why does he do this?
John uses the words "signs" instead of miracles. Further emphasizing that all these "signs" should point you to Jesus being the Son of God.
What is unique about the literary style in Mark?
The Markian Sandwhich: The author starts a story, interrupts it with a secondary story, and then finishes the first story.
Why use this technique?
The two stories can be tied closely together.
It highlights the middle of the story.
The Pauline Epistles were written to specific communities to discuss specific issues. The General Epsistles (like James) were written to a wider audience, more to give advice on autenthic discipleship.