New Testament
Midterm Review
Divine revelation - God revealing Himself to human beings
Two
sources of public Divine Revelation
1) Scripture
2) Tradition
The fullness of revelation came
in the coming of Christ
Tradition of the Church – the teachings of Christ and the
understanding of them guided by the Holy Spirit as handed down by the apostles
and their successors
The deposit of faith – the
teachings Christ gave to the apostles
Apostolic tradition – the
tradition of interpreting those original teachings of Christ as handed on by
the apostles and their successors
The twelve apostles are the
original bishops
The canon - the accepted list of all the inspired books
of the Bible
The
canon of the Bible was formed by the Church
Books
of the Bible had to:
1) Be
in accord with apostolic tradition
2) Originate
with the apostles or those who knew them
*The tradition came first and
was the criteria used to determine what was included in scripture
Scripture is the inspired word of God
God guided the writing of scripture
This
means that both God and human beings were authors
God
sometimes speaks in spite of the human author
Three stages of the formation of the Gospels
1)
Public life of Jesus
2)
Oral tradition
3)
Writing the Gospels down
No original manuscripts come down to us from the
evangelists
Manuscript
– a handwritten work
The
manuscripts we have are all copies from earlier manuscripts
Old Testament – originally written in Hebrew
New Testament – originally written in Greek
Q source
From
the German word “quelle” meaning “source”
A
hypothetical list of sayings of Jesus used to explain similarities between
Matthew and Luke
Authors of the Gospels
Matthew
A
tax collector
One
of the twelve disciples
Wrote
for a Jewish Christian audience
Emphasizes
Jesus as the fulfillment of the Old Covenant
Mark
A
companion of St. Peter
Not
an eyewitness
Wrote
for persecuted Christians
Emphasizes
Jesus as the suffering servant
The
shortest gospel
Modern
scholars believe it was the first Gospel written
Luke
A
companion of St. Paul
Not
an eyewitness
Wrote
for Gentile Christians
Emphasizes
Jesus as the universal Messiah
John
One
of the twelve; also known as “the beloved disciple”
An
eyewitness
Wrote
for various churches around the Roman Empire
Emphasizes
Jesus as the Word made flesh
The
last Gospel to be written
Not one of the synoptic Gospels
Titles for Jesus
Christ
(Greek)
Messiah
(Hebrew)
Means
“anointed one”
The Messiah was prophesied to
be a king in the line of David who would conquer Israel’s enemies
Lord
Adonai
(Hebrew)
A
substitute term for “Yahweh”
Jews
did not use the term Yahweh because it was sacred
Jesus
– “God saves”
Son
of God – Jesus comes from and is one with the Father
Non-Christian sources on Christ
Tacitus
A
Roman historian
Wrote
about Emperor Nero setting Rome on fire and then blaming the Christians
Legend
has it that Nero played the fiddle while Rome burned
Josephus
A
Jewish historian who wrote about 1st century Palestine
Mentions
St. John the Baptist, King Herod, St. James, and Jesus
Allegedly refers to Jesus as the
Messiah, but this may have been interpolated (i.e. edited in by a later
copyist)
Non-Christian
sources that mention Christ confirm that Jesus was a real historical figure
Four senses of scripture
Literal
– what actually happened
Allegorical
– a figurative treatment of one subject under the guise of another
Moral
– tells us how to live justly
Anagogical
– helps us to see how events lead to our final destiny (Heaven/Hell/the end of
time)
Biblical Criticism
Source
– tries to identify the sources the Gospel writers used for their information
about Jesus
Historical
– looks at the Gospel writers in their historical context
Form
– interprets scripture in light of the literary form or genre it takes
Redaction
– looks at the Gospel writers as editors
Textual
– compares minor mistakes and changes copyists made down through the ages
Gospel of Mark
Opens with John the Baptist
Dressed
in camel’s hair
Preaching
a Gospel of repentance
Fulfills
the prophecies in Malachi
Elijah
will come
He
will prepare the way for the Messiah
Baptizes
Jesus – points to Him as the Messiah
Arrested
by King Herod before Jesus begins His ministry
Criticized
Herod’s marriage to Herodias (his brother’s wife)
Beheaded
at the request of Herodias’ daughter, Salome
Jesus comes from Nazareth
Almost
no one has heard of Him when He begins His ministry
People
begin wondering who He is based on the things He says and does
The central question in the first half of Mark’s Gospel
is “Who is Jesus?”
This
question is raised by the things Jesus says and does
Jesus demonstrates authority over:
Demons
– they obey Him and leaves when He tells them to
No
human being has power over demons
Disease
– Jesus has the power to cure sick people
Sin –
Jesus forgave the paralyzed man’s sins and He could walk
Only
God can forgive sin
The
Sabbath – Jesus says the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath
God
created the Sabbath, therefore Jesus has claimed authority equal to God
Nature
– Jesus calms the storm at sea
Jesus
sleeping in the boat all through the storm
Wakes
up and tells the sea to be quiet
Messianic Secret – Jesus conceals the fact that He is the
Messiah
“Tell
no one” – Jesus swears those He heals to secrecy
“We know who you are! The Holy
One of God!” – Jesus silences the demons before they can give away His identity
Jesus
implies who He is rather than states it explicitly
“Which is easier to say: your
sins are forgiven or rise, pick up your mat and go home?”
Jesus demonstrates His power to
forgive sins and His divinity by healing the paralytic
Jesus never says outright that
He is God
Jesus
speaks in parables
Symbolic
stories
He
only explains the stories to His apostles
Reasons for the Messianic Secret:
1) Timing
of the crucifixion – ultimately Jesus will be killed for claiming He is God
The Pharisees already want to kill Him for implying
this
They refrain because they need
clear evidence that Jesus has indeed made this claim
By refraining from explicitly
stating His identity, Jesus allows His ministry to continue longer
2) Avoid
being treated as a king
Jesus came to be a humble
servant and to suffer and die
He is the Messiah, but He is not the Messiah the Jews are expecting
If He reveals who He is, He
will gain a type of attention that will confuse His message
Conflict with the Pharisees
The
Pharisees criticize Jesus because
1) He
claims to be God
Claims authority over the
Sabbath itself
Claims the power to forgive
sins
2) He
doesn’t keep the tradition of the Pharisees
Heals on the Sabbath
Picks grain on the Sabbath
Eats without washing His hands
Jesus
criticizes the Pharisees for being legalistic
Legalism
– getting caught up in the letter of the law and losing track of the spirit
According
to Jesus, the spirit of the law is to love God and love your neighbor
The Pharisees get so caught up
in the letter of the law that they forbid healing on the Sabbath, which is an
act of love for your neighbor
“The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the
Sabbath”
The Pharisees get so caught up
in the letter of the law that they permit money that should be used for caring
for your parents to be given as corban to
the Temple
Their tradition is kept
The spirit of the law is violated
Jesus says that it is the
things that come from within that defile a person
He declared all foods clean (which is why Christians can
eat bacon)
Emphasizes the things inside of us that corrupt us
Anger, lust, envy, greed, etc.
Disciples
Disciple
– means student or follower
Jesus
has many followers
Twelve
disciples are specially chosen and given special authority to work in Jesus’
name
Preach
Drive
out demons (aka exorcise)
Anoint
the sick with oil to heal them
More
powers will be given to them later
These
twelve disciples are the original bishops
Condition of Discipleship
1) Complete
trust in Jesus
Sent out without food, money,
or shelter: they had to beg for everything
They had to depend completely
on God’s providence in order to survive
The Rich Young Man: sell all
you have, give it to the poor, and then follow me
Peter walking on water: entrusting
His life into Jesus’ hands
2) The
greatest among you must be the servant of all
3) Whoever
wishes to serve me must deny himself, pick up his cross and follow me
“Go, your faith has saved you”
Faith
is necessary for Christ to be able to perform miracles
You
have to give Him permission to work
Faith
healed the woman with the hemorrhage
Lack
of faith in Nazareth kept Jesus from being able to perform mighty deeds there
Peter’s Confession of Jesus as the Messiah: the turning
point
People
have been speculating about who Jesus is
John
the Baptist back from the dead (Herod’s favorite option)
Elijah
A
prophet
“Who
do you say that I am?”
“You are
the Christ” – Peter
“Flesh
and blood has not revealed this to you but my Heavenly Father.”
The
question “Who is Jesus?” has been answered: He is the Messiah
The
rest of the Gospel will answer the question: “What sort of Messiah will Jesus
be?”
The disciples are expecting a great military conqueror
for a Messiah
Jesus
instead tells them that he will be handed over to the Pharisees and crucified
The
disciples fail to realize that Jesus has come as a suffering servant
The Transfiguration
Peter,
James and John go up with Jesus on Mt. Tabor
Jesus
appears shining in all His glory
Speaking
with Moses (representing the law) and Elijah (representing the prophets)
1) Confirms
Jesus’ identity
A voice thunders down, “This is
my beloved Son. Listen to Him.”
2) Strengthens
the disciples’ faith before the crucifixion
Jesus instructs them to tell no
one about this until He has risen from the dead
